Davenport's groundstrokes
 

Does anyone besides myself appreciate just how well Lindsey hit the ball? Her contact was always so clean and very technically sound that you could even hear the difference as compared to other players when her racket made contact with the ball. To be able to hit that well is a tribute to how good of a player she was even though her movement was always a major weakness. I always watched her in awe when she was in full command of a rally.

But she was SOOOO slow.
The 2005 Wimbledon final was embarrassing ...

Condi

I did say her movement was a major weakness did I not???

It is easy to hit a clean stroke when you wait until the ball comes into your comfort zone.

Condi

Even the pros and commentators acknowledge that she hit the ball more cleanly than almost anyone else.

American pros and commentators?

Condi

You are right. Her strokes are pretty close to textbook. So clean, such control, with so much power created with such ease and little effort.

To be able to achieve what she has with very limited(to put it kindly)athletic skills speaks to the extreme excellence of her strokes.

Embarassing? She matched Venus point for point and held was one away from the championship despite being 'slow'.

Davenport's movement wasn't great, but she had a great reverse FH on the run. If you couldn't the ball past her FH side, you were in deep trouble. This changes the makeup, because you then had to think twice about blasting shots past her.

She also had a more classic stroke than her peers, and didn't swing across the body as much as her peers. As a result, her swing arcs were linear, which coupled with very deep shoulder turn and her height gave her both natural power and control.

She was noticeably slower than the rest of the Top 10 at her peak but she still hit #1 and no small number of slams.
Imagine if she was as quick as everyone else ...

Can you hold your own and hit clean strokes when Top WTA pros whack the ball into your comfort zone?

In regards to comfort zone -- remember her biggest weapon was the DTL running forehand. She wasn't fast, but if she was moving and you couldn't hit the ball past her, you were in big trouble.

The real limiting factor for her, really like so many top female tennis players, was her mental strength. Her game could break down when she was put in a bind. Fought nerves through the end of her career.

Condi is just bitter because Davenport beat Graf at the Wimby finals and into retirement.

Slow enough to shock Graf in the '99 Wimbledon finals?

My thoughts exactly. I think that match was one of the factors made Graf decide it was time to exit.

Graf was injured (thigh). She even had to retire from mixed doubles with McEnroe the day before.

The singles final against Davenport was very close.
Both had only 2 break points. Davenport converted them, Graf not.
In the end Davenport had made 70 points, Graf 67.

No comparison to the easy win Graf had in the FO quarters that year.


Condi

Davenport of 2005 was over-the-hill.
Don't forget that she won her last slam in January 2000.

Condi

Funny how you just type some facts just to say you have an arguement or a rebuttal(the very competent "lawyer" that you are). Seriously a lot of people expected, maybe, including me, that Graf would win the 1999 Wimbledon. After all, she has won it numerous times and that her game is suited to grass and Davenport is so the opposite. But what happened was that Graf ran into a red hot Davenport. And don't give me that bull that it was close. The score maybe but Davenport just went ahead without looking back.
Morale of the match-when somebody is capable of serving well and hitting with consistent power off both sides then it exploits Graf's game. It got to the point where Graf couldn't afford to keep running around her forehand because Davenport can hit the ball with equal ferocity off both sides.

Umm... are we all going to neglect that Davenport had the 2005 Wimbledon match in the bag when she hurt her back?

And when she stunned Hingis in the 2000 Aussie final. A grand slam that Hingis had won the previous 3 years in a row. Davenport even took the first set 6-1.

Not to mention the fact that Davenport has a winning record against; Venus, Capriati, Seles, Hingis, Mauresmo... in fact, she has a winning record against 7 of the current top ten players on the WTA tour.

I think Lindsay could have won more singles titles than she did, but often times her mental game could come into question, as well has her weak movemnet around the court. But all things considered, she has proven to be an amazing player, worthy of respect.

What happened is that Graf was injured.
She made only 3 points less than Davenport (67-70).
She hit more winners (2).
She didn't convert her 2 break points.
Davenport converted her 2 break points.

End of story.

"Red hot Davenport", my *** ....


Condi