PARIS The final ball went long and top-ranked Lindsay Davenport looked surprised.
For the first time since 1999, she is in the quarterfinals of the French Open.
No wonder she seemed shocked. She played Kim Clijsters, who had won each of their last six meetings. Clijsters excels on clay and has reached the final here before. Davenport has never been past the semifinals at Roland Garros, the only major not part of her trophy collection.
It looked like Sunday's match would go the same way. Clijsters responded like a backboard there for every ball Davenport sent her way. After only 19 minutes, Davenport was down 6-1. Then down 6-1, 3-1. And everything changed. Clijsters confidence crumbled, and Davenport kept her head in the game. She won 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
"I'm pretty happy about that," Davenport said afterward. "Just really a little bit amazed I was able to pull that match out today, considering how bad I was losing and the previous records against her and it being on clay."
Davenport has more to be happy about. The weather has turned cold, damp and rainy. Those are not conditions under which Davenport would want to face spin-master Patty Schnyder. Instead, Davenport's going to play France's Mary Pierce, who defeated Schnyder 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
Davenport has never lost to Pierce on red clay. They last met on clay at Amelia Island in 1998, and Pierce won. Overall, however, Davenport holds an 8-2 record, 3-1 on clay, versus Pierce.
Looking further ahead, Davenport's semifinal opponent might have been Elena Dementieva, who sent Davenport home in the third round last year. At the time, Davenport's knee hurt, and she wasn't even sure her career would continue. She was thinking about retiring, not becoming No. 1.
"It's funny," Davenport said. "It was the same day here last year, and I remember being down 6-1, 3-1."
Davenport lost 6-1, 6-3. More important, her knee that had been surgically reconstructed in January 2002 was hurting.
"It was pretty desperate," she said. "I hadn't had any pain in my knee for three or four years. I'll never forget the doctor's words to me. 'Your knee will be fine, but once you hurt it again, you'll be done because there's nothing I can do to fix it twice.'
"I remember playing that match with my knee hurting and even crying at one point thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this is it.' "
It turned out to be a different area of the knee than what previously had been injured. Davenport went on to dominate the summer hard-court season and finished the year as No. 1 in the world.
She won't have to worry about Dementieva this year. Davenport's potential semifinal opponent could be either Elena Likhotseva, who defeated Dementieva 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5, or 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva. Karatantcheva, who upset Venus Williams in the third round, advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against Emmanuelle Gagliardi to become the sixth-youngest quarterfinalist at Roland Garros in the Open era.
First, though, Davenport needs to keep finding ways to win on her least-favorite surface. Both Davenport and Clijsters said before their matches that they have yet to feel comfortable on the clay.
"It's very tough for me to, you know, be with my big game and be with my lack of mobility on the clay to really love going out there and playing girls that can get every single ball back and can move the ball around on me," Davenport said.
Clijsters, despite playing with a restrictive strap on her leg, did just that for a set and a half. Then, for some reason, her confidence deserted her. She made 11 double faults in the match, eight in the final two sets.
"If you don't have the confidence or if you don't have that good feeling out there on the court, you know, playing like that or hitting those serves, you know it's definitely going to put you a little bit on your back foot," Clijsters said.
Davenport said she could see Clijsters' forehand breaking down but still wasn't confident that Clijsters wouldn't turn it around. Nevertheless, Davenport didn't give up.
"I just have tried every single match to stay in there, regardless of the circumstances, and regardless that it's my least favorite surface," she said. "And really, no matter what had happened today, I felt like hanging in there the last three matches is going to help me in the long run, and it helped me out sooner than I thought it would.
"Yeah, I feel really proud of myself."
Davenport says she isn't thinking about it yet, but she could complete a career Grand Slam if she wins the title.
"Oh, you're way too far ahead," she said, laughing. "I am so excited I'm in the quarters right now. I'm going to leave it at that. I would love to answer that question in a few more days. But, you know, right now I'm just ecstatic to be where I am."
Where she is has another benefit. She's still the No. 1 player in the world. No. 2 Maria Sharapova has been closing the distance on the top spot. Even if Davenport loses in the quarterfinals, Sharapova, who has a much more difficult draw, will have to at least reach the final. If Davenport advances to the semifinals and loses, Sharapova would have to win the whole thing. If both players advance to the final, the winner would be No. 1.
The oldest women's No. 1 after Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, Davenport, whose birthday is only three days after the French Open, is just happy to still be around.
"Obviously, to win and to come back here and to be almost 29 to be able to keep doing, it's pretty good," Davenport said.