/ 5 January 2008

Davenport takes title in Auckland

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport continued her impressive return to the WTA circuit on Saturday, outclassing France's Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-2 to win the Auckland Classic. The 31-year-old American comeback mum needed just 51 minutes to dispatch the 20-year-old Frenchwoman, offering fans a lesson in power and precision tennis.

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport continued her impressive return to the WTA circuit on Saturday, outclassing France’s Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-2 to win the Auckland Classic.

The 31-year-old American comeback mum needed just 51 minutes to dispatch the 20-year-old Frenchwoman, offering fans a lesson in power and precision tennis.

Since returning to competitive tennis in September following the birth of her son, Jagger, Davenport has won 18 of 19 matches and three of four tournaments to extend her career total to 54 WTA titles.

Rezai was playing in only her second WTA final. She was forced to retire from the first one in Istanbul last year due to injury after notching wins over Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.

Although she had not dropped a set through to the finals here, Rezai’s game fell apart against Davenport, especially her serve. She put only 41% of her first serves in play and delivered seven double faults.

While the unseeded Frenchwoman struggled to hold, Davenport never faced a single break point. — Sapa-AFP