Lindsay Davenport: biography and career of a tennis player

Lindsay Davenport (photo below) is a famous American tennis player, TV commentator and coach. The owner of Olympic gold (single). This article will describe a brief biography of the athlete.

Introduction to tennis

Lindsay Davenport (date of birth - June 8, 1976) is the youngest child in the family. The girl's parents linked their lives with volleyball. In the 1960s, his father played for the national team, and his mother was at the head of the regional association of Southern California.

With tennis the girl met at the age of five. A little later Lindsay entered the school, and the training had to be combined with training. It is worth noting that in this respect, Davenport differs from most of its colleagues in the shop. The girl really graduated from school and received a certificate, and not "passed" all exams externally. She came there at eight in the morning and worked until noon. And then Lindsay went to the training, not listening to those who constantly said that it will not work. And there really were a lot of such.

Carier start

While still in juniors, Lindsay Davenport was able to express herself on the national and world level. In 1991, the girl won the national championship, and twelve months later she excelled at international competitions, hitting several grand slam finals and winning three titles. At that time young Davenport continued to grow actively, which significantly affected its coordination of movements. But this did not prevent the athlete from reaching the semifinals of "Roland Garros".

Transition to professionals

1991 - this is the year that first played in the WTA home tournament Lindsay Davenport. Tennis has become the main profession of the girl. Of course, the performances were not ideal, but she was able to win from several athletes entering the top-200. A year later Lindsay continued to compete and gain rating points. By the end of May, the girl was in the second hundred classifications and tried to qualify for the "Roland Garros". And in the autumn 16-year-old athlete played the basis of "US OPEN". There tennis player defeated Yayuk Basuki (46th racket of the world).

1993 - this is the year when she completely switched to professional competitions Lindsay Davenport. Grand Slam tournaments became a priority for her. Due to this, the athlete has significantly increased in the rating. Sometimes her successes were explained by a feasible tournament grid, and sometimes by her own talent. So, in Indian Wells tennis player was able to beat Brande Schulz (30th racket of the planet). A week later, in Delray Beach Lindsay beat Gabriela Sabatini, who was on the fifth place in the ranking. The quality of the results has grown so much that Davenport was able to enter and gain a foothold in the top 30. And at the end of May the girl won the first title, having beaten the Australian Nicole Provis in Swiss Lucerne. Seeing the progress of Lindsay, the coaching staff of the national team decided to use a young compatriot in the Federation Cup. Performances athletes were stable, and in the second half of the season, she entered the first twenty qualifications.

1994-1997

A year later, Lindsay Davenport (the growth of an athlete is 189 centimeters) not only confirmed her results, but also improved them noticeably. By the end of the season, the girl made her way to the top-10 ranking and won two titles. Also Lindsay performed qualitatively at major tournaments: at the competitions of the Grand Slam, the athlete twice made her way to the quarterfinals, went to the semi-finals of the big prize in Miami, as well as to the finals of the Final Tour Championship in New York.

In 1995, the tennis player slightly tempered her fervor, retreating into the second top-ten ranking. Nevertheless, Davenport constantly worked to improve its own position. Her shortcomings in the game, she corrected by meeting with more experienced status rivals. Lindsay had some notable successes in the summer of 1996. The tennis player won the Olympic tournament in Atlanta, and after defeated the sixth attempt Steffi Graf, who at that time headed the rating. Then in the career of the sportswoman there was a slight lull, and she could show a serious result only in twelve months. In the autumn of 1997, an American won five games at the JC OPEN series. Also, the tennis player eight times went to the finals of large and medium-sized tournaments, winning six titles. This she reduced the gap from the leaders of the rating and finished the season on the third line.

1998-2000

A year later, Lindsay Davenport, whose personal life is described below, made the lead in the ranking of the last steps: she won in two dozen matches at the Grand Slam competitions. The tennis player was in great shape and was ready for the first final of the home tournament. After defeating Venus Williams in the semifinal, the girl immediately "broke up" with Martina Hingis, having won the title. However, the Swiss recouped at the end of the season, when Lindsay struck the second in her career defeat in the final of the final tour championship.

In general, the season-1998 was successful for the tennis player. Of the ten finals, she won six (three times with Martina Hingis). In the following year, the balance of power almost did not change - the Swiss and the American again became the head of the rating. But this time Martin was much more stable than Lindsay, ahead of her for a thousand points. However, Davenport has spent quite a productive year. She won seven titles. The most significant of them were: victory at Wimbledon (Lindsay defeated Steffi Graf, who completed a career thereafter) and the title at the Final tournament (the athlete "took revenge" on Hingis for last year's defeat).

