Although she would continue her impressive return to the game by winning three more tournaments, the American would not be able to break into the top 10 again and would retire in late 2008 after becoming pregnant with her second child.
Players involved: Lindsay Davenport and Daniela Hantuchova
- Lindsay Davenport. Three-time Grand Slam champion from the USA
Lindsay Davenport was born in 1976 in California, USA. He turned professional in 1993, and that season he won his first title at the Swiss European Open, reaching the fourth round. US Openand defeated world No. 6 Gabriela Sabatini (6-4, 6-2) in Philadelphia to end the year as world No. 20.
In 1994, she reached the top 10 and finished as the runner-up at the WTA Finals (losing to Sabatini 6-3, 6-2, 6-4), but in 1995, troubled by family issues, she gained weight and fell out of the top 10. At the Olympics, where she defeated Arantkha Sánchez-Vicario (7-6, 6-2) in the final.
In 1997, Davenport won no fewer than six titles and reached the semifinals at the US Open. defeated Martina Hingis (6-2, 6-4). He topped the rankings in 1998, becoming world No. 1 after a fantastic year in which he lost two more matches in the semifinals. Australian Open and: Roland Garros before winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open by getting revenge on Hingis (6-3, 7-5).
In 1999 and 2000, he added two more Grand Slam titles to his list of achievements. Wimbledon (defeating Steffi Graf in the 1999 final, 6–4, 7–5) and the Australian Open (where she once again beat Hingis, 6–1, 7–5, in the 2000 final).
In subsequent years, Davenport remained in the top five, ranking as world No. 1 in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005, finishing as runner-up at the Majors four times and losing in the semifinals six times. In December 2006, her manager announced that she was pregnant, and the tennis world wondered if she would return to the tour after giving birth.
- Daniela Hantuchova. Two-time Indian Wells champion from Slovakia
Daniela Hantuchova was born in 1983 in the former Czechoslovakia. Playing for Slovakia, he entered the top 100 in 2001, and his breakthrough season, also the best of his entire career, came in 2002. That year, he unexpectedly won Indian Wells as world number 26, defeating world number 7 Justin Henin in the fourth round (6-4-3) and world number 6 Martina in the final 6-3. (6-3, 6-4). Later that year, he reached the quarterfinals each time at both Wimbledon and the US Open. lost to Serena Williams with straight sets.
In January 2003, she reached world No. 5, her highest ranking ever, after reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open (lost to Venus Williams 6–4, 6–3). He was unable to maintain his top 10 ranking in the following years, and his ranking fell to world number 62 at the end of 2004. She reached the top 20 in 2005 and 2006, in those years she surprisingly never made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam. In 2007, she won her second career title, again in Indian Wells, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova (6-3, 6-4) in the final. In September of that year, he was the 12th highest ranked player in the world.
Location: Bali Island
The Indonesian Open was established in 1994. Always held on hard courts after the US Open, it was held at various venues over the years, first in Surabaya and then in Kuala Lumpur, until 2001.
Facts: Davenport beat world No. 3 Jankovic in just his second match
During Lindsey Davenport’s pregnancy, there was a lot of speculation about her possible comeback. In July 2007, a month after the birth of her son Jagger, she announced her comeback in September. The American played three tournaments before the end of the season before making a full return to the tour in 2008.
Bali was the first of three tournaments on his schedule. In his opening match, the former world number 1 assured his fans that he is fit. Eleni Danilidou (World No. 37), 6-2, 6-2. She faces a much tougher challenge in the quarterfinals in world No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, who reached the semifinals of Roland Garros and the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Although he dropped the second set, Davenport overcame Jankovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Having easily beaten world number 90 Sara Errani (6-1, 6-3) in the semi-finals, she was set to meet Daniela Hantuchova in the final. The Slovakian, who started the season with a big win in Indian Wells, was not in great form in the weeks leading up to Bali, where she did not face a top 100 player until the final.
With two players offering contrasting playing styles, the final proved to be an interesting mind game. While Hantuchova tried to move Davenport to prevent her from dictating the game, the American tried to shorten the rallies as much as possible with her strong shots. After they split the first two sets, the former US Open champion eventually defeated her opponent in the final set to seal her victory 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
“It’s just overwhelming and exciting,” Davenport said, according to Reuters.com. “Obviously playing my first tournament back I wasn’t sure 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 limbs. I think a lot of it had to do with being excited to get back out there and play fresh. But I never would have expected that to happen, so I’m in shock.”
What next? Davenport won two more titles in 2008
In the following weeks, Davenport would reach the semifinals at the China Open (this time losing to Jankovic, 6-3, 7-5), and claim a second title at the Canadian Bell Open (defeating Julia Vakulenko, 6-4, 6-1). He would start 2008 with two more tournament wins, in Oakland and Memphis, but the rest of his season would not match this promising start, and he would not achieve any major 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 won 55 singles titles, including three Grand Slams, and spent 98 weeks as world No. 1. She also won 38 WTA doubles titles and topped the doubles rankings as well.
Hantuchova would reach the semifinals at the 2008 Australian Open (lost to Ana Ivanovic 0–6, 6–3, 6–4). He would then drop out of the top 20, and his next (and last) notable Grand Slam appearance would be a quarter-final appearance in 2013.lost to Victoria Azarenka: 6-2, 6-3) in January 2016, Hantuchova would drop out of the top 100 before retiring in 2017.
Both Davenport and Hantuchova are among the top tennis analysts on television today.
