| | Associated Press
Results
ROME -- Lindsay Davenport was back on the court, back
winning and back at No. 1.
But the American, playing her first match Tuesday at the Italian
Open, had few illusions about her chances on Europe's slow red
clay.
"I'm not going to become a clay-courter for three tournaments
out of the year," said Davenport after beating Elena Dementieva of
Russia in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Davenport, who won the Australian Open in January, was playing
her first match after being sidelined for six weeks with a foot
injury.
In the meantime, she still recaptured the No. 1 ranking from
Martina Hingis.
Acknowledging similarities with Pete Sampras' annual frustration
during the European clay court season, Davenport said she would
stick to her aggressive game.
"So you probably won't be seeing me slide a lot and hitting a
lot of moonballs and kicking my serve and all that," Davenport
said. "But I'm just going to keep doing what I've always been
doing."
In other action Tuesday, Kristina Brandi knocked off No. 11 seed
Elena Likhovtseva in straight sets to advance to the second round.
No. 9 seed Germany's Anke Huber rolled to a 6-4, 7-5 win over
Nathalie Zvereva of Belarus, No. 12 Amelie Mauresmo beat Kveta
Hrdlickova 6-0, 6-2 and No. 13 Al Sugiyama of Japan beat Joannette
Kruger of South Africa, 6-2, 6-3.
Two unseeded Americans advanced: Corina Morariu beat Romania's
Catalina Cristea 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, while Chanda Rubin defeated Magui
Serna of Spain, 6-0, 6-2.
Davenport said it was good to be playing and winning again, even
though her game was clearly a bit rusty.
"In a tennis career, six weeks can be a very long time," she
said. "I felt a little bit awkward out there at certain times."
This is the season when the players are gearing up for the
French Open, the only Grand Slam played on clay and the only one
neither Davenport nor Sampras has won.
"It's going to be the most difficult for us to win in Paris
than on any other surface," Davenport said.
Davenport said she's trying not to worry about the rankings
race, which involves results of the previous year.
"I thought it was funny that I became No. 1 and then I didn't
play in six weeks. In that time, I fell to 2, and went back to 1."
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