Davenport is capsized by 12th-seeded Bartoli

NEW YORK (AP) — One double-fault? Lindsay Davenport could accept that. Two in a row? Tough to swallow, but it happens, even to the best of players. Three, back-to-back-to-back? Ugh.

Finally having worked her way back into her third-round match at the U.S. Open, finally even in the second set against Marion Bartoli at 5-all, Davenport devolved into an amateur for a few rough minutes Friday night.

To put it in the simplest of terms: Davenport — a three-time Grand Slam title winner, a woman formerly ranked No. 1 — could not get a serve in. She hit seven consecutive faults, then later double-faulted a fourth time in the game en route to a 6-1, 7-6 (3) loss to the 12th-seeded Bartoli at Flushing Meadows.

“I guess they call it ‘the yips’ on your serve. I don’t know where it came from,” Davenport said. “Probably came from all my years making fun of people that had it. That was my karma coming back.”

For the 32-year-old Davenport, this might have been her final singles match at the U.S. Open, which she won in 1998.

The American turned down a chance to speak to the crowd afterward, and later said she was too angry about what had just transpired to consider whether she would be back.

“All I know is I have doubles at 2:30 tomorrow. That’s about as far as I’m thinking,” said Davenport, who returned to the tour last year after taking an 11-month break when she had a son. “I think it’s tough to make any kind of decision in a rash moment, and there was no decision made before the tournament, so, you know, I don’t think it’s time to make a certain statement now.”

After a no-contest first set, Davenport fell behind 4-2 in the second and faced three break points there. But 2007 Wimbledon finalist wasted each of those opportunities.

Then, serving while down 5-3, Davenport faced a match point but saved it with an ace that curled onto a line.