In 2000, Swiss and American continued to struggle for the first line of the rating. They changed each other several times. However, Martin showed a more stable game and finished the season with a pretty solid advantage. Lindsay Davenport started the year well, winning titles at major tournaments in Indian Wells and Melbourne, but could not support the set pace. Because of the health problems, the girl missed almost the entire dirt season (the tennis player managed to take part only in two tournaments and won only one match). Later, Lindsay managed to return the previous results, but for medical reasons she again had to withdraw from major competitions (Olympics in Sydney and the tournament in Canada). As a result, Davenport managed to narrow the gap from Hingis thanks to the finals at US OPEN and Wimbledon. Season American finished on the second line of the rating.

2001-2003

The following year, the composition of the leading group of leading players of the planet changed. Hingis significantly slowed down and left the first line by the end of October. And at the end of the year, Martin in general was in fourth place. Lindsay also held a very stable season, never yielding to rivals in the quarterfinals. But the injuries caused the athlete to withdraw from the final of the Final competition. Due to the failures of the former favorites, the American women Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati were able to get to the leading group. For two, they took all four titles in the Grand Slam tournaments. But according to the results of the calendar year, the athlete still regained the first place in the rating.

Injuries pursued Lindsay Davenport and aggravated at the Munich competition. The tennis player had to go to the treatment. The girl returned to work only in July 2002. The athlete quickly entered the form and managed to reach the end of the season in four finals (though none of them brought her the title), finishing the twelfth line of the rating. Also, Lindsay played in the semi-final of JC OPEN, but could not beat leader Qualie Serena Williams.

A year later in the competitive calendar Davenport almost no passes. But the tennis player periodically withdrew from the matches for medical reasons. This significantly affected the process of recruiting the form and the final results of the season (fifth place qualification).

2004-2006

In 2004, Lindsay Davenport, whose personal life was periodically discussed in the media, was able to regain the lead in the rating. The reason for this was the injuries of last year's rivals (the Williams sisters, Clijsters and Henin-Ardenne were treated), as well as the inadequate stability of the new members of the leaders group (several Russians who broke into the top played very unstable and lost precious glasses). As a result, Davenport successfully compiled its competitive calendar (she had to sacrifice even participation in the Olympics) and climbed in October on the first line of the rating. Gradually, the confidence returned to Lindsay, and she continued the winning streak, winning seven title matches out of nine. And at the Grand Slam competitions the sportswoman showed the best result in the previous four years, but she managed to reach the semifinals only twice, and three times she was inferior to the future champions.

A year later Lindsay Davenport, the general information about which is in any tennis encyclopedia, still headed the rating. Only a few times the sportswoman conceded the first line of Maria Sharapova. At the end of the season Lindsay participated in ten finals and won six titles. For the first time in five years, the list included two titles in the Grand Slam tournaments (at Wimbledon and Australia). There, the athlete lost in the decider first Serena, and then Venus Williams. In the summer, Lindsay had health problems - back pain. For this reason, the girl missed a few weeks. In 2006, everything became even worse, and the tennis player left for a long time for many months, skipping the grassy and unpaved interval of the calendar. In the process, Davenport returned only in August and managed to play five competitions until the end of the season. Only in one of the tournaments she managed to reach the final (New Haven), but in the end she could not finish it due to severe pain in the shoulder.

Completion of career

In early 2007, due to the pregnancy, Davenport had to miss several months of speeches. In June, she gave birth to her first child - Jagger Jonathan. And in August the tennis player returned to the competition. In the autumn, Lindsay took part in three tournaments, earning two titles and losing once in the semifinals. In 2008, the athlete continued to compete, but different health problems again made themselves felt. In this regard, the American took a pause in April and played until the end of the season only two tournaments - "US OPEN" and "Wimbledon." After that, the tennis player actually finished her career.

Tournaments in mixed games

From 1992 to 2010, Lindsay Davenport played fourteen Grand Slam competitions among mixed duets. Ten times the American reached the semi-finals (five of them were in the British series and five more - in cooperation with Canadian tennis player Grant Connell). The closest thing to the title match, Davenport was at Wimbledon-1997. There the athlete for the only time in her career was able to win the match at this stage.

Personal life

The heroine of this article married more than thirteen years. 2003 is the year of the marriage of Jonathan Leach (former tennis player) and Lindsay Davenport. Children were born in a newly-born family with an interval of several years. So, their first-born Jagger Jonathan was born in 2007. And daughters - Lauren Andrews, Kaya Emory and Haven Michelle - in 2009, 2012 and 2014.

Nowadays

Numerous pauses in the final period of his career allowed Lindsay to regularly participate in the broadcasts of tennis broadcasts as a commentator and an expert. Over time, Davenport tried herself in yet another incarnation: in 2014 Madison Kiz invited the former athlete to her own coaching team.