Davenport beats nerves and Ellani
This was a day of firsts for Lindsay Davenport. First grand slam since childbirth, first cramps on court, first omens.
“Maybe the sign of the day was to come when my son woke up crying at 5am with a nightmare,” Davenport said.
“I should have read more into that than I did.”
Davenport snuck home against Italian Sara Ellani 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Even with Davenport’s recent return from the birth of son Jagger, the former world number one wasn’t expected to have this much trouble.
“There was definitely a lot more nerves than I thought there would be. Just to play a grand slam again, I never thought I would be in this arena again in my career,” Davenport said.
“I’ve seen a thousand more people than I’ve seen in the small tournaments I played around the world. I think a lot of those factors kind of entered into why I didn’t play my best.”
By winning today, Davenport overtakes Steffi Graf as the greatest prize money winner in the women’s sport (US$21,897,501 before the Australian Open). There were times the American looked far removed from the greatest stakes winner in history, noticeably fatiguing in the third set.
“It’s the funniest thing. I’ve never cramped in my life.”
Davenport’s non-seeding will now bite, with 5th seed Maria Sharapova waiting in the second round
“It’s one of the few players I don’t have a winning record against probably in the draw.”
| > | Jessica weeds out first slam win |
| > | Life lessons on Planet Serena |
| > | Roddick eases past Kamikaze Dlouhy |
| > | Murray: Preparation not to blame |
| > | Davenport beats nerves and Ellani |
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