Davenport Has the Home-Court Edge

Lindsay Davenport likes to hit close to home, and the Manhattan Beach Country Club is right in her comfort zone. Davenport has won the WTA tournament at Manhattan Beach three times in the past six years, and she’ll be chasing another title in the JPMorgan Chase Open, which begins today and runs through Aug. 11.

Davenport, ranked No. 9 in the world, is the defending champion but is seeded third this year behind Serena Williams, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, and Jennifer Capriati, who is ranked third. The 48-player draw includes five of the top nine and 18 of the top 30 players.

Seeded fourth through eighth are Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, Elena Dementieva of Russia and Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic.

Davenport, who has a first-round bye and will face the winner of a match between Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Elena Bovina of Russia, has always felt at home in the tournament. The Laguna Beach resident won it in 1996, ’98 and last year, when she defeated Monica Seles in the final, 6-3, 7-5. Davenport also reached to the final in 2000, losing to Williams.

“I’ve won it a bunch of times. I’ve lost in the finals,” she said Friday after beating Ai Sugiyama in the quarterfinals of the Acura Classic in Carlsbad. . “I think basically it’s the conditions I practice in year-round at home. I’m used to it. It’s such a great sweep for me, these couple of tournaments.... It’s so easy. If I lose early, I go home.”

This will be Davenport’s third singles tournament in a comeback from January surgery on her right knee that has gone more smoothly and successfully than she expected. She lost, 6-2, 6-1, to Venus Williams in her Acura Classic semifinal Saturday night. She also reached the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto last week.

“I was afraid when I was first coming back that I’d second-guess myself and have more worries. But I really have none out there right now,” she said.

“I really struggled in TeamTennis when I first started about 2 1/2 weeks ago. That was so good for me to play. It helped my game a lot. It would have been extremely difficult to start at Wimbledon, at such a big stage.”

Serena Williams shined there, beating older sister Venus to win that title and ascend to the No. 1 ranking. Serena Williams also won the French Open with a victory over Venus in the final. Capriati won the Australian Open in January.

Davenport was off the tour about six months recovering and rehabilitating her knee. But it has given her no problems lately.

“I don’t have to ice it,” she said. “I definitely get it warmed up and I stretch my right leg really well. There’s no swelling or pain, so I don’t have to do anything after.”

Except maybe go home to Laguna Beach.

Times staff writer Lisa Dillman contributed to this report.

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(BEGIN TEXT INFOBOX)

*--* JPMorgan Chase Open * When: Today through Aug. 11 * Where: Manhattan Beach Country Club, Manhattan Beach * Top players: No. 1-seeded Serena Williams, No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, No. 3 Lindsay Davenport, No. 4 Jelena Dokic, No. 5 Kim Clijsters, No. 6 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 7 Elena Dementieva, No. 8 Daja Bedanova * TV: Saturday, ESPN, one semifinal (delayed), 4-5:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN, final, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m * Tickets: (310) 939-1333

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