Davenport Makes Early Exit

If there was any doubt remaining--and there wasn’t much--it was erased when Serena Williams sprinted, dived for a short ball and went tumbling on the unforgiving hard court.

Two points after the spectacular get, it was second-seeded Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach who went crashing out of the Evert Cup at Grand Champions Resort on Sunday. The 17-year-old Williams dismissed Davenport in decisive fashion, winning the second-round match, 6-4, 6-2, in 65 minutes.

Though Williams defeated Davenport previously--in the quarterfinals at Sydney in 1998--this victory had different implications.

First, it means Martina Hingis remains No. 1. Davenport supplanted Hingis for 17 weeks at the top spot, and Hingis grabbed it back last month. Secondly, the victory continued an impressive streak for Williams. Last Sunday, she won her first pro tournament, in Paris. The victory over Davenport, the reigning U.S. Open champion and former No. 1, was a nice bookend for the week.

“It was really good for me to win that tournament last week because I was able to see that I can go out there and win,” Williams said. “I was really practicing hard and really focused. My hard work is beginning to pay off.”

Said Davenport: “I thought she played well. I thought it was probably more of me [being off] than more of her. But she definitely took advantage of a good day to beat a top player. That’s what you have to do.”

Although Davenport was bothered by a nagging respiratory ailment, her loss continued a recent troubled patch. Since losing to Amelie Mauresmo in the Australian Open semifinals in January, Davenport has won one match in her last two tournaments.

She was asked about playing at Croatia this spring for Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King.

“I know I’m going . . . well, if she still wants me,” Davenport said.

Certainly, the draw was not forgiving here for last year’s finalist. Williams is probably the last player Davenport wanted to face in her opening match after receiving a first-round bye.

But Williams, who is ranked No. 21 in the world, won’t be unseeded in tournaments much longer, as she is on a seven-match winning streak. She is 10-2 in 1999, losing only to Steffi Graf at Sydney and Sandrine Testud at the Australian Open. Both losses were in three sets.

“I know if I’m playing well, doing the best that I can do, I’m definitely going to be in the top 10, and probably the top five, if not better,” Williams said.

If anything, she may have the edge on bragging rights in the family this week. Her older sister Venus Williams--who is just playing doubles here--has defeated Davenport once. And Serena Williams now has two victories against Davenport.

This time, she dominated the baseline rallies, and Davenport missed some relatively easy sitters and botched a few overheads. Williams hit 21 winners to Davenport’s 11. “I haven’t played a tournament in a while,” Davenport said. “I felt kind of out of it out there--just never really felt all that great about my game. You’re not going to win if you feel like that.”

The strategy of dividing--entering different tournaments--appears to have benefited the youngest Williams sister. They are both playing the Lipton event later this month in Key Biscayne, Fla., and of course, will be in the Grand Slams together.

“Right now, we are just trying to play different tournaments, do a lot of different things, see how it turns out for us,” Serena Williams said. “We played a lot of the same tournaments last year. It didn’t work. Something is not working, let’s try something different. That’s what we’re doing.”

One question later, she grew weary of that topic, saying: “I’m actually tired of answering that question. Let’s move on.”

Later, the draw opened for Williams, as she avoided having to play 13th-seeded Irina Spirlea of Romania, who beat her at the U.S. Open. Instead, she will face 20-year-old Cara Black of Zimbabwe in the round of 16. Black defeated Spirlea, 6-7 [7-4], 6-4, 7-5. Black is the younger sister of tour pros Byron and Wayne Black.

One qualifier reached the round of 16--Brie Rippner beat German qualifier Barbara Rittner, 6-4, 6-4. The other notable result was Chanda Rubin’s first victory in eight attempts against Conchita Martinez of Spain. Rubin defeated the 14th-seeded Martinez, 6-3, 6-4.

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Today’s Featured Matches

At Grand Champions Resort, Stadium Court

Beginning 10 a.m.

* Monica Seles (3) vs. Henrieta Nagyova, Slovakia.

* Greg Rusedski, Great Britain (10) vs. Petr Korda, Czech Republic.

* Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil vs. Thomas Muster, Austria.

* Michael Chang vs. Jan Siemerink, Netherlands.

Beginning 6:30 p.m.

* Martina Hingis, Switzerland (1) vs. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland (10)