Davenport Seeks 2nd Wimbledon Title
^{By STEVEN WINE - July 7, 2000, © AP 2000}

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - Lindsay Davenport walked off Centre Court a winner again Thursday, and as she departed a bouquet of flowers flew out of the stands and landed at her feet.

Davenport picked up the bouquet and waved it at the crowd, grateful for the clumsy but considerate gesture by Wimbledon fans.

"Red, white and blue flowers," she said. "Pretty. Sometimes they hand them to you. They don't necessarily throw them on the court. That was nice, though."

At least someone acknowledged Davenport's accomplishments. The most overlooked player in women's tennis, and perhaps the best, needs just one more win for her second consecutive Wimbledon title.

With the spotlight elsewhere - as usual - in the semifinals, Davenport won easily, overpowering 17-year-old Jelena Dokic 6-4, 6-2 in 51 minutes. The result hardly caused a ripple, coming in the wake of the Williams sisters' showdown.

After Venus beat Serena before a capacity crowd, Centre Court had hundreds of empty seats and a nearly deserted press section when the Davenport-Dokic match began.

Such is life at Wimbledon for the defending champion, who has made fewer headlines during the fortnight than tennis parent Richard Williams, second-round loser Anna Kournikova or the naked fan who interrupted a doubles match.

"That's the way I like it," Davenport said. "I don't really like to have a lot of hoopla around what I'm doing. I've always said that the only reason I'm here is to play tennis and see personally what I can achieve, and leave all the other business to the other players and let them deal with it all."

Davenport even likes to keep her support system simple. Unlike most players, she travels without her parents. Neither has been at Wimbledon, and the only relative here Thursday - a cousin - planned to fly home before the final.

"My friend goes, `That's your whole family. I can't believe that,"' Davenport said with a laugh. "That's just the way they are. They're kind of over my tennis career, I think. ... I'm a lot different from other players here, and very lucky for it."

The circumstances are such that her game is thriving. With booming groundstrokes and improved mobility, the 24-year-old Davenport has won three Grand Slam titles, all since September 1998. She surprised even herself by beating seven-time champion Steffi Graf at Wimbledon last year.

On Saturday, the 6-foot-2 1/2 Californian will pick on someone her own size - nearly. Venus Williams stands 6-1 and is one of the few players who can match Davenport's power from the baseline.

Davenport leads the series 9-3.

"We've never played on grass," she said. "That's going to change the whole dimension of the match. Venus has been playing really well, and I know I'm going to have to play my best to win."

If she wins, she'll be handed another trophy by the Duchess of Kent, which beats having to pick up flowers off the ground any day.

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