Davenport Rips Stevenson, and Then Her Mother

On the day Lindsay Davenport reached her first Wimbledon final by putting an end--for now--to the Stevenson Saga, she had some pointed editing suggestions for her opponent’s journalist mother.

The third-seeded Davenport, of Newport Beach, defeated 18-year-old qualifier Alexandra Stevenson of San Diego, 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals Saturday. In today’s final, she plays second-seeded Steffi Graf of Germany, who will be trying to win her eighth Wimbledon singles title. Graf defeated 17-year-old Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-3.

That Davenport was so thoroughly dominating on grass was not nearly as surprising as her uncommon verbal blast in the interview room. The level-headed 23-year-old, who regains the No. 1 ranking from Martina Hingis by reaching the final, is hardly a loose cannon.

At first she laughed at Samantha Stevenson’s curious postmatch contention that Davenport was afraid of Alexandra heading into the semifinal. “I wasn’t scared; I think her mom says a lot of things,” Davenport said.

Yeah, Davenport certainly looked terrified when she won the first 11 points of the match. Her postmatch amusement was replaced by visible annoyance.

“I’m not sure if she’s doing it for attention or just saying these things because they sound crazy--some of them--but I don’t know, I just think it’s a tough situation for us to comment on,” Davenport said. “So I’ll be quiet.”

That was difficult to do when the questions kept coming. Davenport’s sister and family had been reading quotes from Samantha Stevenson this past fortnight, talking about racism on the tour and the need to protect her daughter from the other players in the locker room.

Stevenson did not use the word lesbian, but her comments were interpreted that way by some observers, including British tabloid reporters.

“I just don’t think we appreciate her commenting on our way of life,” Davenport said, speaking about the tour in general. “Especially, she’s calling all of us in some way, almost a name. I just think, let her daughter play. Her daughter is 18, obviously an adult now. She’ll be fine. She’s smart and she can play tennis. Just leave her alone and don’t bring her into these controversies.

“I was talking to my sister and she said like, ‘Well, what are you? A dictator, a racist, after her daughter?’ All this stuff that she is calling all of us, I don’t think the players really appreciate it.”

Davenport has sympathy for the position of the the younger Stevenson.

“She’s the nicest girl,” she said. “I mean, she’s only 18. She’s obviously enjoying the whole Wimbledon experience, playing great, and unfortunately, all this stuff has kind of come onto her because of her mom. You can’t help but feel sorry for her because when you talk to her she’s so nice.”

The tabloid nature of this particular Wimbledon overshadowed numerous singular achievements. Stevenson was the first female qualifier to reach the semifinals, yet that news was virtually obscured Friday by basketball legend Julius Erving’s announcement that she is his daughter.

Alexandra, again, refused comment on Erving’s statement and said she has not thought about how her life will change after returning to San Diego.

“It’s kind of funny because I was talking to my mom the other night and I said, ‘I’m going home and everything is going to be normal,’ and she goes, ‘I don’t think so,’ ” Stevenson said. “And so it will be very interesting when I get home.”

The smile rarely left her face--except when Erving was brought up--not even when she was asked about an apparent case of stage fright on Centre Court. Davenport won the first 11 points and Stevenson smiled to herself when she finally won a point.

What was she thinking during her disastrous start?

“To get the ball in play,” she said. “I didn’t do that today.”

Davenport never let her get in the match, fighting off seven break points, three in the first set and four in the second. The reigning U.S. Open champion celebrated her second Grand Slam final by letting out a scream.

“That was what it [the scream] was about,” Davenport said. “That was winning one and one in the semifinals, getting to my first Wimbledon final, and doing it on a surface I used to hate in ’93 and ’94 and the years I couldn’t play on it that well.”

When Davenport was fighting the grass-court game in 1993, her opponent in today’s final, Graf, won her fifth Wimbledon title. Graf won two more titles before succumbing to knee surgery, fighting a series of subsequent injuries in her comeback campaign.

Graf’s most recent comeback has been inexplicable and exhilarating. Last month in Paris at the French Open, she won her 22nd Grand Slam singles title and now she is trying to pull within one of all-time leader Margaret Smith Court of Australia.

She played a superb match against Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, and needed all of her considerable skill and experience to survive against the hard-hitting Lucic. Her left thigh was wrapped as a precaution, but Graf later pulled out of the mixed doubles semifinal with partner John McEnroe.

“She took a lot of risks and made a lot of shots out of it. There were not any tentative shots. She really went for it.” Graf said.

Graf pulled away when, with the score 4-4 in the second set, she won five consecutive games. “I guess I didn’t panic or anything,” she said. “I wanted to make her play every point.”

After all this, Graf is one match away from half a Slam in 1999. She is 8-5 against Davenport and this will be their first meeting on grass.

“The past few weeks have been amazing,” Graf said. “Now I am here in the final. I can’t ask for anything else.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

WOMEN’S FINALISTS

Steffi Graf

* Age: 30.

* Seeding: No. 2.

* Residence: Heidelberg, Germany.

* Road to final: Dropped three sets to Mariaan De Swardt, Venus Williams and Mirjana Lucic. Beat Ludmila Cervanova in first round, De Swardt in second, Corina Morariu in third, Kim Clijsters in fourth, Williams in quarterfinals, Lucic in semifinals.

* Past Wimbledons: Playing in her ninth Wimbledon final, with only defeat coming in 1987 to Martina Navratilova.

* Ranking: Will remain at No. 3 in WTA Tour rankings win or lose in final.

Lindsay Davenport

* Age: 23.

* Seeding: No. 3.

* Residence: Newport Beach.

* Road to final: Reached the final without losing a set. Beat Alexandra Fusai in the first round, Karina Habsudova in the second, Laura Golarsa in the third, 14th-seeded Barbara Schett in the fourth, fifth-seeded and defending champion Jana Novotna in quarterfinals, Alexandra Stevenson in semifinals.

* Past Wimbledons: Playing in her first Wimbledon final.

* Ranking: Will take over No. 1 ranking after Wimbledon, replacing Martina Hingis.