Lindsay's Blog from Quebec

Lindsay is blogging from Quebec this week for the wta website. Hope the blog curse doesn't catch up with Lindsay here is the first entry and I will update it each time there's a new entry.

Lindsay's Quebec City Blog

QUÉBEC CITY, Canada - After taking some time off of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to have her first child, Lindsay Davenport made a much-welcomed return to action last month in Asia, winning her comeback event in Bali and reaching the semifinals in Beijing. Now one of the all-time greats plays the third event of her comeback up in Québec City, Canada, and brings us - and son Jagger - all along for the ride in this week's player blog.
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Monday, October 29, 2007
Well we're in Québec for one of the last tournaments of the year. It doesn't feel like that for me though, as this is only my third event in 13 months. It's really nice to be here - a great tournament in a very cute town. It's a little cold for me, but I'm getting used to it! Jagger got to see snow (although it was only a flurry) for the first time so that was a highlight!

I play my first round match Tuesday against Kerber from Germany. I don't really know anything about her except that she's left handed. I find that's the case a lot these days - there are so many new, young girls that have come up in the last few years, and I'm still trying to learn who everyone is.

It has been such an amazing year for myself and my husband. We are so in love with our son it's crazy. He changes every day and starts doing new things all the time that amaze us. Here in Québec he started rolling over and now he doesn't stop - he just keeps rolling over across the room. It's really hysterical to watch. Travelling with him has been surprisingly easy. He's such a good boy and actually loves being on an airplane... probably because he's in my lap the whole time! He just plays, sleeps and eats... He never gets fussy on a plane.

The hardest part about travelling is probably being away from my husband. The most amazing thing for me to do is watch my husband with my son. He is so good with him and they just adore each other, so it's hard for us when we are on the road and my husband is at home working. I haven't really figured out what is going to come about with this comeback. Right now it's just a lot of fun and has been really easy to manage. We'll have to see what happens as Jagger gets older and more mobile. Also I have a family (which is by far the most important thing in my life) to balance so I'm just not sure how much I'm going to be able to play.

I'm here in Québec with my longtime coach Adam and my assistant and nanny, Catherine. I wouldn't be able to do any of this without them. At home, Jagger is babysat from 10-3 so I have to get in all my tennis and working out in those hours... other than that, it's just my husband and I doing it all with Jagger. On the road I definitely need more help, as trying to get ready for matches, taking care of any injuries, practicing, etc. takes a bit more time.

I never thought I'd come back and play again after having a child, but I think you learn as life goes on that it's impossible to map out your life. After Jagger was born, it seemed like it would be a fun goal to have and everything has happened so much faster than I could have imagined. I really had no expectations going to Asia in September and was shocked that I came back so well so soon. Now I still don't have any performance goals because I have to keep in mind I only had my baby 4 1/2 months ago, so I'm still playing it by ear. Whatever happens, I look at it like a great achievement to be back playing and competing.

I'll talk to you all again after my match!
Until tomorrow,

Lindsay

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1855

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Hey everyone,
Tonight I played my first match of the tournament. I won, but I definitely still feel rusty, and that's to be expected. I feel I have nothing to lose and no pressure, and it has been a huge challenge to try and come back to a high level. I've been having a great time playing matches though - that hasn't always been the case!

Next up I play Aleksandra Wozniak, a local Canadian girl. I'm sure the crowd will be behind her, and that will make it more exciting. The press told me she said she is very excited as I am one of her idols - that was very complimentary. I've heard she has big groundstrokes and hits it pretty hard, and it's always great to see young players on the rise. I look forward to Thursday's match!

Unfortunately I've got to keep tonight's entry a bit short, as I want to get some things done tonight (like sleep) before Jagger wakes me up in the morning! But I have a day off on Wednesday and I'll have lots to tell you. Oh, and I've attached a picture of him watching my match today from the Tour desks upstairs...

Talk to you all tomorrow,
Lindsay

Thursday, November 1, 2007 NEW

Today was a good day for the tennis. I was happy to be back on the match court after a day off, and I felt like I started off much better and more confidently than I did on Tuesday night. I thought Wozniak hit the ball well; I was just able to get her on the run before she was able to do that to me. She seemed a bit nervous; it is always tough to play in front of your home crowd, especially at the start of your career. Tomorrow, I've got another night match. My opponents are playing now, so I'm not sure who I'm going to play. I try to focus more on what I need to do well rather than on my opponent's game, but I always like to know what I'm up against. I actually don't mind playing the night matches. It gives me all day to kind of relax and hang with Jagger. He slept until 7:15 this morning so I was ecstatic. We went out to breakfast and took a walk this morning, but other than that we just hung in the room.

