OFF: Will Lindsay Davenport Remain the Queen of Tier III’s?
Article by Aaress Lawless on Mar 7, 2008 | Print |
Lindsay Davenport’s comeback to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour after giving birth to her son Jagger has been successful with four new career titles and a return to the Top 40, but not one of her new trophies has been bigger than a Tier III.
Today’s Open Forum Friday discussion is about Davenport, and whether the South California native can revive her game on her home courts during next week’s Pacific Life Open.
Will Indian Wells help Lindsay reclaim her position as one of the best women in the world or is she destined to remain the Queen of Tier III and IV’s on Tour?”
Everyone, thank you for participating in this week’s Open Forum Friday!
I will be back tomorrow with a look at the best players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour who have never triumphed at a Grand Slam.
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Vicki | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
I think the answer to your off question is a big yes. When Lindsay played Maria at the Australian open it was only her 5th tournament since her comeback and Maria belted everyone that tournament so it wasn’t so bad.
Fast forward to Memphis I know the players that played this event weren’t the best Lindsay could’ve played but winning the way she did is only going to build conference that she can play like one of the top 20 players. Given the right draw in Indian wells and Miami she could do some damage if she hold the form she showed in Memphis and when your where Lindsay is at the moment the only way is up.
Rowan | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
I think that Lindsay will be able to win some bigger tournaments. She hasn’t had very many losses since her comeback. She’s playing like a winner.
Steve Pouliot | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
I don’t believe that’s a legitimate question. Except for losing to the hottest player in the world in Austrailia, she’s beaten just about everyone she has faced. Even with skipping the silly season on clay, she’ll be in the top 10 by the US Open. Lindsay doesn’t need to worry about her draw, except Maria, the other players need to worry about her.
Aaress | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
I don’t know, Steve. Top 10 by the US Open is pretty optimistic.
Lindsay is obviously not defending ranking points, but she’ll need to win several Tier I and Tier II’s and go deep at Wimbledon to post those kind of points by August.
I’m not saying it is impossible, because we watched Martina Hingis do this in 2006. But Hingis did something Davenport is not going to do - play on clay. The Family Circle Cup is a Tier I, Berlin is a Tier I, and Rome is a Tier I - all valuable ranking points.
Steve Pouliot | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
I’m not gonna back down but you sure make some excellent points Aaress. Maybe she won’t get that high but she’ll do real well at pacific life,sony and on grass. I then think Lindsay will continue to do well leading up to the open.
Aaress | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
The Pacific Life Open could be a great opportunity for Lindsay, Steve. With the absence of the Williams sisters and Justine, she’ll have an excellent chance of pulling off her first major comeback win.
pov | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
Interesting. I just checked Davenport’s H2H against Sharapova. 5 meetings before AO 2008 with one victory - at IW.
2005 INDIAN WELLS L. DAVENPORT 6-0 6-0
benjamin | Mar 7, 2008 | Reply
No chance for Davenport to beat Sharapova now or in the future if they meet. The 6-0 6-0 drubbing was a long time ago. The ‘08 Sharapova is in a league of her own. Davenport can win some bigger tournament, but she must not meet Sharapova, Henin, Serena, Ivanovic, Dementieva, Kutznetsova.
Steve Pouliot | Mar 8, 2008 | Reply
I think she’d beat either Henin or Kutznetsova.
Aaress | Mar 8, 2008 | Reply
I remember the double-bagel Davenport threw at Sharapova a few years ago and it was painful, to say the least. I’m not trying to take away from Lindsay’s victory, but it was pretty evident that Maria was having an off-day, worse even than the one she had in the 2007 Australian Open final against Serena.
Like Benjamin said, I can’t see Davenport defeating Sharapova at this point, who still is unbeaten in 2008.
Suzy | Mar 8, 2008 | Reply
Personally, I like the way this year is panning out for tennis in general. Unexpected winners everywhere, simply good for the game.
Yes, that double bagel was interesting, seeing as
Sharapova was ranked number two then and Lindsay number one I think. But, Sharapova is showing so much fight this year that it will take more than simple talent to beat her. You must be up for it or pray she has one of her mind boggling off days.
But, it is early days yet.. will wait to see if Maria can carry this form all through the season… mind you , consistency was never her strong point.
Richard | Mar 8, 2008 | Reply
If Davenport can even win a Tier II, that would require plenty of retirements and pull outs.
I’ll throw in a quick Pacific Life Open prediction for her and say Round of 16 with a lenient draw, though more than likely I expect her to crash out against the first seeded player she meets.
Really, she’ll be good to go seeded around No. 20 or so by the USO. She’ll probably take the No.1 mommy title away from the slumping Bammer, but that’s the only #1 I think she can claim.
Alice | Mar 9, 2008 | Reply
Good question Aaress
On the one hand, losing to Maria is no disgrace in view of the form Maria is in now. So I dont see that loss as a weather bell.
On the other hand, Lindsay wasnt beating the top players laterly before retirement. So what makes us think she can reverse that now?
Still, given the surprising absense of players for a teir 1 event, she could do well this week.
I only agree with Benjamin in part. I can see Lindsay beating those players on her day.
Michael | Mar 10, 2008 | Reply
When it comes to seedings, there’s really no difference between being seeded #32 or #20–you’ll still meet one of the top 16 in the third round, and it’s just the luck of the draw if it’s #1 or #16. The important breaks are at #4, #8, #16, and #32 where you get placed into a different quarter of the draw based on the higher seeding. I think it will be tough for Lindsay to be ranked as high as #16 by Wimbledon, but it is the only Grand Slam that doesn’t seed players strictly by the rankings and uses past performance on grass as a factor. She may get a higher seeding there as a former champion and finalist. (And to my point, they seeded Venus higher than her ranking last year, but it was still only #22 or #23 so it didn’t make that big of a difference in her draw.)