Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005). She also held the doubles world No. 1 ranking for 32 weeks.[3]
Davenport amassed career-earnings of US$22,166,338; currently 16th in the all-time rankings among female tennis players and formerly first, prior to being surpassed by Serena Williams in January 2009.[4]
Lindsay Davenport is the daughter of Wink Davenport, who was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and Ann L. Davenport, the president of the Southern California Volleyball Association.[6][7][8] Davenport was born to an athletic family. While her two older sisters, Leiann and Shannon, played volleyball,[9] Lindsay began playing tennis at age six. She was coached by Robert Lansdorp, who had previously coached Tracy Austin.[7] She attended Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. At age 16, her family moved to Murrieta, California, where she attended and graduated from Murrieta Valley High School, and she began to work with, among others, Robert Van't Hof.[10][11] At age 16, Davenport joined the United States Tennis Association junior national team. She had a rapid growth spurt — about six inches in two years — which affected her coordination, but did not hinder her performance. She excelled at junior level competitions and swept the singles and doubles titles at the National Girls' 18s and Clay Court Championships in 1991 and won the Junior U.S. Open in 1992.[12]
While Davenport's first play dated back to 1991, she officially became a professional two years after her first professional-level matches. Davenport's doubles success in 1993 was a 17–16 record while she reached the top 100 in doubles rankings. She reached the third round at the 1993 Australian Open doubles competition with Chanda Rubin. Davenport entered the top 20, despite coming into her first tournament that year ranked no. 162. She qualified for the 1993 Australian Open, reaching the third round before falling to Mary Pierce.
At the Indian Wells Masters, Davenport reached the quarterfinals ranked no. 99, but lost to 7th-ranked and future doubles partner Mary Joe Fernández. Later that year, Davenport won her first Tier III title at the European Open where she beat Nicole Bradtke in three sets in the finals. She reached the third round at the 1993 Wimbledon Championships, and at the 1993 US Open, the American reached the fourth round ranked no. 24. 1993 is also notable because it was the one time she faced Martina Navratilova, falling in three sets, 6–1, 3–6, 5–7, in the Oakland semifinals.
1994
Davenport won the first professional tournament she entered in Brisbane, Australia. At the Australian Open, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, defeating no. 5 Mary Joe Fernández in the fourth round, before losing in the quarterfinals to top-ranked Steffi Graf. Davenport then reached the semifinals at Indian Wells, California and Miami and won the title in Lucerne. At Wimbledon, Davenport reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal. Ranked ninth, Davenport defeated tenth ranked Gabriela Sabatini, before losing to third ranked Conchita Martínez, who went on to win the tournament. In November, she reached her first WTA Tour Championship final, losing to Sabatini.
In December 1994, Davenport hired Craig Kardon as her coach.[14]
1995
Davenport started the year by reaching the final of the tournament in Sydney, where she lost to Gabriela Sabatini. Davenport again reached the Australian Open quarterfinals and the following week, lost to Kimiko Date in the final of the tournament in Tokyo.
On clay, Davenport won the tournament in Strasbourg on her first attempt, defeating Kimiko Date in the final. Date, however, turned the tables at the French Open, defeating Davenport in the fourth round.
At Wimbledon, Davenport was upset in the fourth round by Mary Joe Fernández. At the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, Davenport was again upset, this time in the second round by Zina Garrison Jackson.
In doubles, Davenport and Jana Novotná started the year by winning the tournament in Sydney. Davenport and Lisa Raymond then lost in the Australian Open semifinals to the top seeded team of Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva. Davenport teamed with Nicole Arendt to reach the French Open semifinals, where they lost to the top seeded team of Novotná and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. At Wimbledon, Davenport and Raymond, the fourth seeded team, were upset in the first round. At the US Open, Davenport and Raymond were again the fourth seeded team and were upset in the third round by fifteenth seeded Lori McNeil and Helena Suková. In other tournaments, Davenport and Raymond won in Indian Wells, and Davenport and Mary Joe Fernández won in Tokyo (the non-Tier I tournament) and Strasbourg.
After her one-year contract with Kardon had ended, Davenport hired Robert Van't Hof as her full-time coach.[10]
1996
Davenport's year began with a runner-up finish in Sydney. She was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open. Davenport then reached the semifinals of the tournament in Indian Wells, California, where she lost to Steffi Graf.
On clay, Davenport won the Strasbourg tournament and reached the French Open quarterfinals, losing to Conchita Martínez.
