Davenport Runs Out of Steam

Lindsay Davenport’s lovely summer tennis parade ground to a halt Sunday night, stopped for a lack of energy.

The parade route has been as arduous as it has been rewarding. Going into Sunday’s fourth round of the U.S. Open, Davenport had: not lost a match since June, helped the U.S. defeat Japan and get to the Fed Cup final, won the Olympic gold medal, beat Steffi Graf for the first time, won her hometown tournament and re-entered the top 10.

The exhausted 20-year-old had been running on adrenaline for weeks and those reserves finally petered out against Linda Wild, No. 32 in the world. The eighth-ranked Davenport was unable to summon sufficient mental energy to overcome what Wild called her ‘first-strike’ strategy, an approach that yielded the 25-year-old a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory and a place in the quarterfinals.

“I’m a little bit emotionally tired,” said a subdued Davenport after the match. “This is the U.S. Open, I should be able to play through that. I really wanted to do well here.”

The Newport Beach resident has never solved the Open’s mysteries and has never advanced beyond the fourth round. The summer seemed able to erase that and Davenport entered the tournament as the hottest player on the women’s tour, carrying a 16-match win streak into thematch.

Davenport’s credibility as a tough top 10 player required she do well here, for she has fashioned a career that has been long on promise and, until this golden summer, unfulfilled potential.

After the match, Davenport was quick to note that “Life goes on.” Such pronouncements are indicative of her insistence on balance in her life, the very philosophy that many believe keeps her from greatness.

The attention gained from winning the Olympic gold medal in her home country may have upset that balance, even though Davenport claims she has been handling her massive media attention by not reading anything written about her.

“Having one bad night doesn’t mean I’m exhausted or the summer has caught up,” Davenport said, sounding as if she were trying to convince herself. “It just means I did not play good tennis tonight. I could go out tomorrow and play unbelievable. Who knows? That’s what happens in this unfortunate game.”

Whatever the cause of Davenport’s malaise, Wild did well to take advantage. Her analysis of the match at times sounded like a Pentagon briefing, as she described just what “first-strike” tennis is all about.

“I had to go after her,” Wild said. “If I got into a rally and I didn’t get her moving before she got me moving, then I was dead. I had to keep going for it. If I didn’t go for it, I was going to lose anyway.”

Wild’s intense game is propelled by a potent forehand and deep serves. The Illinois native played on the USC tennis team for three months in the fall of 1989. Her recollection of her college experience: “I was mainly out there drinking beers and partying, not learning a whole lot.”

She learned quickly Sunday that Davenport was not on her game. Davenport lost her first two service games to open the match. She looked strong in her third service game, holding a 40-0 lead, but squandered that and was broken.

Wild was serving for the set at 5-0 and Davenport broke, then held her own serve. But Wild served out the set.