Operation Comeback nears completion for Rubin and Davenport

Chanda Rubin and Lindsay Davenport have met twice this year. The first occasion came in January, when Davenport was being wheeled into an operating theatre for knee surgery as Rubin was brought out. Testimony to the skills of the people at the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colorado came with their second meeting, in the final of a Los Angeles tournament two weeks ago.

Rubin won that one, in three tight sets after Davenport had served for the title. It was the first time the 26-year-old daughter of a Louisiana judge had beaten her childhood friend and rival for seven years, and marked another step in one of the sport's more remarkable comeback yarns. To get to that LA final, her fifth title, Rubin defeated the top seed and world No 1, Serena Williams, in the quarters, snapping Serena's 21-match winning streak in the process.

Now these two rehabilitated knees, along with the repaired ankle of Martina Hingis and the yo-yo form of Jennifer Capriati, are the principal hopes of derailing the Williams juggernaut at the US Open, which begins tomorrow. This particular Grand Slam has been hogged for the past three years by Venus (2000 and 2001) and sister Serena (1999), who are comfortably in control of women's tennis at the moment. Six of the last nine Slams fell to the Super Sisters and, should they contest the final of this one, that would make it the third in a row, Serena having beaten Venus in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.

No wonder some of the opposition appear to have given up, the most prominent among these being Jelena Dokic, seeded fifth for Flushing Meadows. "It's almost impossible to beat them with their power," gloomed Dokic, never the happiest of bunnies. "They play a different game." There is a brighter response from the up-and-coming Slovak Daniela Hantuchova: "At the moment they are dominating. But there will be a way to beat them. It will just take a little bit of time."

Time is what Rubin does not possess in abundance, having lost the best part of two years to injury, in 1996 to the right hand, and over the last 18 months because of a left knee which needed two operations. Since her latest comeback, in May, she has clocked up 24 wins against eight losses and was a highly popular winner at Eastbourne.

As an indefatigable supporter of worthy causes, Chanda avidly pursues lost causes, too, notably against Jana Novotna at the 1995 French Open when, from 0-5 and 0-40 in the final set, she saved nine match points and won. Marked down by one of her early coaches as someone with a penchant for turning straightforward victories into epic struggles, Rubin is indisputably the marathon woman of the record books: winner of the longest Grand Slam singles after beating Patty Hy-Boulais 7-6 6-7 17-15 in three hours 45 minutes at the 1995 Wimbledon, and holder of the Australian Open mark, too, 6-4 2-6 16-14 in 3hr 33min over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1996.

Remembering how she defeated Serena could open the way to victory over the second-seeded Venus, Rubin's scheduled fourth-round opponent in New York. Should Venus get past that, she could face either Monica Seles or Hingis in the quarter-finals, though the Swiss woman's lack of match fitness was highlighted last week when, in her second tournament since May's ankle operation, she led Anastasia Myskina 7-6 4-1 at New Haven, then lost the next 11 games.

Provided Capriati can get past the likes of Amelie Mauresmo, who beat her at Wimbledon and again to win Montreal last week, and Kim Clijsters, struggling with a chronic shoulder problem, there could be a Capriati-Venus rematch of last year's semi-final. All in all, it adds up to a tough draw for the older Williams.

Serena's path looks friendlier and includes a possible second round against Marat Safin's sister, Dinara. Davenport, a scourge of Williams family ambitions in the past, could be waiting in the semi-finals, having managed two semis and a final in three events since returning to the circuit. And should the knees (and nerves) of Rubin and Davenport prove too strong for Venus and Serena, the folk at the Colorado clinic would be entitled to whistle up a crate or two of fizz.