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 For
Lindsay Davenport there is no place like home.
She was born and raised in Southern California and makes her home
in Orange County. It’s no secret the former number one player
in the world loves playing in her home state where this last summer
she played some of the best tennis of her career.
Davenport captured the 2004 Acura Classic with an impressive 6-1,
6-1, victory over Russia’s Anastasia Myskina before a capacity
crowd of over 6,500 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad.
It was her third straight tournament title of the summer after
having won WTA Tour events in Stanford and Los Angeles in the two
previous weeks before the Acura Classic.
Davenport easily advanced to the Acura Classic semifinals as she
defeated Croatia’s Karolina Sprem, Conchita Martinez of Spain
and Japan’s Ai Sugiyama in straight sets with a combined
loss of only 11 games.
In her semifinal match, Davenport eliminated French Open finalist
Elena Dementieva, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the final at La Costa for
the first time since 1998.
On Saturday night before Sunday’s final, a capacity crowd
jammed Stadium Court to witness the evening semifinal match between
Myskina and her fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva.
The encounter will go down in history as one of the most exciting
matches ever at the Acura Classic as the Russians battled it out
for two hours and 28 minutes before Myskina won 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6
(15).
The match featured the longest final-set tie-break in a singles
match in the history of the WTA Tour. Myskina saved an incredible
nine match points in the final set.
After winning her late-night semifinal, Myskina could offer little
resistance against Davenport in the Acura Classic final as she
fell behind 5-0 in the first set.
Davenport would lose only two games to Myskina in winning the
title at La Costa for the second time in her career. “I proved
a lot to myself these past three weeks. My expectations for the
summer were different a few weeks ago than they are now,” Davenport
said.
Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion, fell to 0-3 in career
meetings with Davenport.
“I’m really exhausted and couldn’t find any
energy to fight,” Myskina said. “Lindsay played unbelievably.
I would have to play 200 percent to beat her today. I’m still
really happy. It’s been a great tournament for me and I did
my best.”
In the Acura Classic doubles final, second-seeded Cara Black of
Zimbabwe and Australia’s Rennae Stubbs defeated top-seeded
Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Argentina’s Paola Suarez,
4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Tournament Notes
- By winning the 2004 Acura Classic, Davenport moved to
number two in the WTA Rakings, her highest ranking since January
2002.
- Davenport received $189,000 for winning the 2004 Acura
Classic.
- Davenport’s victory at the Acura Classic
marked her 43rd career WTA Tour singles title. Eleven of those
titles have come in California.
- 2004 Wimbledon champion
Maria Sharapova made her first Acura Classic appearance. She
thrilled fans as she reached the quarterfinals before losing
to fellow Russian Myskina, 7-5, 6-2.
- Top-seeded Serena
Williams, making her first Acura Classic singles appearance,
won her first two matches to reach the quarterfinals. She
then withdrew from the tournament due to inflammation in her
left knee.
- Venus Williams, a three-time Acura Classic
champion, withdrew prior to the start of the tournament with
a right wrist sprain.
- Tennis legend Martina Navratilova
was seeded fourth with fellow American Lisa Raymond in the
Acura Classic doubles draw. They reached the semifinals where
they fell to Black and Stubbs, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
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