PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

 

March 17, 2008

 

Lindsay Davenport

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How was it for you?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. You know, it was tough. You know, I really felt like I should have, could have, really played a little better and focused. I wish it would have been two sets. I was up in the second and had a lot of chance and a lot of opportunities that just kind of slipped away. By the time I got to 5-All in the second I was so frustrated that I really let it go to a third set.
Having said that, I'm happy to walk off the court playing the way I did the last four games and taking back control and playing better. But I was just getting so, like, frustrated the second set, which, you know, next time hopefully I can keep my cool a little better and focus in on the task at hand.

Q. Mostly frustrated at what you were doing or not doing?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, exactly. I just really felt lethargic out there. She was playing well and I just felt like I wasn't really on my toes as much as I should be and wasn't really attacking the ball like I need to be. Just kind of drawing everything out. It was like a slow death.
Some of that was definitely because of her play. She forced me into some errors and she'd come up with some good winners. It was just really frustrating, especially in the second.

Q. So what would be the goal in the tournament with a deep field, a good field? You've done very well at times in the comeback. Australia wasn't quite the level, and then you had a strange Fed Cup loss. Coming in here, what are you thinking when you look in the draw?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I was obviously really excited to play here. It's really my second big tournament besides Melbourne, and I felt like I got a more favorable draw here than in Melbourne. I wanted to try to take advantage of that as best I can.
I played good players along the way, but I feel like these are the type of players I want to play. You know, Bartolis, and hopefully I can win and get a chance to play Jankovic and really test my game out against those girls.
I believe when I'm playing well I can still challenge everybody and do well. I played some of my best tennis in Memphis a few weeks ago, and obviously the conditions here are a lot different. If I can get going and play well and be positive and have some energy, I feel like I'm still quite dangerous.

Q. You were saying after your loss to Maria in Australia you felt like you really had lost a step. Were you just saying that out of frustration, or do you still feel that way?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I definitely felt like that that night. I worked a lot on it, especially after Fed Cup when I had some time, and did well in Memphis. You know, I maybe didn't train as much coming into here, just by getting back from Memphis and trying to rest and everything.
It's definitely something I always need to work on, and hopefully I'll get it back here. (laughter.)

Q. How much do you like this tournament? I mean, is it's sort of your home event.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

Q. I mean, is it favorable conditions for you, do you find? Do you feel like you've had a good time here, struggled here?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, for the most part, I think I've had the most success overall here than most tournaments, won a lot of matches here. Ironically, the conditions aren't the greatest for me. The court isn't fast. It's, you know, a little bit grainy and a little bit slow. I like normally when it's not so windy the conditions here: light, thin air.
You know, you can definitely hit the ball hard through the air. But I think most of the time -- this is my favorite tournament. I've always said that. I have a lot of, obviously, friends in the area, family that comes. Turned pro here. I have a lot of special memories in this neck of the woods.

Q. You know what it takes to be at the very, very top. The amount of commitment and time and all the rest of it. When you look what you're doing at the moment and with your new life, how on how on earth do you juggle all that?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Everything takes a little bit of a sacrifice, and I still dedicate as much time as I can to my career. It's certainly not as much as I did for about an eight-year stretch between '98 and 2006 or something.
But I've tried to make the most of my time in everything that I do. And, you know, on a day like today it's really frustrating. I won't see my son from 3:00 p.m. today until tomorrow morning, because by the time I get back he'll be in bed.
So those kind of days kind of bum me out when I'm still sitting here. But for the most part, I'm really lucky. I feel like I get a chance to do it all. I still get a chance to do my career and play tennis and still be a mom normally 18 to 20 hours out of the day.
I feel lucky in that regard. But I think everything takes a little bit of a sacrifice, like, working out or getting treatment from a doctor or physiotherapists. When I'm home, I have to be careful with what I spend my time doing.

Q. Have you always been a multi-tasker?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Better now. I enjoy being busy. I enjoy having things to do. A lot of what makes the tour life so boring is when you're not playing and not practicing there's a lot of down time.
Especially with my husband not traveling there was a lot of down time in foreign countries. Kind of drives you crazy. Now I feel like I'm more fulfilled than ever on the road. Just trying to get as much time in the day when I'm at home to do everything I need to do.

