TENNIS / EVERT CUP : Davenport Hesitates but Still Progresses

Briefly during her second-round match at the $430,000 State Farm Evert Cup on Thursday, Lindsay Davenport showed indications that she can become the serve-and-volley player that women’s tennis is desperately awaiting. For the rest of her match against Angelica Gavaldon, she was merely a powerful and deft baseline player.

Determined to do things her way, while not ignoring advice, Davenport, 18, has confounded her critics and managed to rise to No. 6 in the world. The highest-ranked American woman’s cautious professional progression has mirrored her reluctance to attack the net, but if any theme has emerged from Davenport’s year so far, it is that things change.

Showing a confidence and verve that have been honed under a new coach, Craig Kardon, Davenport, of Newport Beach, eliminated Mexico’s Gavaldon, 6-3, 6-1, and advanced to the quarterfinals at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort.

Her pairing with Kardon, whose last pupil was Martina Navratilova, appears to have paid immediate dividends.

Since Kardon began coaching her at the beginning of the year, Davenport was a runner-up at a tournament in Sydney, lost to Conchita Martinez in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and was a runner-up at Tokyo.

Kardon is impressed with Davenport, whom he has found to be more dedicated than he expected.

“It’s unusual for her, at 18, to be this mature as a player,” he said. “She knows exactly what she’s doing on the court.”

Kardon said that he emphasizes two areas with Davenport--attacking the net, where her 6-foot-3 frame can close off the court, and improving her fitness to gain more mobility, although Kardon said she does not need to be very quick to enjoy success.

“The way that she plays tennis, she doesn’t have to (be mobile),” Kardon said. “She just needs to get a little bit quicker and be a little bit more aggressive at the right moments. She’ll never be as fast as Arantxa (Sanchez Vicario) or Steffi (Graf), but she doesn’t need to be.”

A failure of her first serve kept Davenport from rushing the net as much as she would have liked Thursday, but she was effective when she got there as well as from the baseline.

“I’m going to keep trying to come in,” she said. “I’ve been working on running and getting to the net.”

Notes

In other singles action, fifth-seeded Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan defeated Tami Whitlinger Jones, 6-4, 6-2, eighth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez defeated Patty Fendick, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 6-2, and Elena Likhovtseva of Kazakhstan defeated Rachel McQuillan of Australia, 6-4, 6-2.