It’s Quick, Painless for Davenport

Would a sore kneecap trump a tired body?

The answer came in about 11 minutes, the time it took Lindsay Davenport to build a 3-0 lead against Anastasia Myskina of Russia in Sunday’s final of the Acura Classic, saving a break point in each of her first two service games.

She never faced another, and the only suspense remaining was how many games a weary-looking Myskina would win. That didn’t take much longer to resolve, as the fourth-seeded Davenport defeated No. 3 Myskina, 6-1, 6-1, in 48 minutes before an announced sellout crowd of 6,500 at the La Costa Resort and Spa, completing her hat trick of California hard-court titles.

It was the second time Davenport accomplished such a feat. The other was in 1998, when Davenport defeated, in order, Venus Williams (Palo Alto), Mary Pierce (Carlsbad) and Martina Hingis (Manhattan Beach). She went on to defeat Hingis in the U.S. Open final for her first Grand Slam title.

You never would have known there had been questions about Davenport’s fitness for the final after she had jammed her right kneecap late in her semifinal on Saturday against Elena Dementieva of Russia and finished the match gingerly.

But Myskina was worse for wear, having fought off nine match points Saturday night in her semifinal victory over countrywoman Vera Zvonareva, a 2 1/2 -hour contest that finished shortly before 10 p.m.

For Davenport, who won her fifth title this year, this stretch has taken a player who had started to consider herself a “perennial quarterfinalist” into the role of U.S. Open favorite. Retirement talk has morphed into remarkable rejuvenation.

“Why not? [Pete] Sampras won a U.S. Open and retired,” Myskina said. “Maybe Lindsay wants to do the same thing. She’s playing unbelievably. Maybe she’ll finish the year No. 1 and retire.”

Davenport, 28, discounted the dream farewell scenario, at least the timetable.

“I don’t think I’m ready to retire in a month, even if I were to win to win it,” she said. “I definitely want to finish the year and finish playing at Staples Center. I didn’t think winning or losing the U.S. Open would change that.”

What has drastically changed is her level of expectation. The last of her three Grand Slam titles came at the Australian Open in 2000. “It definitely changes,” she said. “I hope I do well.... I better do well.”

The foundation of the metamorphosis was established at Wimbledon. Though Davenport lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova of Russia in the semifinals, she returned home feeling positive.

“Expectations on my own shoulders are probably a little bit different than they were eight weeks ago,” Davenport said. “I felt even at Wimbledon I was turning the corner. Didn’t pull out the semifinal match, but I still felt, ‘I feel like I’m a lot better player again.’ ”

The feeling carried over to the hard courts. Davenport defeated Venus Williams in the final at Palo Alto, winning a third-set tiebreaker for her first victory against Venus since 2001. That was the last set she would drop in what is now a 14-match, three-tournament winning streak. She easily defeated Serena Williams in the Carson final last Sunday.

“I didn’t know what to expect this week,” Davenport said. “I wasn’t expecting that much. For a little while, last week, I thought, ‘Well, maybe I should skip next week.’ Just surprised myself again.”

Myskina, the French Open champion, is confounded by Davenport, even under the best of circumstances. They have played three times on tour and Myskina has not won a set. She acknowledged that beating Davenport would be an enormous task these days, for anyone.

“The person has to be ready 100%, serving four aces in each game, returning unbelievable and just be lucky,” Myskina said.

Myskina looked like a pale imitation of herself. She is usually at her fighting best, snarling and glaring at coach Jens Gerlach during her matches, especially when another Russian is across the net. Sunday, the glares were limited, though she whacked the time clock on the court with her racket.

It was the most one-sided final in the tournament since Conchita Martinez defeated Lisa Raymond, 6-2, 6-0, in 1995.

“I’m really exhausted. I didn’t find the energy to fight and do something,” Myskina said. “You have to play 200% to beat her and I wasn’t ready at all. I wasn’t playing 50% of my game. I’m still really happy -- it was a great tournament for me, and I did my best here.

“My body is really sore. Everything. I woke up and I thought, ‘I wish I had the day off today.’ ”

Late Saturday, Myskina said after the semifinal she was capable of playing two more sets.

“That was yesterday,” Myskina said, smiling.

*

Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Rennae Stubbs of Australia defeated Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paola Suarez of Argentina, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, in the doubles final. ... The 32-point third-set tiebreaker between Myskina and Zvonareva was the longest final-set tiebreaker in a singles match in the history of the WTA, according to the tour.