During the summer, Davenport won the tournament in Los Angeles, defeating Graf for the first time in her career in the semifinals, before defeating Anke Huber in the final. Davenport then won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics, defeating Mary Joe Fernández in the semifinal and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final.
In doubles, Davenport teamed with Mary Joe Fernández to win the tournament in Sydney, before losing in the final of the Australian Open to Chanda Rubin and Sánchez Vicario. Davenport and Fernandez then won the French Open doubles title, defeating Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva in the final. The two also won the tournament in Oakland and the year-end Chase Championships together. Davenport partnered with Zvereva to win the tournament in Los Angeles.
Davenport began her clay-court season by winning the tournament in Amelia Island, Florida. However, she lost to Iva Majoli, the eventual champion, in the fourth round at the French Open, despite being up a set and 4–0 in the second set.
At Wimbledon, Davenport lost to Denisa Chládková in the second round. She then lost to Monica Seles in the final at Los Angeles, after beating top-ranked Martina Hingis in the semifinals. After winning in Atlanta, Davenport reached her first grand slam semifinal at the US Open, losing to Hingis. Davenport won the titles in Zürich and Chicago, before losing the Philadelphia final to Hingis in a third set tie-break.
In doubles, Davenport was the runner-up in Sydney with Natasha Zvereva and at the Australian Open with Lisa Raymond. She won the US Open with Czech partner Jana Novotná. Davenport's other doubles titles were in Tokyo, Indian Wells, Amelia Island, and Berlin.
Davenport's next victory on tour was her first Grand Slam singles title at the 1998 US Open, defeating fifth-ranked Venus Williams in the semifinals and top-ranked Hingis in the final. She became the first American-born woman to win the U.S. Open since Chris Evert in 1982.[15]
Davenport then won Zürich and lost to 17th-ranked Graf in Philadelphia despite attaining the no. 1 ranking.[16] Davenport finished the year with a loss to Hingis in the final of the Chase Championships .
In doubles, Davenport reached the final of the 1998 Australian Open with Natasha Zvereva, where they lost to the wildcard team of Hingis and Mirjana Lučić. Davenport and Zvereva lost to Hingis and Lučić again in the Tokyo final, and then won both Indian Wells and Berlin, both times defeating Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat in the final.
Davenport and Zvereva then lost to Hingis and Jana Novotná in the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open doubles finals. Davenport won San Diego and Stanford with Zvereva and lost in the US Open doubles final. Davenport won Filderstadt, and then the year-end doubles championship with Zvereva, defeating Fusai and Tauziat in three sets. In 1998, Davenport reached all four Grand Slam doubles finals with Zvereva, losing to teams that included Hingis all four times.
At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Davenport and Zvereva beat Hingis and Jana Novotná, to whom they had lost in three of the four 1998 Grand Slam doubles finals. Davenport's second singles title of the year was at Madrid where she defeated lucky loserPaola Suárez in the final.
At Roland Garros, she reached the quarter-finals losing to Steffi Graf. Along the way, she defeated qualifier and future four-times French Open champion Justine Henin in the second round. Davenport's next tournament championship was at Wimbledon. In the final, she defeated Steffi Graf in Graf's last career Grand Slam match. Davenport also won the doubles title at Wimbledon with Corina Morariu, defeating Mariaan de Swardt and Elena Tatarkova in the final.
After Wimbledon, Davenport won the singles and doubles titles in Stanford and won San Diego in doubles with Morariu over Serena and Venus Williams in the final, the only doubles final the sisters have ever lost in their playing careers. She lost the US Open semifinal to eventual champion Serena Williams.[17] To close the year, Davenport won two additional singles and the Chase Championships with a victory over Hingis in the final.
2000
Davenport started the year by losing the Sydney singles final against Amélie Mauresmo.
At the French Open, Davenport was upset by the 22nd-ranked Dominique Van Roost in three sets in the first round. Van Roost again beat her at The Hastings Direct International Championships in Eastbourne.
Davenport was at least a quarterfinalist in all seventeen of her singles events. She won seven singles titles, with victories in Tokyo, Scottsdale, Eastbourne, Los Angeles, Filderstadt, Zürich, and Linz. After clinching the year-end number one ranking in a semifinal win over Clijsters (where she injured her knee at the end of the match), she withdrew in the final of the year-end Chase Championships against Serena Williams. She was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, a semifinalist at Wimbledon, and a quarterfinalist at the US Open. She lost in the Australian Open doubles final with Morariu to Venus and Serena Williams. She teamed with Lisa Raymond to win the doubles titles in Filderstadt and Zürich.
