DAVENPORT CAN'T FINISH JOB SHE FAILS TO PUT SELES AWAY IN FIRST-ROUND LOSS.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne Staff Writer

Coming into her match against close friend and No. 6 seed Monica Seles on Wednesday night, Lindsay Davenport knew she'd have to improve at putting opponents away in order to get back to the player that made her the No. 1 player in the world for 37 weeks over the past two seasons.

``I don't think that I'm doing as well as I have in other years of taking control of matches,'' Davenport said. ''You know, once you win the first set, it's about getting up in the second set and putting people away. I've been letting my opponents hang in there and hang around, and then anything can happen.''

Her assessment fulfilled itself as Davenport, who had not lost to Seles since the finals of the Los Angeles Open in 1997, lost 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 in the opening round of the WTA Championships at Staples Center.

Davenport took the first set and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, seeming well on her way to a surprisingly easy victory over Seles, a three-time winner of the Championships ('90, '91,'92).

But Seles would not concede easily as she battled through nine double faults and seven match points to take the second set 7-6.

``It was definitely a weird match, but I toughed it out. I was running down a lot of shots, and Lindsay got frustrated,'' Seles said.

Seles fell behind 0-30 serving in the fourth game of the second set but pulled out big shots when she needed them most. A slicing ace made it 15-30, and Seles followed it on the next point with a forehand winner to even the game. Seles won the next two points when Davenport was long on service returns and the crowd of about 2,500 began to assert itself behind Seles.

In game five, Seles broke Davenport to get back to 3-2 and closed out the sixth game to even the set 3-3 with a 100-mph ace after Davenport forced her to three deuce points.

Serving down 6-5, Seles fell behind but fought off three match points. In the tiebreaker, Seles again came back, this time from a 4-1 deficit en route to the set.

After taking the second set in dramatic fashion, Seles closed out the match quickly as Davenport committed 14 unforced errors in the third set. Seles won the last 12 points of the match.

In the first set, Davenport broke Seles to go up 4-3 and did the same in game nine to win the set. Throughout the match, Seles struggled with her serve landing just 48 percent of her first serves in the first set.

Seles has won 53 career titles, spent 178 weeks at No. 1 and won about $14.5 million in career prize money. She has struggled with injuries in 2002 and hasn't played since the U.S. Open.

Davenport, who lives in Laguna Beach, had reached the finals of four tournaments since rejoining the WTA Tour in July after nine months off from knee surgery in January.

Seles will face the winner of the Venus Williams/Patty Schnyder match played Wednesday.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Monica Seles lost the first set against Lindsay Davenport Wednesday but came back to win at the WTA Championships at Staples Center.

(2) Lindsay Davenport failed to put Monica Seles away after winning the first set, eventually losing Wednesday.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer