Lindsay Davenport denied fourth Grand Slam tourney title

Among the greatest of women's tennis players to dominate the sport in the past few years is American Lindsay Davenport. She had won one Grand Slam singles title in each of the past three years starting with the U.S. Open in 1998. She contended again this year, hoping to make it four consecutive years, back where it all started in New York. Unfortunately for Davenport, No. 10 Serena Williams had something to say about that, and denied Davenport a chance.

The road for Lindsay Davenport in this year's U.S. Open was a handful of routine opening round matches, until she hit a bump in the road by the name of Elena Likhovtseva. In their 4th round meeting, Davenport won the first set then seemingly lost focus and was blitzed 6-0 in the second by the No. 21 seed. She came back to take the third set, but Davenport did not display the level of play anywhere near what would be required to compete against a Grand Slam champion.

In the very next round, Davenport met up with No. 10 Serena Williams, the 1999 U.S. Open champion. Davenport and Williams met one year ago in the quarterfinals, where Davenport earned a straight sets victory over the teenager. This year would be different. After losing the first set to Williams, Davenport came back to life and won a second set tiebreak to force a third, but didn't have enough in the end as Williams went on to advance to her second U.S. Open semifinal.

Lindsay Davenport is the epitome of "big babe" tennis. She can stay with any opponent, pounding winners from the baseline, or close in and finish a point at net. In fact, in addition to her three Grand Slam singles titles, Davenport also owns three Grand Slam doubles titles, proving her prowess at net. She also consistently bombs in a first serve averaging 100 miles per hour, hitting corners and lines for service winners against most of her opponents.

Davenport was dominated the tour when all this talk of "big babe" tennis was just coming to light. She had powerful ground strokes with which she could overpower and outplay weaker opponents, including one Martina Hingis. Then along came the Williams sisters, who were just as powerful but had better movement, and a fitter Jennifer Capriati who had finally put it all together. All of a sudden, Davenport's power was being mitigated by these players who could not only play with her from the baseline, but also run down balls that would normally be winners against other players.

It was during this time, in the past few years, that Davenport decided to meet the challenge and improve her fitness. Always hounded by the press about her weight, she went on a health and fitness binge and got in shape. She easily increased her movement and speed on court by a few steps, and could now get to more balls. That would be the end of the story, except that during this same time, the other players were doing the same and the bar not only has been raised, but also continues to be an upward moving target.

The professional tennis career of Lindsay Davenport is far from being over. She is 25 years old and enjoying life, which will help the longevity of her tennis career over the long run. Though Davenport did not win the 2001 U.S. Open, or any Grand Slam title in 2001, she has had impressive results reaching the semifinals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Last year was also good to Davenport where she reached the final of each of the Grand Slam events, with the exception of a first-round loss at Roland Garros. If Davenport can stay healthy, she'll be a contender for many years to come.