Background
Lindsay Davenport is the daughter of Wink Davenport, who was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and Ann Davenport, the president of the Southern California Volleyball Association. Davenport was born to an athletic family. While her two older sisters, Leiann and Shannon, played volleyball, she started playing tennis at age six. She was coached by Robert Lansdorp, who had coached Tracy Austin before. She attended Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. At age 16, her family moved to Murrieta, California, where she attended Murrieta Valley High School, and she began to work with Lynne Rolley and Robert Van't Hof.
When Davenport was 14, she jointed the United States Tennis Association junior national team. She had a rapid growth spurt — about six inches in two years — which affected her coordination, but did not hinder her performance. She excelled at junior level competitions and swept the singles and doubles titles at the National Girls' 18s and Clay Court Championships in 1991 and won the Junior U.S. Open in '92.