Now It’s Like the Days of Old

WIMBLEDON, England —  They are career turnaround specialists, often getting ahead at the expense of the other for the last eight-plus years, meeting 26 times around the world.

Venus Williams needed to beat Lindsay Davenport in the final to win her first and second Grand Slam championships, at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2000. Williams represented a significant obstacle for Davenport in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 1998, en route to Davenport’s first major title.

More recently, Davenport pulled herself from the brink of retirement last summer. One of the biggest building blocks was a July victory over Williams in the Stanford final, the first in seven matches against Williams, and Davenport would regain the No. 1 ranking in October.

Flash ahead to the latest renaissance. Williams is in a Grand Slam final for the first time in two years, aiming for her first major victory since the 2001 U.S. Open. There was a buzz on the rain-soaked grounds at the All England Club on Friday about Williams’ dazzling performance in the semifinals Thursday against defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia.

So who else but Davenport should stand in the way? It’s almost fitting that Davenport is the final obstacle in Williams’ tennis rebirth in today’s Wimbledon final, and, likewise, that Williams remains the last one standing between Davenport’s first Slam title since the 2000 Australian Open.

“We’ve gone through so many transitions from around ’97 up until now,” Davenport said. “In the beginning, I was always winning, then she was always winning. The last few times, it’s been me.

“But we both have kind of evolved quite a bit and still play these close, crazy matches. They’re always pretty much in the final or semis. We’ve played a lot of tough matches over the years.”

The top-seeded Davenport reached the final in unusual fashion, needing about three minutes and seven points on Friday afternoon to get there. Her semifinal against No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo of France was suspended Thursday because of rain with Davenport leading, 5-3, in the third set, and Mauresmo serving at 15-0.

They returned to Court 1 on a cloudy day and it turned into a serving contest, albeit a brief one. Mauresmo hit three serves to hold at love. Davenport then got in all of her first serves to hold at love, winning, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4, when Mauresmo netted a forehand volley on match point.

Davenport said she slept fine but felt the nerves hit once she got up, and Mauresmo alluded to a fitful night of sleep. Though she wore a wrap on her upper right thigh, Davenport said it was a precaution, joking: “I could go run for you.”

The mental challenge was a formidable one, however.

“I’ve had matches stopped overnight, but I don’t think ever in a position of that close to victory, especially in such a big match,” Davenport said. “It’s one thing if you’re in a first or second round.

“I felt like I fought so hard the first two sets. I felt like while I was playing OK, I was at times just playing bad.... Then it was so dark outside. I think, ‘OK, it’s going to rain any moment.’ It was really a mentally tough match for me.”

Davenport has a 14-12 edge against Williams in their career, but Williams has won all three of their meetings at Wimbledon. Of their 26 matches, 11 have been in finals, with Williams winning six of those. Davenport has won their last four matches.

One hint this rivalry would be interesting came in their first meeting, at Indian Wells, in 1997. Davenport won that quarterfinal match, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1).

Since then, there have been Grand Slam titles and numerous injuries for the two. Both have been written off as lacking the ability to win another Slam. But the criticism has been much tougher on Williams, considering Davenport reached the semifinals here and at the U.S. Open last year and the Australian Open final in January.

Williams has not been in a Slam final since Wimbledon 2003, and there were increasing suggestions that her best days were in the rearview mirror. Such talk has not pleased the Williams camp, and at Wimbledon she did little to offer much introspection about the hard times, other than a brief glimpse or two.

“Sometimes I had to take a break for a week or so, just so I could get away from tennis a little bit, just regroup,” she said of difficult losses.

Still, self-doubt apparently was not part of the Williams psyche on the long road back.

“I don’t leave it up to the next person to believe in me,” she said. “Because no matter how much the next person believes in me or doesn’t believe in me or says I’m not going to do it or whatever it is, they can’t walk in my shoes.

“They can’t breathe the air I breathe. They can’t live inside my head.

“I’ve tried to stay really focused on what was important to me and what I thought.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Head-to-head

Lindsay Davenport leads her series with Venus Williams, 14-12:

*--* 1997 Tournament Rnd Winner Indian Wells QF Davenport hard-outdoor 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1) Zurich QF Davenport carpet-indoor 6-0, 6-4

*--*

*--* 1998 Australian Open QF Davenport hard-outdoor 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 Oklahoma City SF Williams hard-indoor 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 Stanford F Davenport hard-outdoor 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 U.S. Open SF Davenport hard-outdoor 6-4, 6-4 Zurich F Davenport carpet-indoor 7-5, 6-3

*--*

*--* 1999 Australian Open QF Davenport hard-outdoor 6-4, 6-0 Stanford F Davenport hard-outdoor 7-6 (1), 6-2 San Diego SF Williams hard-outdoor 6-4, 7-5 New Haven F Williams hard-outdoor 6-2, 7-5 Philadelphia SF Davenport carpet-indoor 6-1, 6-2

*--*

*--* 2000 Wimbledon F Williams grass-outdoor 6-3, 7-6 (3) Stanford F Williams hard-outdoor 6-1, 6-4 U.S. Open F Williams hard-outdoor 6-4, 7-5 Linz F Davenport carpet-indoor 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

*--*

*--* 2001 Wimbledon SF Williams grass-outdoor 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 San Diego SF Williams hard-outdoor 6-2, 7-5 New Haven F Williams hard-outdoor 7-6 (6), 6-4

*--*

*--* 2002 San Diego SF Williams hard-outdoor 6-2, 6-1 New Haven F Williams hard-outdoor 7-5, 6-0

*--*

*--* 2003 Wimbledon QF Williams grass-outdoor 6-2, 2-6, 6-1

*--*

*--* 2004 Stanford F Davenport hard-outdoor 7-6 (4), 5-7, 7-6 (4) Los Angeles SF Davenport hard-outdoor 7-5, 2-0, retired U.S. Open R16 Davenport hard-outdoor 7-5, 6-4

*--*

*--* 2005 Amelia Island QF Davenport clay-outdoor 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

*--*