Lindsay Davenport

Lindsay Davenport has gotten to this airy place at the top of the women's professional tennis rankings almost without notice, but not without effort.She was never singled out as the phenom. Never pointed to as the one most likely. But last month, she pried the No. 1 ranking away from Martina Hingis, 18, and not only became the first American-born woman to hold the ranking since Chris Evert in 1985, but also, at 22, the second-oldest woman to earn the No. 1 ranking for the first time."I'm a great example for kids," Davenport says.

Go to the mat The lowdown -- There is more to wrestling than intense head bashing and body slams. The Eastern Wrestling Alliance will sponsor a Toys for Tots drive at its Cold Fury event Saturday. The EWA asks all fans to bring an unopened toy for the campaign. In addition to the community outreach, attendees see burly wrestlers duke it out in the ring. The event features a heavyweight and cruiserweight bout and a ladder match. If you go -- The event starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Eastern Wrestling Alliance Arena on 1510 Country Ridge Lane in Essex.

When tennis fans see Lindsay Davenport walk onto the court at Baltimore Arena tonight in the Chevy Chase Bank Tennis Challenge, they will be looking at a mature and mentally strong woman.Davenport is the No. 2 player in the world, but the sting of criticism isn't so far in her past that she can't remember it."I used to get ripped on all the time," said Davenport, who defeated Martina Hingis for the Chase Championships title Sunday. "The media are so quick to take issue, and they do it without knowing all the personal things going on in a person's life."

PARIS - Lindsay Davenport's eyes got wide, possibly wider than they were an hour earlier, when heavily favored Kim Clijsters slapped her 41st unforced error to end their match and reinforce Davenport's reputation as the Secretariat of Roland Garros. She had just been asked in an interview what it would mean to add a French Open title to her championships at the other three majors, giving her the same Slam sweep Andre Agassi achieved here in 1999. "You're way too far ahead," she said yesterday, half gasping and then laughing at what surely must seem an impossibility to her. Davenport would be the first to tell you she's no clay-courter.

Results, schedule Women's singles semifinals Venus Williams (2) def. Amelie Mauresmo (10), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Serena Williams (1) def. Lindsay Davenport (4), 6-3, 7-5. Today's matches Men's singles semifinals Day session Pete Sampras (17) vs. Sjeng Schalken (24) Lleyton Hewitt (1) vs. Andre Agassi (6) Women's singles championship Night sesson Serena Williams (1) vs. Venus Williams (2)

VENUS won yesterday, as she has three of the previous four tournament meetings between the Williams sisters who are transforming women's tennis. It was anti-climax, hardly the best play of either this week at Wimbledon. Serena, 18 and the one with a grand slam title, played the little sister and lost again to her doubles partner. Now Venus, a mature 20, has a shot in the final tomorrow. Don't take it for granted. There's the hurdle of Lindsay Davenport, the defending champion, another six-foot Californian, a seasoned old 24, to overcome.

Go to the mat The lowdown -- There is more to wrestling than intense head bashing and body slams. The Eastern Wrestling Alliance will sponsor a Toys for Tots drive at its Cold Fury event Saturday. The EWA asks all fans to bring an unopened toy for the campaign. In addition to the community outreach, attendees see burly wrestlers duke it out in the ring. The event features a heavyweight and cruiserweight bout and a ladder match. If you go -- The event starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Eastern Wrestling Alliance Arena on 1510 Country Ridge Lane in Essex.

NEW YORK -- No. 1 Martina Hingis had great hits, mis-hits and desperation hits, but they all produced the same result, landing safely in play and devastating Monica Seles.In a quarterfinal match that has been anticipated since the U.S. Open began 10 days ago, Hingis had little trouble eliminating Seles, the No. 6 seed, 6-4, 6-4, in 1 hour and 12 minutes last night.It was Hingis' first win over Seles after two previous losses, and put her in her ninth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal."I don't think Martina is given enough credit for how very creative she is," said Seles.

PARIS - Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian, Juan Ignacio Chela, Gaston Gaudio. There was adequate warning before the first ball was struck a week ago that the time had come for the Grand Slam-starved Argentines to overtake the Spanish at the French Open. It's now close to happening and, though there are still a few matches to reach the final four, it's possible there could be an all-Argentine semifinal with Nalbandian vs. Gaudio in the upper half of the draw and Coria playing Chela in the lower half.

WIMBLEDON, England -- Her right wrist aches, her back could give out at any time and she hasn't won a grass-court match in two years.So, of course, Steffi Graf, the five-time champion, is the overwhelming favorite to claim the Wimbledon women's title.With Martina Navratilova out of the Wimbledon singles draw for the first time since 1972, Graf is expected to carry the show this year. She'll even add a little spice to the doubles, teaming with Navratilova, who is here to plug a mystery novel and work as a television commentator.

