Davenport win continues new lease of life

Lindsay Davenport reached the Wimbledon semi-finals with a hard-fought victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova today, one year on from seriously contemplating retirement.

Davenport was twice a break up against the US Open champion in the opening set but needed a tie-break to finally win it on Court One.

The 1999 champion then raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set but was made to fight all the way before securing a 7-6 6-3 victory with her eighth ace of the match.

She will now face third seed Amelie Mauresmo in Thursday’s semi-finals after the French woman defeated Russian Anastasia Myskina in straight sets.

After losing to Maria Sharapova at the same stage last year, Davenport said she planned to walk away from the game at the end of the season.

But a run of four consecutive tournament victories in the American hard-court season persuaded her to carry on and she is now two wins away from a fourth Grand Slam title.

“I really at the time totally believed in what I said,” Davenport said. “I hadn’t felt like I really contended in a Grand Slam, even though I was doing okay I never really believed in the quarter-finals that I was going to pull through and win.

“Now it’s so far from my mind, I can’t even think right now of stopping. I feel really excited to still be where I’m at. I have a lot of opportunities ahead of me.

“I feel like I’m a better player than when I was winning Grand Slams. There’s no question that physically I’m a better athlete, and I believe a smarter player.”