TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 25, 2000

Lindsay Davenport

WTA: Questions for Lindsay.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I don't know. Ever since I came back in about November from the wrist injury, I just seem to just play really well on the court, kept my focus well, and done everything that I need to do to win matches and win a lot of them easily. I think that's helped me in the latter rounds of tournament. When you can get the first few under your belt pretty easily, you have a lot more energy at the end of a tournament. You get confidence, it keeps going, kind of a snowball effect.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think both Martina and I are -- if you look at the last few months, we're the only two that have been in there week-in and week-out, concentrating, trying to win titles. You have to take advantage of opportunities like this when maybe other players aren't playing their best, aren't interested or whatever. Martina and I really seem to have stepped up and take it.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Just in Grand Slams?

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Probably New York actually. I like the city there a lot. I've got a lot of friends there. I always seem to have a good time. In terms of playing, it's a little difficult with the US Open site a little far away. I've always seemed to enjoy myself there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Yeah, I thought about it for a little bit. You know, I love going back to where I'm from. Probably wouldn't make sense to put money down permanently when I wouldn't be there but more than a few weeks a year.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I had a place here about five or six years ago. I only had it for a year.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I rented. I was here very infrequently so I decided that's why.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. In the last three years, I've lost to the winner each year. I've done well there, played well there. For me spending more time in Europe would probably have a worse effect than getting there when I do, maybe a week or two early. By the time the French comes around, if you're there a month early practicing, mentally I don't think I would be ready to win a title when I got to Paris. I'm going to play this tournament and then I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Right now I'm feeling like this might be the last week for a number of weeks for me. I'm going to see how it goes and start on the clay whenever I feel like I need to get back out there.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Last year I played the week before in Madrid. I won Madrid, lost in the quarters to Steffi. The year before I lost in the semis to Arantxa. I've never been over there more than a week or two early.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, I don't really know what was out there five or ten years ago. In comparison, obviously the market has gotten a lot higher anyway, so players are going to earn more off the court. Especially with women's tennis and women athletes in general, there's a bigger marketplace out there for us in advertisements or whatever it might be. I think it's great. It's a great time to be involved in the sport, kind of the women's movement of athletics.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I actually do. I think women's tennis the last year and a half or two years has gotten a lot more entertaining with some of the players we have on tour. We have a nice mix of players that are different styles, different attitudes. I think it brings in a lot more fans.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Hopefully the tennis (laughter). I think the level of tennis has been pretty high over the last year or two. I think it's going to get better.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I think it's very important to have personalities that bring people into the sport. Maybe the men are playing the best tennis ever, but they really only have Pete and Andre drawing people. I think we have, like I said, such a great mix of players from Martina and even last year we had Steffi, we still have Monica, the Williams sisters, Anna. It's just a number of players and a lot more kids and adults can relate to more their type of personality now because there are so many.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No. Like I said before, the market has changed a lot. There's a lot more space for it. I think people are embracing women in role model scenarios and situations. You know, there's been a huge turnaround for women in these kinds of jobs.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: It takes a lot of time. It's not necessarily the best thing for your tennis. It's a very tough thing to balance. You've got to be really careful and decide what your priorities are.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: Well, it may happen; it may not. I'm not really sure how Martina is going to do over the next few weeks. It certainly appears that I will become No. 1 again in terms of my results last year, replacing those with better results this year. Doing anything differently, not really. I mean, Martina , it's very hard when you get on top of her. She is consistently always getting to the finals and winning tournaments. She never has early exits. That's really tough to combat. I've done my best to do the same and be consistently good, but being at No. 1, you've got to do the same thing as you are when you're ranked lower: try to win tournaments all the time. Sometimes it gets tough to do that.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: No doubt. I'd much rather have won the Australian Open than become No. 1 this week or whenever. In my mind, it's much more important. Even last week, winning Indian Wells was such a huge thrill. I could have cared less that I was staying at No. 2.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: 18 and 22 (laughter). No, 18. I moved back in with my mom two and a half years later and moved out a few months ago.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT: I've always been pretty independent with my tennis. I think moving out, I had the typical year or so of screwing around like most people would do when they went off to college. My tennis probably suffered a little with it that year. I think I fell from 7 to 12 or something like that. As a person, I think it helped me a lot. Looking back now, I think it's a great thing that I did that.

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