September 16, 2007: The day Lindsay Davenport won her comeback tournament after a maternity break
Every day, Tennis Majors takes you back in time to relive a tennis event which happened on this specific day. On this day in 2007, three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport completed her comeback after giving birth to her son with an unexpected title
What exactly happened on that day?
On this day, September 16 in 2007, Lindsay Davenport triumphed in Bali, her first tournament after she gave birth to her son Jagger, three months earlier. To claim the title, the former world No 1 eliminated world No 3 Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-final, before defeating world No 12 Daniela Hantuchova, in the final (6-4, 3-6, 6-2). Although she would continue her spectacular return to the game by winning three other tournaments, the American would not be able to break into the top 10 again, and would retire at the end of 2008, after becoming pregnant with her second child.
The players involved: Lindsay Davenport and Daniela Hantuchova
- Lindsay Davenport: Three-time Grand Slam champion from the United States
Lindsay Davenport was born in 1976 in California, United States. She turned professional in 1993, and during that season, she claimed her first title at the European Open in Switzerland, reached the fourth round at the US Open, and beat world No 6 Gabriela Sabatini in Philadelphia (6-4, 6-2), to finish the year as world No 20. In 1994, she entered the top 10 and finished runner-up at the season-ending WTA Championships (defeated by Sabatini, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4), but in 1995, disturbed by family issues, she gained weight and dropped out of the top 10. The following year, she worked hard on her physical conditioning and claimed her biggest title at the time at the Atlanta Olympics, where she defeated Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the final (7-6, 6-2).
In 1997, Davenport won no fewer than six titles, and reached the semi-final at the US Open, beaten by Martina Hingis (6-2, 6-4). She reached the top of the rankings in 1998, becoming world No 1 after a fantastic year during which she lost in the semi-finals at both the Australian Open and Roland-Garros before claiming her first Grand Slam title at the US Open, taking revenge against Hingis (6-3, 7-5).
In 1999 and 2000, she added two more Grand Slam titles to her list of achievements, Wimbledon (defeating Steffi Graf in the 1999 final, 6-4, 7-5), and the Australian Open (where she beat Hingis once again, 6-1, 7-5, in the 2000 final). In the following years, Davenport remained a top 5 player, finishing world No 1 in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005, finished runner-up four times in the Majors and was defeated six times in the semi-finals. In December 2006, her manager announced that she was pregnant, and the tennis world wondered if she would come back on the tour post childbirth.
- Daniela Hantuchova: The two-time Indian Wells champion from Slovakia
Daniela Hantuchova was born in 1983 in the then Czechoslovakia. Playing for Slovakia, she entered the top 100 in 2001, and her breakthrough season, which also proved to be the best in her entire career, was in 2002. That year, she unexpectedly triumphed at Indian Wells as the world No 26, defeating world No 7 Justine Henin in the fourth round (6-3, 6-3) and world No 4 Martina Hingis in the final (6-3, 6-4). Later that year, she reached the quarter-finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open, each time defeated by Serena Williams in straight sets.
In January 2003, she reached world No 5, her highest ranking ever, after reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (lost to Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-3). In the following years, she was unable to hold on to her top 10 ranking, and her ranking dropped to world No 62 at the end of 2004. Back in the top 20 in 2005 and 2006, she surprisingly never went past the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament in these years. In 2007, she claimed her second career title, at Indian Wells again, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final (6-3, 6-4). In September that year, she was the 12th highest-ranked player in the world.
The place: The island of Bali
The Indonesian Open was established in 1994. Always held on hard courts after the US Open, it was played at different venues over the years, first in Surabaya, then Kuala Lumpur, before landing in Bali in 2001. It’s roster of champions included Elena Dementieva (2003), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004) and Lindsay Davenport (2005).
The facts: Davenport beat world No 3 Jankovic in only her second match back
During Lindsay Davenport’s pregnancy, there had been much speculation about her potential return to the game. In July 2007, a month after the birth of her son, Jagger, she announced her comeback in September. The American participated in three tournaments until the end of the season before a full-time return to the tour in 2008.
The first of the three tournaments on her schedule was Bali. In her opening match, the former world No 1 reassured her fans she was on form: her fierce groundstrokes were sharp enough to dismiss Eleni Daniliidou (world No 37), 6-2, 6-2. In the quarter-final, she faced a much tougher challenge in Jelena Jankovic, ranked No 3 in the world, who had reached the semi-final at Roland-Garros and the quarter-final of the US Open. Although she dropped the second set, Davenport got through Jankovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. After a semi-final easily won against Sara Errani, world No 90 (6-1, 6-3), she was to face Daniela Hantuchova in the final. The Slovak, who had started the season with a big win at Indian Wells, had not been in great form in the weeks leading up to Bali, where she had not faced any top 100 player before the final.
With two players offering up contrasting game styles, the final turned out to be an interesting mind game. While Hantuchova was trying to move Davenport around to prevent her from dictating the game, the American tried to shorten the rallies as much as possible with her heavy hitting. After they split the first two sets, the former US Open champion eventually overpowered her opponent in the final set, sealing her win, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
“It’s just overwhelming and exciting,” said Davenport, according to Reuters.com. “Obviously, playing my first tournament back was unsure physically how I would respond and I swear this is probably the first tournament I’ve played in four years where I didn’t have anything wrong with my lower extremities. I think a lot just had to do with being excited to be back out there and being fresh to play. But I never would have expected this to happen so I’m a little bit in shock.”
What next? Davenport wins two more titles in 2008
In the following weeks, Davenport would reach the semi-final at the China Open (defeated this time by Jankovic, 6-3, 7-5), and claim a second title at the Bell Open in Canada (defeating Julia Vakulenko, 6-4, 6-1). She would begin 2008 with two more tournament wins, in Auckland and Memphis, but the rest of her season would not match this promising start, and she would not achieve any big Grand Slam results. At the end of the year, she would announce her second pregnancy, and this time, she would not return to the game in singles. In total, the American claimed 55 singles titles, including three Grand Slams, and remained world No 1 for 98 weeks. She had also claimed 38 WTA doubles titles and had topped the doubles rankings as well.
Hantuchova would reach the semi-finals at the 2008 Australian Open (lost to Ana Ivanovic, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4). She would then drop out of the top 20, and her next (and last) remarkable performance in a Grand Slam tournament would be a quarter-final appearance at the 2013 US Open (lost to Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 6-3). In January 2016, Hantuchova would exit the top 100, before retiring in 2017.
Both Davenport and Hantuchova are among the leading tennis analysts on television today.
