TENNIS / EVERT CUP : Davenport, 16, Starts Out a Success as a Professional

Her father played volleyball, her mother played volleyball, her older sister played volleyball, so Lindsay Davenport chose . . . tennis.

“My dad didn’t want any sibling rivalry,” said Davenport. “He told me to pick another sport.”

Lindsay was seven. Nine years later, she made another big move. On Monday, two days after deciding to short-circuit her amateur career, Davenport played her first match as a pro and earned her first paycheck.

Davenport, 16, defeated Angelica Gavaldon, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, in the first round of the Matrix Essentials/Evert Cup at Hyatt Grand Champions.

Besides the loss by 16th-seeded Linda Ferrando, there were no upsets on the first day of the tournament, except that nobody else pulled out.

Mary Joe Fernandez, who became top-seeded after Steffi Graf and Jennifer Capriati withdrew because of pulled stomach muscles, plays her first-round match today against qualifier Rachel Jensen.

Davenport’s pro debut was not altogether a smashing success, although there is no quibbling with the result. She came from a break down in the third set to squeeze past Galvaldon in 2 hours 1 minute.

“Well, at least I won,” said Davenport, a junior at Murrieta Valley High School.

She said her decision to turn pro wasn’t all that difficult.

“My original goal was to get in the top 100 (before leaving the amateurs),” said Davenport, who is ranked No. 99. “Plus, I thought I was playing well. It was a good decision for me.”

Gavaldon made the same decision three years ago at 16. Soon after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open as a amateur, she turned pro, rose to No. 51, then started backsliding, until she quit the tour for nearly a year and went back to high school.

Gavaldon said no injury caused her to leave the Kraft Tour. “Well, maybe a brain injury,” she joked. “I was just putting too much pressure on myself.”

This is precisely what Davenport will try to avoid.

“I know what’s out there, but I’m still going to be trying to treat it like just a tennis match and nothing else,” she said. “Nothing will happen if I lose or win.”

Davenport won Monday with a powerful forehand that she backed up on occasion by coming to the net, a tactic that could be a weapon for someone who is 6 feet 2.

However, Davenport is inclined to plant herself at the baseline and resist being uprooted. Coach Robert van’t Hof is trying.

“But it’s hard,” Davenport said. “It’s hard to all of a sudden come in all the time. So I’m going to try to do it gradually.”