Breakers holding out hope

The Newport Beach Breakers are in danger of losing their marquee player, Lindsay Davenport, for her July 10 appearance to play at Newport Beach Country Club.

Davenport withdrew before her second-round match at Wimbledon on Thursday with an injured right knee. Davenport, 32, told the Associated Press that she expects to be out three to four weeks. The injury does not require surgery.

“Hopefully, she’ll be OK in a couple of weeks,” said Jeff Purser, the Breakers executive director. “We’ll react accordingly at the time she’ll make the decision. If she’s unable to play, we’ll have to see what’s available.”

Purser said the Breakers are using a wait-and-see approach with Davenport’s injury because the July 10 match would not require much activity. She could play in doubles and not singles, Purser said.

Rosie Crews, a spokesperson for World Team Tennis, said the WTT remains hopeful that Davenport will play at NBCC July 10.

“I know she wants to play,” Crews said. “She’s a class act. I know if she can play, she will play.”

The WTT plans to check in with Davenport after a few days to give her time to return home in Laguna Beach and check in with her doctors. WTT commissioner Ilana Kloss is at Wimbledon and has been in contact with Davenport and the Breakers.

Crews said she had seen Davenport before Wimbledon and told her that Kaes Van’t Hof, a Newport Beach resident, would be playing with the Breakers this season. The news excited Davenport, who has known Van’t Hof since he was a toddler. Van’t Hof’s father, Robert, coached Davenport.

If Davenport is not able to play for the Breakers on July 10, the team can have the WTT try to gain a marquee player for them on that date, said Crews, who noted it is challenging to find a marquee player on short notice, but that it has been done in the past.

At Wimbledon, she pulled out before her scheduled match against Gisela Dulko of Argentina. Davenport defeated Renata Voracova, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, in her opening match on Tuesday with her knee heavily taped.

“It’s just really inflamed and painful,” Davenport told the AP. “I rested all day [Wednesday] and did treatment. After warming up, I felt like I was 25, maybe 30%. That’s not good enough for a second-round match.”

The Breakers are touting Davenport’s July 10 appearance as, “a hometown legend returning to the Breakers.”

Davenport, who has own three Grand Slam titles, played for the Breakers in 2003. Last year, she was part of Sacramento’s WTT-record sixth championship. She is scheduled to return to Sacramento, this time playing for the Breakers for their road match on July 12.

Davenport won the U.S. Open in 1998, Wimbledon in 1999 and Australian Open in 2000. In 1996, she won the gold medal in singles at the Olympics in Atlanta. She has won more prize money than any other pro female athlete. She was the world’s No. 1 player to end the year in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005.

Davenport was seeded 25th despite playing only seven tournaments this season in her comeback after leaving the WTA Tour in late 2006 to have her first child. She gave birth to her son, Jagger in June 2007.

“We believe she is back where she belongs, where her hometown fans can cheer her along,” Purser said after Newport Beach selected Davenport with the first pick in the WTT Marquee Player Draft in February.

Davenport could help the Breakers. Last year, they finished 3-11. But they sold out five of their seven home matches in their first year in Breakers Stadium at Newport Beach Country Club.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].