- Thanks to panoranews.com
Lindsay Davenport was inducted into the hall of fame last weekend. A very deserving induction indeed. Here are five reasons why:
She turned her body and career around:
She went from being criticized for being overweight to being one of the fittest women on the tour.
That took dedication, some fight and passion to transform herself the way she did. Doing so transformed her career, too. She went from being a potential threat to carrying out and causing damage at the big ones.
She won 3 Majors:
She won her first final, too, beating the best player of the time, Martina Hingis, at the 1998 US Open in straight sets.
She followed that up with the ’99 Wimbledon title, beating none other than the seven time champion and recently crowned French Open winner, Steffi Graf.
Next up was the ’00 Australian Open title, once again beating then defending champion Hingis. Each title was won with the clean hitting, clinical fashion of someone who, as she said in her Hall of fame induction, striking the hell out of the ball just came easy.
Not only did she win three Majors, but she was the player to beat in many more, coming runner up twice at Wimbledon, once at the US Open and once in Melbourne. That last defeat was the only one that ever cast a cloud over her reputation for giving her all, when after leading Serena Williams by a set and a break she failed to win another game, seemingly melting down once Williams got her teeth into the match.
But the doubts did not last long. Her performance at the following Wimbledon where she lost the final 7-9 in the third to Venus Williams put her right up there as one of her generation’s greatest competitors.
She competed in probably one of the best grand slam finals of all time:
Davenport had match point against Venus Williams in the ’05 Wimbledon final, and it took the two time former champion’s athleticism and shot-making to play her way back into the match and take it in an epic third, the longest final in the history of the ladies’ singles at SW19. For 2hrs and 45 mins, tennis spectators were treated to the very best the women’s game had to offer, and when it was over, it was truly a case of neither player deserving to lose. There was though only one name engraved on the champion’s roll of honor, but there will always be two names mentioned when anyone discusses what went on before that name was carved.
She was number One on the WTA rankings:
For 98 weeks, and on 8 separate occasions from Oct. ’98 to her final stint which ended Jan.26 ’06. She also ended 4 season’s as the year end number One. That is impressive stuff considering Graf, Hingis, Venus, Serena, Henin, Clijsters, and Capriati, all number ones and slam winners in that time frame, were competing for points.
She is, and has always been, a great ambassador to her sport:
Always smiling, gracious and as professional as they come, Davenport has represented tennis as well as anyone. In her capacity now as a commentator, though she may ‘throw shade’ now and then, her insight is second to none. Olympic winner, Fed Cup winner, it has not always just been about the slams but the team effort, too. Representing herself, her country, her sport, Davenport has always been a great ambassador for a sport she says she loves, and which her participation in has earned her a fair amount of love, too.
The tennis review can think of five reasons why Lindsay Davenport deserves her place in the Hall of fame. Is there anything Lindsay fans would like to add?
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