Ex-Capital Davenport elected to Hall of Fame

Lindsay Davenport was named the World TeamTennis
Rookie of the Year at 17 in 1993 and Female MVP in
1997 as a member of the Sacramento Capitals.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   Former Sacramento Capitals star Lindsay Davenport was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the organization announced Monday.
   Davenport, 37, will be enshrined on July 12 in Newport, R.I., with five-time Paralympic medalist Chantal Vandierendonck, coach Nick Bollettieri, executive Jane Brown Grimes and British broadcaster and announcer John Barrett.
   They bring the membership of the Hall of Fame, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, to 235 people representing 20 countries. The Hall revealed its latest inductees on World Tennis Day, marked by events and celebrations around the globe.
   Enshrinement requires at least 75 percent of the vote from an international panel of tennis journalists and authors. Falling short of election were former players Mary Pierce and Conchita Martinez.
   Davenport, 6-foot-2 (1.89 meters), reached No. 1 in the world in singles and doubles. The resident of Laguna Beach in Southern California won six Grand Slam titles -- three in singles (1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon and 2000 Australian Open) and three in doubles (1996 French Open with Mary Joe Fernandez, 1997 U.S. Open with Jana Novotna and 1999 Wimbledon with Corina Morariu). Davenport also earned the singles gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
   Playing for the Capitals of World TeamTennis, Davenport was named the league's Female Rookie of the Year at 17 years old in 1993 and Female MVP in 1997. She competed on three of Sacramento's record six WTT championship teams -- in 1997, 1998 and 2007.
    Davenport also was known for her down-to-earth personality and unfailing cooperation with the media.
   Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, the first full-time tennis boarding school, in Bradenton, Fla., in 1978. Alumni include Hall of Famers Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Monica Seles, future Hall of Famer Maria Sharapova and former doubles No. 1 Anna Kournikova. 
    Pierce, 38, of France captured four Grand Slam titles, two in singles (1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open), one in doubles (2000 French Open with Martina Hingis) and one in mixed doubles (2004 Wimbledon with Mahesh Bhupathi).
    Martinez, 41, remains the only Spanish woman to win Wimbledon, having stunned nine-time champion Martina Navratilova in 1994.