Davenport to retire after birth of first child

LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) Three-times grand slam tournament winner Lindsay Davenport has no plans to play tennis again after giving birth to her first child next year.

''I hate the word 'retirement' but this season was such a struggle physically for me and I can't imagine playing again,'' Davenport told ESPN.com (www.espn.com).

The 30-year-old American missed most of 2006 with back problems before reaching the quarter-finals at the US Open.

In her career, she has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open singles titles plus the 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medal. Her 51 singles titles put her ninth on the all-time list.

Davenport began her professional career in 1993 and was one of the pioneers of the power game in women's tennis.

In the early stages, her strength was offset by a struggle with her weight but she devoted herself to fitness training and in 1998 won the first of her three majors by defeating top seed Martina Hingis 6-3 7-5 in the US Open.

She beat Steffi Graf in the 1999 Wimbledon final and captured the Australian Open title in the following year.

Davenport struggled with injuries in 2002 but came back to win 13 tournaments in 2004 and 2005. Her loss to Venus Williams in last year's Wimbledon final was the longest championship match in the tournament's history.

''I can't say there's any sadness, yet, about missing tennis. My life is with my husband and my future child,'' Davenport said.

''I feel like the second part of my life is about to begin, and I feel so lucky that if everything goes well, I'm able to go out like this. The timing couldn't be better.'' US Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison said: ''I'm excited for her.

She's very family oriented, has a great, close-knit family. I don't think she would have any regrets. She can walk away knowing she gave her all.'' REUTERS SAN VV1745