Lindsay Davenport

Media Conference Call

August 27, 2004

Q. Do you have a special feeling that we’re having a repeat of ’98 with the summer you’ve been having?

A. It’s obviously been an amazing summer and, in that respect, a great, great year for me as well. It’s definitely the best position I’ve been in since ’98 to win the U.S. Open again. But it’s going to be tough, there’s no question about that. The confidence that I’ve had is the most in so long and like I said, I feel the best that I’ve felt ever going into a Grand Slam.

Q. The feelings when you left Wimbledon and you said you couldn’t really imagine yourself back there next year, have those feelings been completely erased by this wonderful run you’ve had?

A. No, they haven’t been completely erased. You know, I definitely said I was going to continue to focus on the rest of this year and see then at the end of the year what happens and I still definitely plan to do that. You know, it’s something that I never thought would happen to be able to get my level totally the highest it’s been and be able to play as consistently as I have been playing and really been able to play with no injuries, which has been an amazing experience considering everything I’ve been through the last few years. You know, I’ll see at the end of the year if I’m feeling still really healthy, who knows what can happen.

Q. I’m wondering a little bit about your decision not to play in the Olympics. When you look back now and realized what happened in Athens, do you have any regrets?

A. I don’t. I definitely went through a couple of days of watching opening ceremonies and watching some of the other events with a little sadness because I know what an amazing venue it is but, you know, I still go back to how do you top winning the gold medal in your home country, you know, with my family there and having it be a surprise. It was very emotional for myself, and like I said, including my family and my dad – who was an Olympian – and would probably tell you that to this day that was probably the bigger accomplishment than anything else that I’ve ever done. You know, I just love those memories and didn’t want to do it. Having watched that, I think that the Olympics should be more of a team event. But it would have been great to go to all the volleyball competition events (laughing).

Q. I know your confidence level is pretty high but is it also buoyed by the victories that you’ve had over Venus and Serena (Williams) after having such a long drought against the girls.

A. Yeah, I mean that winning (at) Stanford and coming through the really, really tough match with Venus after about three hours definitely just kind of sent me on my way the whole summer. I never seemed to look back after that and just started playing every match with a lot more confidence and a lot better. I think winning, like I said, a super close match and against a player who I had recently had some struggles with was a great launching pad into the summer. It just kept going from there. Like I said, I’ll just try to keep it going as long as I can and continue to try to play with a lot of confidence.

Q. Has your career played out the way you thought it would and how much would a U.S. Open win at this point in your career play out your career the way you envisioned it?

A. My career never came close to what I imagined when I was growing up. I grew up with, you know, very realistic expectations, very down-to-earth parents and my dad’s quote was always, “Well, you better get a scholarship if you want to go to a good college because we’re not going to pay for it.” So I really tried to always do really well in tennis so I would be able … I really wanted to go to Stanford. I mean, I never really thought of playing in the pros. You know, you hear these stories about people who are three years old and knowing their destiny or whatever. I’ve more than fulfilled that and had such a run that I never thought I could imagine. To win another Grand Slam would be  … I don’t think I could put it into words because it would be the most special thing that I could do after not winning one for over four years. For just being at a totally different place in my life, I’d love to try to win one being married. I think that would a great accomplishment as well. And, you know, it’s kind of what I’ve done everything over the last 12 months for, is to do well and to try and win another Slam and the U.S. Open would probably be the one that I’d want the most. Being that it was the first one that I’d ever played in, the first one that I’d ever won, and being in the home country.

Q. Can you give a few thoughts on Maria Sharapova and what she brings to the Tour?

A. She’s been, obviously, a great addition. Her run at Wimbledon was pretty remarkable and just a huge breakthrough. You know, we’ve been talking about this other tier of players for a long time and when will they come through and win a Grand Slam and she’s the one that was able to do it, her and (Anastasia) Myskina. I think she also brings, obviously, a totally different off-court image than a lot of the players have. You know, she obviously has the good looks and draws in a ton of attention that way. But I think when you see her you really do believe that she really wants the tennis. She has a huge desire to continue to do well in tennis and not get distracted by a lot of the outside opportunities that might come her way. She’s very competitive. She works very hard. I said last year that I thought she had a great game and was going to be a great player. I didn’t think it would happen as soon as it did at Wimbledon, being only 17, but it didn’t surprise me with the kind of game she has with her serve and ground strokes.

Q. Can you comment on the draw at the U.S. Open?

A. You know, I’ve been told about the draw. I have not looked at it and nor will I. So it’s hard for me to handicap other people’s road. I know my road has been made extremely tough and that’s about all I know.

Q. What do you know about your road?

A. I know the seeds that are in my area.

Q. Do you know your first-round opponent?

A. I do. It starts with a K and its an ‘ova.’

Q. Obviously Justine (Henin-Hardenne) has proven that she’s back.

A. That was pretty remarkable. I think, I mean, the amount of respect I had for her on the court grew even more by just seeing that she was able to come back and be able to win such a big title. About the only match I saw of the Olympics was her final and thought she just played phenomenal. She even looked strong. You can tell she’s been working and training for a little while before she started playing again, which is very smart. But in every big tournament she’s played in the last year or two, she seems to come through in the majority of them. So even though she’s been off for a little while, realistically, she probably has to be the favorite especially since winning the Olympics. Other than that, I really don’t know.

Q. You’re a real veteran, you’ve been around for years, tell us about the change in the game that you’ve seen.

A. Yeah, it’s been an interesting 12 or 15 months. I think that the Tour was going with a lot of momentum and we were really going to a place we had never gone before. And then in the last year with the amount of tennis that the players are expected to play, we just got decimated by injuries, and they’re all happening to our top players at some point or another over the last year and a half. We definitely lost a lot of our momentum. It’s kind of an interesting time to see when people play, who’s healthy, who is able to play at 100 percent. Who is able to come through in the close matches in the big matches. It’s been really interesting to see, especially the last two Grand Slams, who’s come out on top. I think it’s proven that anything can really happen right now. Hopefully, at some point, we’ll realize how to maybe shorten the schedule to let the players play a little bit more healthy and not get so injured. Then I think the tennis would be a lot better.

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