A year ago, Lindsay Davenport had no intention of ever competing on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour again.
Now twelve months later, Davenport has two additional singles titles, a ranking back inside the top 75, and a beautiful new son, Jagger Jonathan Leach.
Davenport is making her career debut at Auckland’s ASB Classic, partially because her ranking has been too high in year’s past to enter the Tier IV tournament.
Regardless of her low ranking, Lindsay is the player to beat in Auckland, a fact acknowledged by top seed Vera Zvonareva, who put Davenport at the top of her list of potential winners. Fortunately for Zvonareva, Davenport is safely residing in the opposite half of the draw, making an encounter impossible until the final round.
Rounding out the remaining seeded berths in the main draw are No. 2 Maria Kirilenko, No. 3 Katarina Srebotnik, No. 4 Michaella Krajicek, No. 5 Anabel Medina Garrigues, No. 6 Tamira Paszek, No. 7 Eleni Danillidou, and No. 8 Emilie Loit.
Davenport will face her countrywoman Laura Granville in the first round, with top seed Vera Zvonareva scheduled to play New Zealand wild card Sacha Jones.
The 24th staging of the ASB Classic will take place December 31, 2007 through January 5, 2008. The main draw features a singles field of thirty-two players and a doubles field of sixteen pairs competing for a combined total of $145,000 dollars.
For more information on the ASB Classic or to take advantage of live scoring and match streaming, visit www.asbclassic.co.nz. A current copy of the main draw is available at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour website.
Given her comeback performance in Bali, Lindsay has to be of the list to win. She may be discovering greater strength since giving birth.
Alice I’ve followed Lindsay since 1994 I can’t remember a time when she been this relaxed and happy. It’s showing in her game and that’s got to be scary of the rest of the tour. A happy Lindsay off the court is happy Lindsay on the court and can only equal great results
I agree, it is one of the most exciting stories in women’s tennis. She is the cool California girl/mom
. I hope she makes serious dent, if not take the Aussie Open Title!! To me that would be the story of the year!!!