Davenport plans a full year in ’08

Lindsay Davenport is done with dabbling in tennis. She’s planning a full-fledged comeback next year, with her eyes on at least three Grand Slam tournaments along with the Fed Cup and, possibly, the Beijing Olympics.

Davenport, 31, took 11 months off the WTA Tour after giving birth to her first child, a boy, in June and was unsure about her future. But she played in three small events at the end of this season -- enough to persuade her she was ready for more.

“I just didn’t think that athletically I’d be able to rebound as well as I have,” Davenport said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. “My body has felt really great the last six months.”

She will play in her first Grand Slam tournament in more than a year at January’s Australian Open. While she’s not so sure about playing at the French Open, Davenport does plan on entering Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

“I was really excited to come back and play, but also really nervous about still being able to do well and having the comeback be a success,” Davenport said. “But, yeah, I never would have thought that it would have gone as well as it has so far.”

Davenport, who won three Grand Slam singles titles and reached No. 1 in the rankings, returned to the tour in August by playing doubles at New Haven, Conn., then went 13-1 the rest of the season at three singles tournaments, winning two titles.

Mark Philippoussis, winner of 11 ATP titles, conceded his career may be over as he prepared for a fourth operation on the right knee he injured during an Australian Open wild-card playoff. A similar injury sidelined Philippoussis, 31, for all of 2007.

JURISPRUDENCE

Four plead not guilty in Taylor’s killing

Four suspects accused in the Nov. 26 killing of Washington Redskins Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor filed written not guilty pleas to first-degree felony murder and armed burglary charges.

Jailed without bond in the case are Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Charles Wardlow, 18; Jason Mitchell, 19; and Venjah Hunte, 20.

A grand jury indictment has identified Rivera as the shooter.

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker sued a celebrity gossip website that published stories claiming he had an affair with French model Alexandra Paressant.

Parker sued X17online.com in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging it posted a series of “false and defamatory” stories claiming Parker cheated on his wife, actress Eva Longoria. He’s seeking at least $40 million in damages.

MISCELLANY

Landis suspended until 2009 in France

Floyd Landis cannot compete in France until Jan. 31, 2009 even if he has his two-year doping ban lifted by the sport’s highest court.

Landis, stripped of his 2006 Tour title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone, has already received a suspension until that date by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency but has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

Tiger Woods, Lorena Ochoa and Jay Haas were voted players of the year on their respective tours by the Golf Writers Assn. of America, the second straight year they won the awards.

Woods, who has won the PGA Tour award a record nine times in the last 11 years, received 205 votes, with the other five going to Phil Mickelson. Ochoa won the LPGA Tour by the same margin over Suzann Pettersen.

Haas had 152 votes to Loren Roberts’ 56 in winning the Champions Tour award.

Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, 87, was admitted to a hospital in Madrid after a dizzy spell and was in stable condition.

Samaranch was hospitalized with high blood pressure but was “responding well to treatment,” hospital spokesman Pedro Tarquis said.