"It's very nice to finally get one under my belt"- When Lindsay Davenport handed Steffi Graf her first loss in the US in over 20 months in shock upset
Lindsay Davenport clinched her first victory against Steffi Graf in the 1996 Acura Classic and it was also the German's first loss in the United States in over 20 months. The American's victory came after suffering four consecutive defeats against the tennis legend.
Graf was the top seed while Davenport was seeded third at the 1996 Acura Classic, which took place in Los Angeles in August that year. The German booked her place in the semifinals with wins over three Americans in Katrina Adams, Venus Williams and Amy Frazier. Davenport defeated Francesca Lubiani, Natasha Zvereva and Amanda Coetzer to book her place in the final four.
The American put in a fine performance to defeat Steffi Graf 6-3, 6-3, and book her place in the final. It was also the German's first loss in the United States since November 1994.
Speaking after the match, Davenport said that the win meant a lot to her and called Graf the "greatest player" that ever lived.
"I don't know if it's sunk in yet. It means so much to me that I was able to really pull it out. She is the greatest player probably that's ever lived and I'll always have this no matter what happens," Davenport said, as quoted by Deseret.
The then-20-year-old had won the Olympic gold a little over two weeks before her win over Graf and she said that the triumph in Atlanta gave her a lot of confidence when it came to beating top players.
"The Olympics gave me a lot of confidence that I could break through and win a match against one of the top players when I beat Arantxa (Sanchez Vicario)," Davenport said.
The American also said that it felt nice for her to finally bag a win over a World No. 1, after losing close encounters to Steffi Graf and Monica Seles earlier in 1996.
"It's very nice to finally get one under my belt," Davenport said.
The then-20-year-old went on to win the 1996 Acura Classic after beating Anke Huber 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Lindsay Davenport won six matches against Steffi Graf
Lindsay Davenport locked horns with Steffi Graf 14 times and triumphed on six occasions. The German did win the first four encounters between the two but the American came out on top in six of the next 10 fixtures.
They squared off in two finals, the first of which came at the 1998 Advanta Championships. Graf came back from a set down to defeat Davenport 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The second title clash involving the two would go on to be their last encounter.
It was the Wimbledon final in 1999, and Davenport registered a 6-4, 7-5 win over the 22-time Grand Slam champion to win her first title at the grass-court Major. The American did not drop a single set en route to her triumph. It would also be the last time Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport faced one another, as the German would announce her retirement from tennis not long after the Wimbledon final.