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Sports / Tennis
Davenport elated despite comeback defeat
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-23 10:30
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut - Lindsay Davenport said she was delighted to be
back after making her return to competitive tennis at the WTA event in
New Haven on Wednesday, just 10 weeks after the birth of her first child.
Lindsay Davenport hits a return during a doubles match against Liezel
Huber and Cara Black at the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament in New Haven,
Conn., Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007. Huber and Black defeated Davenport and
partner Lisa Raymond 6-7(1), 6-3, 10-4. This was Davenport's first match
since taking time off to have a baby.[AP]?
But the former world number one was beaten in her comeback match as she
and fellow American Lisa Raymond lost 6-7, 6-3, 10-4 (champions tiebreak)
to the world's top-ranked pair, Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
"It was fun to be back," Davenport told reporters.
"I felt good. I was excited to go out there and play. I thought I played
pretty well considering it's been a year and obviously I've been through
a lot."
The 31-year-old Davenport was playing her first competitive match since
September 2006 and is planning to make her singles return in Bali next
month, with a view to playing a full schedule in 2008.
The former Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion said she had
decided to come back because she still believed she can compete at the
highest level.
"I'm back because I felt, why not?" she said.
"I feel like I still am very good at my job and having a child doesn't
mean you have to abandon your career."
"I plan to play one or two singles tournaments (in the autumn), see how
it goes, work in the off-season and hopefully the body's ready to go at a
higher level next year."
Davenport said she knew that her comeback will not be entirely
plain-sailing.
"Getting those instincts back is the hardest part. Every week I feel I
get better at it, but it's still a distance away from where it was when I
was at the top or even when I left the game."
"There's not much I can do but practice and play matches. I'm going to
have to take my lumps and that might include some losses along the way,
but that's the road back, it's uphill.
"I can't say definitively that I'm going to play, like, 15 tournaments
next year. I'm waiting to see what happens."
"I feel like I have to get in better shape still. It's only been 10 weeks
still and I feel like I've made a lot of progress but I have a lot of
work to do and I hope my body allows me to come back and play next year."
Raymond said she was confident Davenport could be a force at the top of
the game again.
"I think Lindsay's one of the best strikers of the ball ever to play the
game," she said.
"I'm sure that once she gets her feet under her and gets a couple of
months of playing under her belt, she's a contender for a grand slam
(title) again, there's no doubt."
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