NEW YORK - Lindsay Davenport had played all summer without the pain in her knee or foot that had troubled her for nearly two years. Since Wimbledon, Davenport had been sound. Her ground strokes were flawless. Her serve had become a major plus, winning her easy points and making the game fun. Until yesterday, a day that belonged to the Russians, with two of their women advancing to the U.S. Open final for the first time - each defeating an American. For Davenport, a groin muscle that was stiff after practice Thursday was achy after warm-ups yesterday and became punishingly painful by the middle of her semifinal match against 19-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova, a strong, athletic opponent.

WIMBLEDON, England - It was noisy out there yesterday. Venus Williams and Karolina Sprem were playing with their arms, legs and heart - but most of all, their lungs. They were playing with all their screeching, grunting, growling might, hitting forehands so hard they expelled air in yelps. Sometimes the play was exhilarating, sometimes sloppy, but it was fast and frantic and, all of a sudden, too confusing for chair umpire Ted Watts. Sprem's raucous 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) second-round upset of Williams - a two-time Wimbledon champion and the No. 3 seed - was punctuated by a rookie mistake by Watts.

PARIS - Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian, Juan Ignacio Chela, Gaston Gaudio. There was adequate warning before the first ball was struck a week ago that the time had come for the Grand Slam-starved Argentines to overtake the Spanish at the French Open. It's now close to happening and, though there are still a few matches to reach the final four, it's possible there could be an all-Argentine semifinal with Nalbandian vs. Gaudio in the upper half of the draw and Coria playing Chela in the lower half.

After a trying process of arranging her charity tennis event last year, the last thing Pam Shriver wanted was a repeat of the experience for this year's Dec. 4 show at 1st Mariner Arena, especially with a new sponsor. Shriver, member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and founder of what is now known as the Mercantile Tennis Challenge, didn't lock up last year's featured participants - Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport - until mid-October. Earlier this year, she began the quest for players hoping to finish before summer, with their prominence being secondary.

NEW YORK - The rain had cleared, tennis had returned to the much-beleaguered U.S. Open and No. 13 seed David Nalbandian couldn't keep the smile from his face. After three days of waiting, Nalbandian pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, beating No. 2 seed Roger Federer in impressive fashion, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3, yesterday. "Weird," said Federer, after losing to Nalbandian for the fifth straight time. "He likes my game. He likes to play [counter-punch] tennis. I've never had a great day against him. "But I had my chances today.

WIMBLEDON, England - The Russians are going. The Russians are going. There were a record five of them in the women's round of 16 at the close of business Saturday evening. By late afternoon yesterday, only Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is a lot better known as Martina Navratilova's doubles partner, was carrying the flag into the Wimbledon quarterfinals. One by one, they went down, and most of them quickly to the galaxy of WTA Tour stars who are once again dominating a Grand Slam. Top seed Serena Williams knocked out Elena Dementieva, 6-2, 6-2. Jennifer Capriati dunked Anastasia Myskina, 6-2, 6-3. Kuznetsova, 17, erased her 16-year-old compatriot Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. And Venus Williams, in a most impressive piece of destruction, took her revenge on Vera Zvonareva, 6-1, 6-3. When the women get down to the final four today, Kuznetsova is expected to join the rest of the Russians on the sidelines.

Chevy Chase Bank has decided not to renew its contract as the title sponsor of Pam Shriver's Tennis Challenge charity event that is held here each fall. "I was told five years ago, when they signed on, that the major reason was to get better known," said Shriver by phone from California, where she was busy getting ready to leave for Australia tomorrow to spend the holidays with her Australian husband and his family. "I was told by one of their board members, Bo Moore, that they felt the event had served its purpose and that they have different needs now."

PARIS - Lindsay Davenport's eyes got wide, possibly wider than they were an hour earlier, when heavily favored Kim Clijsters slapped her 41st unforced error to end their match and reinforce Davenport's reputation as the Secretariat of Roland Garros. She had just been asked in an interview what it would mean to add a French Open title to her championships at the other three majors, giving her the same Slam sweep Andre Agassi achieved here in 1999. "You're way too far ahead," she said yesterday, half gasping and then laughing at what surely must seem an impossibility to her. Davenport would be the first to tell you she's no clay-courter.

WIMBLEDON, England - Chanda Rubin was bucking the odds by playing the grass-court tournament at Eastbourne, on the southeast coast of England. Only once in the past 12 years has the Wimbledon women's champion played the week before the tournament. But forget about the jinxes and the dozen years of history. Never in her 12-year pro career has Rubin been in a better position to reach the final of a Grand Slam. She needed the matches and the momentum more than she needed six days of rest, and she got both.

Chevy Chase Bank has decided not to renew its contract as the title sponsor of Pam Shriver's Tennis Challenge charity event that is held here each fall. "I was told five years ago, when they signed on, that the major reason was to get better known," said Shriver by phone from California, where she was busy getting ready to leave for Australia tomorrow to spend the holidays with her Australian husband and his family. "I was told by one of their board members, Bo Moore, that they felt the event had served its purpose and that they have different needs now."