Davenport relishing Indian summer

U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters says she is likely to retire in 2007 at the age of 23, but Lindsay Davenport, at 29, is enjoying an Indian summer and has no intention of hanging up her rackets just yet.

"Especially the last two years I feel I've done a remarkable job with my career and when you feel like you're still playing well and have a chance to win lots of tournaments it's tough to walk away," the American said.

Davenport won her fourth tournament of the year in Bali last month and although she was forced to withdraw from the China Open with a back problem 24 hours later, she is on court again this week in Germany defending the Filderstadt title she won last year.

Davenport, runner-up this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, reflected: "I started playing tournaments at 15 and I'm 29 now. It definitely gets a lot tougher as you get older and older."

But since tennis has been her entire life, she knows that turning her back on it could be the most difficult thing she ever has to do.

"I'm very scared at some points to retire," she confessed. "Tennis is all that I've done and it's something that I've very much enjoyed. It's a huge part of my life.

"Will anything make me as happy as playing tennis, or will I find something else I enjoy as much or will I be happy without it? That's a big question mark."

She added: "Tennis has been a part of my life since I was five, so for 90 percent of my whole life tennis is what I've been about.

HUGE IDENTITY

"It's been a huge identity for me, it's been something that I love to do, so to give up such a huge part of your life is a scary proposition."

Would she do what Pete Sampras did and retire after claiming another Grand Slam title? Unlikely, she says. She just doesn't know when the best time would be to give up the competition.

"You think about it sometimes, but it would be hard for me to walk away if I'd just won a major title," she said. "I'd just feel I could do better and better.

"Or you don't want to leave the sport if you've been losing all the time and feel like you can't beat anybody anymore.

"You don't want to leave injured. I don't know what the answer is. I'll just see what happens in the next few years or months."

But while she has no retirement plans, she supports Clijsters in her decision.

"If that's her plan I hope she sticks to it. I do agree with her that the sport is getting tougher and tougher to play for a very long period of time.

"I was really lucky when I first came up in '92 and we only had to play 12 tournaments a year.

"I think now it's up to 18 and over the course of every year that starts to wear on your body and I think you see players having more serious injuries at a younger age. So when she says that I think she's speaking from the heart."

Clijsters's victory in Luxembourg on Sunday has taken her to the brink of reclaiming the world number one ranking after missing much of 2004 with injury.