Still going strong

Life with a 13-month-old son is hard enough.

For Laguna Beach resident Lindsay Davenport, taking care of her son, Jagger, while trying to resume a pro tennis career has been an exercise in patience.

Davenport, 32, has gotten used to telling people her son is not named after Rolling Stones lead man Mick Jagger. But that doesn’t mean the kid doesn’t demand attention sometimes, as Davenport said in a media conference call Wednesday.

“We’ve had [incidents] where the pilot will put on the landing sign and my son will, you know, poop through his pants,” Davenport said. “I’m sitting there holding him and we’re trying to figure all this out. I mean, crazy stuff happens when you have a baby, and traveling with him obviously makes life more interesting.”

No dirty diapers to worry about in the meantime, though, at least for a few hours. Thursday night, Davenport was set to make her lone home appearance for the Newport Beach Breakers as they battled the Springfield Lasers at Newport Beach Country Club.

Davenport will also play for the Breakers in Saturday’s away match at Sacramento.

This is Davenport’s eighth year of World Team Tennis; she was named Rookie of the Year in her first year of 1993. She last played with the Breakers in 2003, while last year she played for league champion Sacramento.

It’s different times for sure for Davenport, who is married to Jon Leach, the younger brother of former Breakers player Rick Leach. The former world No. 1 came back to the WTA Tour after giving birth to Jagger, and has since won four singles tournaments, playing against competition that’s sometimes half her age.

At Wimbledon, Davenport had to default her second-round match due to a right knee injury that she shrugged off Wednesday as “just an old knee that’s played too many tennis hours.”

“It’s been pretty remarkable,” she said of her recent run. “I can’t even put into words exactly how kind of excited I am, and a little bit shocked, as well. It was funny, because obviously over in London I was really disappointed. My husband was so funny, because I felt like I had been practicing so much for Wimbledon and the summer, and I was obviously disappointed.

“He was funny because he said, ‘Jeez, you should be disappointed if you had come back after having a baby and you couldn’t win a match.’ He’s like, ‘You’re playing part-time and you’re ranked whatever, in the 20s somewhere, you won all these titles.’ He’s like, ‘That’s a huge accomplishment.’

“I guess it was kind of funny, because when people make their comebacks, you never know how it goes or if you’re a different player after not playing for a year and what the results will be. So I try to look back fairly realistic and know that it’s been over my expectations what I’ve accomplished so far. Obviously, there’s been a few disappointments along the way, but for the most part, it’s been an incredible experience.”

Davenport, a three-time singles Grand Slam champion, is now ranked No. 23 in the world, which is still third among American women behind Serena (No. 5) and Venus (No. 7) Williams. All three players have been selected to play at the summer Olympics in Beijing.

Davenport won the women’s singles gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

“I’ve always loved team events,” she said. “My parents always thought I would have been better suited to a team sport. But, you know, being a participant of Fed Cup, Team Tennis, the Olympics have always been some of my best memories of my career.”

The Breakers are drastically different than when Davenport last played for them in 2003. Ramon Delgado, easily the longest-tenured current player, first played for Newport Beach in their championship year of 2004.

But Davenport said she’s excited to play with the Breakers, particularly with Kaes Van’t Hof, the Newport Beach resident who’s the son of her former coach, Robert. Coach Trevor Kronemann, who went to college at UC Irvine and is the Anteater men’s tennis coach, adds to the Orange County feel.

“I think it’s great that we have a lot of hometown people involved,” Davenport said. “I mean, Kaes, I met when he was 5 or 6 years old. His father was my coach for 10, 12 years or so.

“...But it’s fantastic. I mean, I followed Kaes’ career for years. To see him now kind of trying to break through on the pro tour is so great. There are so many connections to tennis and pro tennis in Orange County. I’m really thrilled that we have a showcase for that. I’m thrilled that they’re using some local products. Trevor obviously has been a part of Orange County tennis for years. So I think it’ll be fun. I hope that we get a lot of people out there and excited about the locals that are playing for them.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].