Davenport played her first doubles tournament of the year in Filderstadt in October, where she partnered with Lisa Raymond to win the title. Her relationship with Coach Robert Van't Hof ended.
2003
Davenport started the year by hiring Rick Leach as her coach, but this association lasted only a short time. She then hired Adam Peterson.[19] She reached the final of the tournament in Sydney, where she lost to Kim Clijsters. She then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she lost to Justine Henin. Davenport then won in Tokyo and lost in the Indian Wells, California final to Clijsters. At the remaining Grand Slam tournaments of the year, she lost in the French Open fourth round, the Wimbledon quarterfinals, and the US Open semifinals. She was the runner-up at tournaments in Amelia Island, Florida, Los Angeles, and New Haven.
Davenport won a tour-high seven titles, including four straight during the summer (Stanford, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Cincinnati). She also had the most match wins on the WTA Tour, with 63. She finished the year ranked first for the third time in her career. She defeated Venus and Serena Williams for the first time since 2000, which she said instilled belief in her that she could win more Grand Slam tournaments.
Davenport preparing to return a ball at the 2004 Wimbledon tournament
2005
Davenport's success continued into 2005, when she reached her first Grand Slam final, at the Australian Open, since the 2000 US Open; she fell to Serena Williams in three sets.
At the tournament in Indian Wells, California, in March, Davenport made history by defeating world no. 3 Maria Sharapova, 6–0, 6–0. It marked the first time that a player ranked in the top 3 had ever been "shut out" on the WTA tour and was the first time Sharapova had failed to win a game during a match. This turned out to be Davenport's only career victory against Sharapova.
Davenport bypassed the European clay-court season and went to the French Open without having played a professional competitive match for weeks. She confounded expectations with a run to the quarterfinals on her least favourite surface, including a come-from-behind victory over Kim Clijsters in the fourth round. Davenport lost to eventual runner-up Mary Pierce.
At Wimbledon, Davenport was the top seed and made it easily to the fourth round, where she was tested again by Clijsters, but came through in three sets to win her second successive match against the Belgian. Davenport then reached the semifinals, where her match against Amélie Mauresmo was interrupted by rain and was completed over the course of two days. Davenport eventually defeated Mauresmo and faced 14th-seeded Venus Williams in an all-American final. Davenport led most of the way, as she served for the match at 6–5 in the second set, and had a match point at 5–4 in the third set. Williams went on to win, 4–6, 7–6, 9–7, in the longest (in terms of time) women's Wimbledon final in history. In that match, Davenport sustained a serious back injury while leading 4–2 (40–15) in the final set, although she acknowledged after the match that the injury did not cause her defeat and that Williams was the superior mentally strong player on the day. The injury forced Davenport to withdraw from Fed Cup competition. She returned to the tour at the Stanford tournament. After reinjuring her back in a warmup just hours before her match, Davenport retired while trailing 0–5 in the first set. This back injury then forced her to withdraw from other hard-court events in San Diego and Los Angeles.
Davenport returned to the WTA Tour in August, winning her comeback tournament in New Haven without dropping a set. Davenport then reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, where she held a match point on Elena Dementieva, before falling in the third set tie-break. Davenport briefly lost the no. 1 ranking following the event.
After the loss at the US Open, Davenport captured the title in Bali without dropping a set, and subsequently qualified for the WTA Tour Championships. She then won the title in Filderstadt, defeating Mauresmo in the final for the second consecutive year. The win made her only the tenth woman ever to win 50 career WTA singles titles.
In Zürich, Davenport saved two match points while defeating Daniela Hantuchová. The win assured Davenport of recapturing the world no. 1 ranking from Sharapova the following week. In the final, Davenport defeated sixth seeded Patty Schnyder for her fourth title in Zürich and her sixth title of 2005, second only to Clijsters's nine. It was also the first time Davenport had saved match points en route to a victory since the 1999 U.S. Open. The Zürich title left her with eleven Tier I titles, second among active players.
Davenport was a semifinalist at the WTA tour year-end championships (losing to Pierce in two tie-breaks), which ensured that she finished the year ranked no. 1. 2005 was the fourth time that Davenport ended the year ranked no. 1, joining Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert as the only female players to end a year ranked first at least four times.
In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked Davenport 29th in its list of the 40 greatest players of the tennis era.
2006
On February 22, 2006, Davenport became just the eighth woman in WTA history to win 700 singles matches, when she handed out her fourth career "double bagel", defeating Elena Likhovtseva in the second round of the Dubai tournament.
