A jaded Lindsay Davenport admitted that fatigue had played a major part as her hopes of a first Grand Slam title in five years were dashed by fellow American Serena Williams 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the Australian Open final on Saturday.
Having reached the women's doubles final with Corina Morariu and played back-to-back three-set matches to make the singles final, Davenport had spent more than 15-and-a-half hours on court in the run-up to her meeting with Williams.
Despite winning the first set on Saturday, her efforts told as the contest wore on as Williams, who'd struggled early in the match with a back injury, roared back to win her seventh Grand Slam singles title.
"It was definitely physically, really getting down there for sure," the world number one said. "But I'm sure (the mental aspect) played some part in it, too.
"I think more than anything, just especially this last week, (I spent) a lot of hours on the court, just a lot of close, long matches. My body's definitely a little bit worn down. I think at the end, I was just overall a little bit fatigued."
Having struggled to get past Australian 10th seed Alicia Molik and Nathalie Dechy, the French 19th seed, in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Davenport lifted her game as she stormed the first set against an ailing Williams.
But midway through the second set, the 28-year-old Davenport suddenly faded and did not win another game as Williams romped to victory.
"I felt like I was playing well and in control pretty much of the match, moving the ball around well," Davenport said.
"Then I just had that horrible lapse at 4-3 where I think I was serving up 40-love. I made a few quick errors and right there kind of opened the door for her. She just kept going through it."
The American rejected claims she had thrown the match away. "I think she's a great frontrunner. Once she took the lead, she kept playing better and better," Davenport added.
When she lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova of Russia in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, Davenport looked likely to retire at the end of the year, but a golden summer convinced her she could still compete at the top level.
Her four consecutive tournament wins in the run-up to the U.S. Open also gave her the world number one ranking for the first time in more than two and a half years.
Despite her defeat, she said she hoped to be back at the Australian Open next year.
"I haven't gone there yet," she said. "You never know what's going to happen in a year. I hope that if I'm back, I know that I'm healthy and feeling good and feel like I have a chance to win. In that regard, I do hope I'll be back."
