Davenport advances with win over Suarez

SYDNEY, Australia - Laguna Beach resident Lindsay Davenport, who

lived and trained in Newport Beach for five years and still plays out of

Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach, was back in gold-medal form

Tuesday at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

The top-seeded Davenport, the former top-ranked women’s tennis player

in the world and the 1996 gold medalist in women’s singles, won her

opening match against Paolo Suarez of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2.

Davenport’s victory made the United States women 3-0, with No. 2

seeded Venus Williams and No. 3 Monica Seles also winning Tuesday.

Davenport, 24, captured the gold at the ’96 Atlanta Games, a victory

she still considers her greatest triumph in a career that includes three

Grand Slam singles championships.

Earlier this year, Davenport won the Australian Open for her third

career Grand Slam. She won the U.S. Open in 1998 and Wimbledon in ’99.

She was ranked No. 1 in world for most of ’98 and ‘99, until she was

slowed by injuries.