At the March tournament in Indian Wells, California, Davenport lost in the fourth round to Martina Hingis. She was then absent from the tour until August because of a back injury. She returned in Los Angeles, losing a second-round match to Samantha Stosur. It was Davenport's earliest exit from a tournament since early 2003. Davenport attributed the loss to her having resumed training only three weeks prior to the start of the tournament. Davenport had re-hired Adam Peterson as her coach, with whom she worked during her 2004–05 resurgence.
At the tournament in New Haven, Davenport defeated world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, but was forced to retire with a right shoulder injury while playing Justine Henin in the final.
Despite injury, Davenport reached the US Open quarterfinals, where she again lost to Henin.
Davenport's last competitive match before the December announcement of her pregnancy was a quarterfinal loss in Beijing to top-ranked Mauresmo. It was Mauresmo's first win over Davenport after nine consecutive losses.
2007
On July 18, 2007, Davenport announced that she would return to the WTA Tour. At her first tournament, she partnered with Lisa Raymond in the doubles competition at New Haven, where they lost in the first round to top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
Davenport returned to singles competition in Bali, where she won her first title since 2005, defeating Daniela Hantuchová in the final. En route to the title, Davenport defeated third ranked Jelena Janković, among others. Davenport and her partner Hantuchová also advanced to the semifinals in Bali, before withdrawing from the tournament.
Davenport's second tournament was in Beijing, where she defeated fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals, before losing to Janković in the semifinals.
Davenport's third tournament was in Quebec City, Canada, defeating second-seeded Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals and Julia Vakulenko in the final. This was Davenport's 53rd career singles title and lifted her to no. 73 in the WTA rankings.
2008
Davenport won the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, the first WTA tour event of the year. Davenport defeated Aravane Rezaï in the final. This raised her ranking to world no. 52. She was the only player in the WTA top 100 that had fewer than 10 tournaments counting towards her world ranking.
At the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, Davenport lost in the second round to eventual champion Maria Sharapova, 1–6, 3–6. This was the first time that Davenport had lost to Sharapova in straight sets.
On January 14, 2008, Davenport surpassed Steffi Graf in career prize money earned on the women's tour, garnering a total of US$21,897,501.
In her first clay-court tournament since 2005, Davenport reached the semifinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, where she defaulted her match with Sharapova before it began, due to illness. Citing undisclosed personal reasons, Davenport withdrew from the French Open five days before the tournament began.
At Wimbledon, Davenport was seeded 25th, won her first-round match, and then withdrew from the tournament because of a right knee injury.
On August 8, 2008, Davenport withdrew from the singles competition at the Olympic Games in Beijing because of a lingering knee injury.[20] She and her partner, world no. 1 doubles player Liezel Huber, lost in the women's doubles quarterfinals.
At the US Open, Davenport was seeded 23rd and lost to 12th-seeded Marion Bartoli in the third round. Davenport was scheduled to play the Fortis Championships Luxembourg in October, but withdrew before the start of the tournament.
2009
Davenport announced her intention to play in the 2009 Australian Open in January, ending speculation that she would be retiring from the sport. However, she withdrew from the event when she learned that she was expecting her second child. It was announced on June 30, 2009, that Davenport had given birth to a baby girl.[21]
Davenport also announced her intention to play doubles at two tournaments in the American hard-court season. The first tournament was the women's doubles event at the 2010 Bank of the West Classic, where she won the title partnering Liezel Huber. She followed this with the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open, again with Huber. They lost in the quarterfinals to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi.
Davenport won multiple league honors during her WTT career including Female MVP 1997 and 2010; Women's Singles scoring leader 1997, 1998; Female Rookie of the Year 1993; Mixed Doubles scoring leader 1998 (w/ Brian MacPhie).
