Davenport makes successful return
For the first time since 2005 Lindsay Davenport graced the clay at Amelia Island, trying to recapture the magic that enabled her to win the title there three times (2005, 2004, 1997). She made it a successful return with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow American Vania King, and will now face someone she knows very well in the second round: Jill Craybas. Despite her success there, Davenport can’t be considered the favorite. She hasn’t played a tournament on clay since her return last year and has their is speculation that she won’t play at the French Open.
Clay is definitely not her best surface, as it slows down her powerful groundstrokes and sonic serve and hurts her lateral movement. I am very interested to see how she does on clay this year. She has shown that she can compete on the hard courts, but has yet to win a big title since her return. Her results have been positive for the most part, but her back has been acting up as of late which can’t be a good thing.
There is nothing more that I (and the rest of America for that matter) would like to see than for Lindsay to make a deep run at a Grand Slam. She has the tools, but she needs to stay healthy. No one would question her if she was to step away from the game again (with the baby and all), but the game isn’t the same when she is not around!
