Davenport Makes Statement on Court

Hold off on the retirement talk.

Lindsay Davenport did her best to make it clear she isn’t ready to take that step yet as she rolled over Amy Frazier, 6-3, 6-1, in the second round of the Acura Classic on Tuesday at La Costa Resort and Spa.

Afterward, the fourth-seeded Davenport was happy -- perhaps even more appreciative than ever -- to still be taking steps on the tennis court, gingerly though they may be.

“I was really, first of all, happy with the way my foot felt,” she said, in reference to a recurring nerve condition between the third and fourth toes of her left foot.

The problem has forced Davenport to cut back on practice time, take cortisone shots and go through a nightly routine of dipping the foot in a bucket of ice water.

“It bothered me a little bit before the match, but not during it,” Davenport said after her ninth victory over Frazier without a loss. “I really go match to match now. It’s definitely a struggle when things are hurting.”

Such sentiments have triggered recent thoughts of retirement in the 28-year-old Davenport, who was peppered with questions about the possibility during a news conference Monday morning.

She spoke openly about the eventuality, but cautioned that such discussions are premature.

She proved it against Frazier, moving well and leading throughout the match after going up 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set.

“It’s something I definitely think about more than I used to,” she said. “You have to come to grips with it at some point in your career. But I’m certainly not ready to throw in the towel yet.”

Davenport, a Laguna Beach resident, said she might undergo surgery to correct the foot condition in the fall, after the U.S. Open.

While Davenport kept her string of victories over Frazier going, Magui Serna of Spain looked in the first set as if she would end her losing streak against Jelena Dokic, who reached the Acura title match last year before falling to three-time champion Venus Williams, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 9-seeded Dokic, however, rebounded after being down two breaks and losing the first set to win the second-round match, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Dokic, who also won the previous four meetings between them, overcame Serna with an impressive display of power and precision over the last two sets.

“I think I just had to get going. I just was not there in the first set,” Dokic said. “It turned around in the beginning of the second set. I was just more focused and I started hitting my shots.”

Dokic will face sixth-seeded Chanda Rubin in the next round after the latter rallied to defeat Tina Pisnik of Slovenia, 7-5, 6-0, after being down, 4-1, in the first set.

Third-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, who won the French Open last month, dominated Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, 6-1, 6-1, in a match that lasted 49 minutes.

Henin-Hardenne, ranked third in the world behind Serena Williams and fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, broke Daniilidou six times, including her last five service games in a row.

Daniilidou had beaten Henin-Hardenne in the only other meeting between the two.

“I’m a different player. It was another match,” Henin-Hardenne said. “I’m No. 3 in the world, and I have other goals ... I want to be No. 1 one day.”

Nadia Petrova advanced when Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian retired because of a strained right wrist with Petrova leading, 6-1, 3-0.