Playing style
Davenport was an aggressive baseliner,[24] whose game was built around her powerful serve and groundstrokes, which were used to dominate play, and hit winners both crosscourt and down-the-line.[11] Due to her aggressive and risky playing style, she typically hit large numbers of both winners and unforced errors. Gabriela Sabatini once commented that, "[Lindsay] likes to hit the ball hard into the corner. Very, very hard". She would typically utilise aggressive serve/groundstroke combinations to finish points quickly, and, by aiming for the corners and the lines, Davenport was able to dictate play from the baseline.[25] Davenport has been described as one of the cleanest ball strikers in WTA history, as well as one of the most powerful;[12][26] in 2021, Serena Williams described Davenport in retrospect as the "hardest" hitter she had ever faced, and the most "powerful" player of all time.[27] Davenport possessed an exceptionally powerful first serve, which peaked at 119mph (192km/h), allowing her to serve multiple aces in any given match. She also possessed powerful and effective kick and slice serves, which she deployed as second serves; these prevented double faults, and allowed her to dictate play from a defensive position.[28] She was known for her forehand, which was hit flat with an Eastern forehand grip, affording consistent depth, power, and penetration; Gigi Fernández once remarked that Davenport has developed "a forehand as good as Steffi Graf's."[12] She was also known for her powerful two-handed backhand, which was similarly hit hard and flat. Her lack of court speed and mobility was her greatest weakness throughout her career,[29] until she overhauled her conditioning program and lost 30 pounds beginning in 1995; she was also known for her mental strength.[7][24] She was a thirteen-time grand slam finalist in doubles, although she typically only approached the net in singles matches to retrieve short balls, or to finish a point when she had created an opportunity to attack with her powerful overhead smash.[30] Throughout her career, Davenport rarely used defensive shots, instead predicating her game on pure power and aggression.
Equipment and endorsements
Davenport was endorsed by Nike for clothing, shoes, and on-court apparel.[31] She was also endorsed by Wilson for racquets throughout her career, typically utilising a racquet from the Wilson Hammer range.[32]
Davenport married Jon Leach, a Merrill Lynch investment banker and former University of Southern CaliforniaAll-American tennis player, on April 25, 2003, in Hawaii.[34] He is the brother of her former coach Rick Leach. Davenport took a break from competitive tennis in late 2006 and much of 2007 to have a baby. In 2007, she gave birth to a son, Jagger Leach, in Newport Beach, California.[35][36][37] She gave birth to a daughter in 2009 also in Newport Beach, California.[38] She gave birth to her third child, a daughter, in 2012.[39] The couple's fourth child (and third daughter) was born in 2014.[40] She owns homes in the Irvine, California, neighborhood of Shady Canyon,[41] in Laguna Beach, California, and in Kona, Hawaii.
Jagger Leach made his Major debut in the juniors tournament at the 2024 Australian Open.[42] Jagger Leach reached the quarter-finals of the juniors tournament at Wimbledon 2024.
Records
These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
Named the U.S. Olympic Committee's female athlete of the month for July 1999 after winning the women's doubles and singles at Wimbledon.
Voted by journalists at the 2000 French Open as the winner of the Prix Orange, which goes to the player who has shone in the tennis world the international essence of fairness, kindness, availability, and friendliness.
Re-elected to the WTA player council in 2002.
Voted by the International Tennis Writers Association as a joint winner of the 2004 women's Ambassador for Tennis award.
2007 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Comeback Player of the Year.
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
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Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She won 16 WTA singles titles, reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open and reached seven other Grand Slam semifinals. Dementieva was also part of the Russian team that won the 2005 Fed Cup. In doubles, she won the 2002 WTA Championships with Janette Husárová and was the runner-up in two US Open doubles finals – in 2002 with Husárová and in 2005 with Flavia Pennetta. Dementieva achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 3, which was accomplished on 6 April 2009. She announced her retirement on 29 October 2010, after her final match at the 2010 WTA Championships. Between 2003 and 2010, she only ended one year, in 2007, outside the top 10. She is considered to be one of the most talented players never to have won a Grand Slam tournament.
The tennis career of Serena Williams began in 1995, but she did not compete in 1996. She continued through the 1997 season and ended in the top 20 in 1998. And was starting to already gain fame during these years of her doing tennis.
The 2015 WTA Finals was a women's tennis tournament at Singapore. It was the 45th edition of the singles event and the 40th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams.
↑ "Lindsay Davenport". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
1 2 Pucin, Diane (August 5, 1999). "In Rob She Trusts". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
↑ Wolff, Alexander (September 13, 1993). "Lindsay Davenport". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
World No. 1 October 12, 1998 – February 7, 1999 July 5, 1999 – August 8, 1999 April 3, 2000 – May 7, 2000 May 15, 2000 – May 21, 2000 November 5, 2001 – January 13, 2002 October 18, 2004 – August 21, 2005 August 29, 2005 – September 11, 2005 October 24, 2005 – January 29, 2006
Succeededby
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis Martina Hingis Martina Hingis Jennifer Capriati Maria Sharapova Maria Sharapova Kim Clijsters
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