Former world number one Lindsay Davenport returned from her nine month knee surgery-induced absence to trounce Australian Nicole Pratt 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday's first round of the Sydney International tournament.
The 26-year-old American, who will be aiming to end the Williams sisters dominance on the women's circuit, has taken on former doubles specialist Rick Leach as coach, having become engaged to his brother Jon. And she admits that being in love with her coach's brother makes life easier. "He's a great guy, a future brother-in-law. It's important to find a coach that is of a high stature and very respectable and a great person."
Davenport was also optimistic about her chances of climbing up the world rankings this year: "I was really excited for this year to begin and happy for last year to end. I'm in a situation that I haven't been in for many, many years, of not being in the top 10. I have this good position (in that) I have no points to defend until the end of July. I feel like my ranking can only go up and I can play at a level higher than I did last year."
Pratt's defeat and Evie Dominikovic's 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 loss to Russian Tatiana Panova removed all Australian representation from the women's draw on the opening day of the mixed tournament.
Filed by James Boylan.
