On June 10, Lindsay Davenport gave birth to a baby boy, Jagger Jonathan, in Newport Beach, California.
A mere three months later she marked her return to the WTA Tour with an impressive 6-2 6-2 win over
fifth seed Eleni Daniilidou at the Tier III event in Bali. It was the 31-year-old's first competitive
singles match since losing to Amelie Mauresmo in Beijing a year ago. "Obviously with this being my
first match after so long out, it was a big challenge," Davenport told reporters. "I'm really excited
with how I played out there and it means a lot to me because I've worked hard for this. You never know
what to expect after a long lay-off, but I just tried to keep my concentration and it's great to get
the win. There's still lots I can work on, like my movement and timing, but those will come with matches
and for the moment I'm just so happy with my performance."
At a shade over 6 ft 2 in, Davenport is the tallest woman ever to win a Grand Slam singles title.
The first of her three major successes came in 1998 when she beat defending champion Martina Hingis
in the final of the US Open on her mother's birthday. She followed this up by capturing the Wimbledon
crown in 1999 and the Australian Open title in 2000. Davenport topped the rankings at various times
between 1998 and 2005 and, in February 2006, she became just the eighth woman in WTA history to win
700 singles matches when she inflicted a "double bagel" on Elena Likhovtseva in the Dubai Duty
Free Women's Open.
She made a short-lived return to the Tour in the doubles at last month's New Haven tournament,
partnering Lisa Raymond. The pair lost to top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber. Quite undeterred,
Davenport is playing doubles (with Daniela Hantuchova) as well as singles in Bali. Travelling
with Jagger, mother Ann, a hitting partner and a nanny, she also plans to compete in Beijing
next week and may well make an appearance at the 2008 Australian Open.
Considered a great ambassador for tennis, Davenport was voted by journalists at the 2000 French
Open as the winner of the Prix Orange, awarded to the most approachable and friendly player on
the circuit. She was also named winner of the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award in 2004.
She has two Rottweilers (Zoltan and Scout) and enjoys listening to alternative music, e.g. Institute,
Hole, Coldplay and Gwen Stefani. She also tries to find time for reading magazines and doing
crossword puzzles.
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