Davenport Victory Is Painful to Graf

The winner could not fully relish the victory.

And the loser was having problems taking solace in pushing the No. 2 player in the world to a third set, wondering instead what disaster might befall her next.

Such was the situation after Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach defeated Steffi Graf, 6-4, 4-6, 4-2 (retired), in the semifinals of the State Farm Evert Cup on Thursday night at Grand Champions Resort. Graf suffered a strained left hamstring in the fifth game of the third set, called for an injury timeout during the changeover and withdrew a game later when her immobility became apparent.

“The minute it happened, I knew [it was bad],” Graf said. “The second it happened, I was like, ‘Oops.’ I always try. I almost [won] the game. I almost had a chance. But just standing there, I was scared I would worsen it.”

It was a disheartening finish for the former No. 1 who was playing superb tennis in only her second tournament back since undergoing major knee surgery in June 1997.

Graf, ranked 45th and seeded third, said a sudden movement in the fifth game of the third set triggered the injury.

“It was severe pain right away,” she said. “I was hoping it was something like a cramp, but it was too strong.”

At the changeover, Graf called for a tour trainer and had her leg wrapped. And she nearly won the next game, holding a break point before Davenport won the final three points to hold serve, taking a 4-2 lead. But with Graf limping and unable to move, the end was inevitable.

Afterward, Graf didn’t say: Why me? But she certainly could have uttered that famous phrase, given her litany of injuries.

“That’s what I’m thinking right now,” she said. “It’s like, ‘What else?’ It was such a good feeling to be playing well.”

Davenport, who will play either top-ranked Martina Hingis or Venus Williams in Saturday’s final, acknowledged the win was bittersweet.

“Oh, definitely, because everyone is going to be saying she pulled out, she got hurt at the end,” Davenport said. “I think we played two and a half sets of good tennis, great tennis. We were both trying so hard.

“You know, unfortunately, that’s going to be the main headline: ‘Graf Injured, Withdraws,’ instead of saying we both played pretty darn well the first couple sets.”

Davenport isn’t a bad headline writer, and an even better player, who looked formidable in the first set, though she said she suffered from nerves beforehand.

Interestingly, both players were using the other as a measuring stick. Even though Davenport is No. 2 and recently beat Hingis, she felt as though she was being treated as the underdog.

“Coming in here, when I saw the draw, people were telling me, ‘Graf’s in your half,’ ” she said. “I kept hearing on TV, Graf-Hingis final. I thought, ‘We’ll see.’ I’m going to try my hardest not to see that.”

Conversely, Davenport was the first legitimate test for Graf here. In her previous three matches, Graf had not met a top-10 player, and certainly not anyone with half of Davenport’s power off the ground.

In the first set, Graf had six break points and failed to convert any of them. In all, she was three for 14 on break-point opportunities.

“I had so many chances,” she said. “I didn’t really follow through playing the right points at the right time. My forehand was a little bit shaky. So, once I start believing that I can do it, I think soon that will happen, because I just didn’t believe too much in myself yet. I was ahead of time.”

Davenport was duly impressed. “I didn’t see that she was too far off her old self,” she said.

After coming back from such a serious injury, Graf is faced with a nagging, annoying hamstring, which makes her questionable for the Lipton Championships later this month in Key Biscayne, Fla.

From head to toe, Graf seems to have been through almost everything.

And now, this.

“Well, this one I haven’t had before,” she said, mustering a smile. “I think there are a couple of left. That’s the scary thing about it.”