Into Thick Air, Day 4: Davenport’s good call

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BEIJING -- Lindsay Davenport’s spirit is willing, but the body keeps letting her down.

She is 32 years old now, has won three Grand Slam titles (U.S. Open 1998, Wimbledon ’99 and Australian ‘00) and got her Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996. She has been No. 1, has won more than $22 million and had a baby just 14 months ago.

But the life of permanent suburban mom in Newport Beach, with husband Jon Leach out bringing home the bacon from his financial business, wasn’t quite enough for her in the months after the birth of son, Jagger. So she made a comeback, immediately went on a winning spree, and there seemed to be enough gas left in the tank for an extended run on the tour.

One of the biggest motivations to harness Jagger up in the backpack and head back out on tour was the thought of another Olympic medal. Most logical people have long ago surmised that there is no reason for tennis to be in the Olympics, for all the reasons of schedules and over-the-top professionalism that are oft discussed. Perhaps Davenport, and a few like her, represents the best argument for keeping the sport in the Games.

Striving for an Olympic medal is real for her, as nice a person as you will meet. It’s not Pollyanna, it’s not trite, it’s not some public relations campaign. She would see it as almost as big a deal as a major, or maybe bigger. She is not your hardened, programmed pro tennis player, not your wake-me-up, tell-me-what-city-I-am-in-and-I’ll-go-play variety most are.

She actually defaulted out of Wimbledon after a first-round victory because she knew her right knee was a mess and its best chance for healing in time for the Olympics was to start then. The logic there was that the Olympics is a 64-player draw, half of what a major is, and decidedly less taxing on the body.

But the knee didn’t heal enough, and so she made a good call Friday. She dropped out of the singles and will put all her medal efforts into doubles, where you can limp around and maybe get away with it, especially if you have a big serve, great reach at the net and superior volleying skills.

So, if you like tennis and you want to root, check out the match schedule for the U.S. women’s doubles team of Lindsay Davenport and Leizel Huber. It is certainly a last hurrah for Davenport, who deserves whatever good fortune might be floating around in the chunks of Beijing air.

--Bill Dwyre