Q. How do you clear your head of all the things that come with being a mom, especially a new mom, to actually focus on actually hitting balls in the court?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Sometimes it's a nice relief and break to go on court and know you have 90 minutes to focus on something else. A lot of times he comes with me. I have really, really great people that watch him, so every time I leave him I'm never ever concerned about his well-being.
But for -- you know, it's challenging. For here it's a first time he's been sick and we had to take him to the doctor, so yesterday I was stressed out of my mind like yelling at my husband, all because, you know, my son has a fever and he's not sleeping.
But for the most part we juggle it pretty well.

Q. How high was his fever?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was, like, I think 101. But I think it's mostly because he's teething they think. But he has a rash all over his body and he's really cranky. It's the first time it happened, so I was like, it was a nightmare yesterday.

Q. Did you have to take him over to Urgent Care or was there a doctor around?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: The tournament doctor here. (laughter.) I'm like, I'm really sorry. (laughter.) I know there's probably a player waiting. But, no. When I went there was no player in there, luckily.

Q. What time of day did you go?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It was around, like, 3:00, 3:30. I don't know. What do you guys think? Somewhere around there.

Q. He's a great looking kid and very big kid.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah.

Q. Do you see him grow every week or so?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: He's huge. He's great. We take it as a compliment. Someone the other day was like, Oh, your son's so big, and I'm like, Yeah, thank you. She goes to me, I had a friend who had a really obese baby. (laughter.) Don't worry, when he grew tall, he grew out of it. I'm like, Oh, my God. I was like, Oh, God, okay. That's pretty funny.
But, yeah, he's big. He's a big bruiser. We think he's great.

Q. In 17, 18 years he could be playing tackle for us.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Hopefully. We're lining him up to be a linebacker, feeding him a lot.

Q. There's a big cultural event going to happen tomorrow with Monica on TV, Dancing with the Stars.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah. I am so bummed, because I play second after 7:00 p.m. I'm like, what are the odds that that happens? But I'm so excited for her. I'm hoping someone in this area TiVos it for me so I can watch it after my match. I sent her an e-mail today wishing her good luck, and there's signs in the locker room for all the players to vote for her and watch.
I swear, she's so great, she's so courageous I can't wait to see her.

Q. Let's go scouting report here. She had sort of short little fast footwork. She might be able to pull it off.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think she will do well in the first few rounds. I think just with the mindset of an athlete, knowing what needs to be done, I'm sure she's worked her butt off for six months or whatever. She has that kind of mentality.
I read a list of some of the people she's going against. Obviously some are going to be tough to beat, like Kristi Yamaguchi, and ice skater. She seems to have a pretty big advantage there.
There are some others I think she will take out in the first few rounds.

Q. She might get a sympathy vote.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think so. I think people, when they see her, will see her and remember why they adored her for so many years.

Q. So you think she'll save her grunting for the later rounds?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think she's going to make a run deep. I think she's going to go at least in the final four, final five and see who she gets up against.

Q. Are you getting some ideas for you, Lindsay?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No, never.

Q. Monica's coming from that part of the world that Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are from. What are your thoughts from those young guns in Serbia?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think they're great, and they are two completely opposite girls. But the country seems to just be exploding with talent on the men's and the women's side.
It's great for a country that obviously in the past decade -- well, for a long time -- has gone through a really tough time. I think it gives the people lots to be happy for and to cheer for, and they fight really hard. That's one characteristic that all of them have. They don't give anything away, and they're very competitive.
Having said that, I don't know any of them particularly well, but Ivanovic is a really super nice girl. I know her a little bit more, and I'm a big fan of hers.

Q. Do you think the sense of fun that they have on court is important in terms of selling the women's game?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think they're great ambassadors for the game. I think that Ivanovic is one of the prettiest girls we have playing, and she's sweet and competitive and graceful at the same time.
I think that, like I said, they're both really big fighters. I think that they're excellent role models for everybody.

Q. How much are you looking beyond the Olympics with regard to competitive tennis, or does much depend on how you play between now and then?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: You know, I've thought about it really through the Open, and then haven't really thought about it much in the fall at all. That's kind of been the goal all along is to, scheduling-wise, is to get through New York, and then we'll kind of reassess things.
I'm sure probably at Wimbledon I'll have a better idea of what happens in the fall. You know, maybe I'll play a little bit. I'm not -- I have no idea at this point.

Q. Do you know what you're going to play in the spring as far as clay court events? Are you going to play in the French?
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I'm playing Amelia Island, Fed Cup, and then nothing until the grass.

Q. At one point you were talking about playing Roland Garros.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I was? (Shaking head.) No, happily no.

Q. Maybe I'm wrong.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, no.

End of FastScripts