Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Bring it, mama!

Aren’t babies cute?
They’re so small, and they make the strangest faces. Watching them try to put their fist in their mouths is just priceless.
Another fun thing about babies is the constant crying, and trying to figure out why.
Just six weeks after having her first child (whose name is Jagger -- why do parents insist on doing that to their children? I speak from pity.), Lindsay Davenport seems to have discovered that chasing down a drop shot might be a welcome respite to changing a droopy diaper. The 31-year-old American announced her return to tennis – in baby steps.
Back in December, when she announced she was pregnant, Davenport told ESPN.com, "I hate the word 'retirement' but this season was such a struggle physically for me and I can't imagine playing again." A little context: Last year, she had experienced two quarterfinal major losses to Justine Henin, and couldn't even play the French Open and Wimbledon becauses of a back injury. This is a player who holds three Grand Slam titles, and has been to the top of the tennis mountain. No doubt, the frustrations of being unable to beat younger, hungrier competitors must have been hard to stomach.
But Davenport had a winning return on Saturday, winning a women's doubles and mixed doubles match in World Team Tennis, an exhibition tour. She'll compete again on the women’s tour will be in August, partnering with Lisa Raymond to play doubles. Long term, Davenport would like to be eligible for the Beijing Olympics.
Davenport's comeback will be an encouragement for mothers everywhere, especially if she finds herself heading to China next summer. Can she still do damage on the tour, especially in singles? She's always had one of the best serves in the game, and still possesses her heavy, penetrating ground strokes. However, her fitness was always the question mark throughout her career, and it will likely dog her comeback effort. Having said that, anything can happen in women's tennis. This is a time where the Williams sisters can roll out of bed and win a major, a time when scale-tipping Marion Bartoli can make the Wimbledon final, a time when half of the women's top 10 can't legally drink alcohol. Maybe this is the time for a kid-toting Davenport.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm going to link your blog to the TennisGlance Blog under Blog Companions:

http://www.tennisglance.com/modules/wordpress/

So keep writing a little.

W.H.
TennisGlance

Naf said...

Thanks! Tennis writers unite!