So far my comeback has been really focused more on getting my body back used to playing, and also trying to figure out all the changes that have occurred since Jagger. In the off-season, Adam and I are looking forward to working on a few specific things in my game and testing new racquets and new types of string. I have played with my Wilson racquets since 1995 and I love them; but something tells me technology has probably changed a lot in the last 12 years, so I'm going to test the water there with some new Wilson frames.

The longer I keep playing, the more I realize that most of my good friends have retired! I'm lucky to have made so many great friends in this sport. Last week the fires in California were horrible. One was actually just a couple of miles from our house, which caused us some major concern and sleepless nights. The air quality was so bad that we were told not to go outside. So I called my good friend Mary Joe Fernandez (a former great player) and Jagger and I took off to Cleveland and stayed with her and her family for the week (her husband is also my longtime agent). It was a great place to practice before coming to Québec, but it was also amazing to see us all these years later with our own children. We laughed that it was 11 years ago we won the French Open together.

The tennis year is almost over so I'm trying hard to end it on a good note. It's hard to explain, but I've really enjoyed competing since coming back; I've been looking forward to playing the matches. Jagger and I are missing Jon terribly, so we're excited to go home whenever I'm done here. I send him tons of pictures of Jagger every day from my phone so that he can see how much his boy keeps growing. I'm trying hard to convince him to come here if I keep winning.

Jagger left right after my match to go to bed. It's hard for me because I put him to sleep every night but unfortunately it's just not possible when I play at night. So I look forward to him waking me up early to hang out!

Good night,

Lindsay

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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Well today was a day off in Québec. As I get older, these days get more and more important! It's very helpful to have a day off of matches to let the body rest and recover. There's no question my life at tournaments is different from how it used to be. For instance, last night I played a match and got back to the hotel around 10:30pm. My son had just gone to bed when I got back to the room, so I kissed him in his crib and began getting things organized for the next day. I probably went to sleep around midnight or so and woke up at 6:45 with Jagger. The one thing that amazes me about motherhood is how you just learn to survive with less sleep. And I'm lucky my son sleeps the night through; I don't know what I'd do if I was getting up a bunch of times in the middle of the night. My son, however, is a major sleep talker. He just rambles on and on in the middle of the night, but he never wakes up. It's the craziest thing. I always wonder what is going on in that head of his!

Adam and I hit for an hour this morning. The older I've gotten, the less I feel the need to practice too much. It's much more important for me to stay healthy and fresh. I pretty much always have my timing of shots (that's luckily what I was born with). The big things for me to work on are to be injury free and movement. I've always wondered what it would be like to run down any shot on the tennis court, but that's definitely not in my genetics so I just try and do what I do well.

Today is Jagger's first Halloween and we've dressed him up as a tiger! He has been getting a lot of candy for his mom because of it... We didn't make it out trick or treating but hopefully there will be years of that to come. We've been eating a lot at a restaurant called Cosmos, which is around the corner from our hotel. It has a great menu and, most importantly, it's casual. Nothing worse than taking a baby to a nice restaurant and having him have a meltdown! So we go to dinner early (5:30ish) at laid back places, and everyone does well.

I play again tomorrow night against Wozniak. I'll take the morning to hang with Jagger and then head over to the courts around 3 or 4. It should be an exciting match as she is a local girl. As I'm writing this, I'm up in the press center at the tennis and watching the Dubois/Vakulenko match. I've always loved watching tennis. When I first started, I'd always go to the outside courts at tournaments and watch my friends or good matches. It's hard to do that now as more people know who I am and, with Jagger, there's no time; so now the only tennis I really watch are the matches that are on TV. During the French Open I was on bed rest for the end of my pregnancy so I watched a lot those two weeks. And then my son was two weeks old when Wimbledon started so we saw a lot of that as well.

We're definitely California people... the weather here seems freezing and it's only 40 degrees or so. Catherine and I bundled Jagger up and took him for a long walk into old Québec. It's a really beautiful, cute city. We got some crêpes and just enjoyed the walk. Jagger literally did not move in his stroller. He's not used to being bundled up in jackets and scarves, so he just stares one way and doesn't move! It makes us laugh so hard.

Well I thought I'd be writing more about the tournament and how I'm playing this week, but as it turns out I'm mostly just writing about Jagger! I've attached a picture of him in his Halloween costume... it's hard NOT to write about him!

Take care and I'll talk to you all tomorrow...

Lindsay