Before she was crowned the 2000 Australian Open women’s champion, Lindsay Davenport’s first milestone at Melbourne Park came as a 16-year-old when she advanced to the third round of the major as a qualifier.
Despite suffering a straight sets loss to Mary Pierce to end her five-match winning streak, the American still reflects on this experience fondly.
“I went back home to high school, regular school, and all of a sudden people knew who I was and then I was kind of on my way. I always look back that this tournament kind of broke things open for me,” she shared on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast.
“I’ve never felt more pride than when I got through the qualies and was able to get into the main draw for the first time.”
The Australian Open would become the setting for more of Davenport’s career milestones, including her maiden run to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
But it wasn’t always smooth sailing in Melbourne for the former world No.1.
PODCAST: Listen to Lindsay Davenport on The Sit-Down
On back-to-back occasions, Davenport was one step away from booking a spot in the finals, then would devastatingly fall short.
“Two of my most crushing losses were in the semifinals here before I won. One year, I lost in three sets [in 1998] to Conchita Martinez. I think I was a pretty heavy favourite in that one,” she acknowledged.
“The next year I lost to Amelie Mauresmo, who a lot of people didn’t know at the time. I was a better hardcourt player than her at that time and I couldn’t get into the final. That one really killed.”
Although she'd already won the 1998 US Open and 1999 Wimbledon titles, when the Australian Open came back around in 2000 the then two-time major champion was still hungry for more.
In her third straight semifinal, Davenport finally progressed to the title match after defeating compatriot Jennifer Capriati and without dropping a set throughout the tournament.
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Davenport was posed with the challenging task of facing top seed Martina Hingis, but was able to end the Swiss’ 27-match win streak at Melbourne Park to secure her first AO title and final Grand Slam title.
“It was really a relief the following year when I was able to get over the hump and be able to win here. I grew up in California, I grew up on this surface, so it always felt like I should be playing well here,” the Olympic gold medallist explained.
With her AO 2000 title meaning she'd won three of the past six majors, Davenport continued to ride her wave of success that season as she made the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open, losing both to Venus Williams.
“I won here in 2000 and then also got to the final of Wimbledon and the US Open, but that’s right when Venus started to hit her stride. She was obviously such a great talent the previous three or four years, but something special happened during 2000,” Davenport said.
“She was a really tough matchup because she hit just as hard as I did, had a better serve and moved much better.
“That generation was so incredibly tough because once Stef [Steffi Graf] walked away in ’99, you thought like, 'OK, maybe there’s going to be an opening'. Then all of a sudden it was like Venus and Serena really picked up their games. Then we had the Belgians [Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin] and Russians come through with Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva and all these players.
"I look back at the period of which I played tennis and I’m like, man, that was tough from start to finish.”
Having retired in 2008, Davenport remains close to the game in her roles as USA’s Billie Jean King Cup captain, broadcaster, and through her son Jagger Leach, who is currently playing college tennis at Stanford.
When analysing the current group of women’s players, Davenport praises the level displayed on court.
“I think the tennis in the last few years has jumped up a couple of notches again and I think the players at the top of women’s tennis are so good,” she said.
“I think they’re all in. Sabalenka, everything she does to train to get good. Swiatek is trying everything she can to continue to add to her six majors. I think Rybakina’s level the last six or seven months has been arguably the best in women’s tennis.”
“I’m really in awe of the generation that we have playing right now.”
Listen to the full episode of The Sit-Down, a weekly podcast released each Monday featuring an in-depth interview with a notable tennis identity. Subscribe in your favourite podcast player so you never miss an episode.