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Lindsay Davenport was one of the millions of Americans who were affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks when the Twin Towers in New York were brought down by al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001 by airplanes flying into them.
The incident, which had and continues to have wide-reaching ramifications for the entire world, left America reeling, as nearly 3,000 people were reported dead. Osama bin Laden was identified as the mastermind behind the attack, leading to a multiple-decade war by the United States on Afghanistan, even after Bin Laden was killed by a military raid in May 2011.
Tennis, among the most travel-heavy sports in the world, was heavily hit at the time, especially with US players experiencing a fear of flights for understandable reasons.
Davenport, who ended the 2001 season as the World No. 1, was in Europe when the attacks happened but did not want to fly back home to the US. Instead, she chose to stay back home in Europe by making adjustments to her schedule.
Speaking about the situation at the time, Davenport said that she was shook by the attacks, adding that she cried for two days. However, in a characteristic display of strength, the three-time Grand Slam champion did not want to stop playing, proclaiming that it would have meant that Americans had given up in the face of the terrorist attack.
"I have been affected very badly. I cried for two whole days (after September 11).
"I have made changes to my schedule and stayed in Europe rather than flying back home and making two journeys. But the terrorists will win if I don't play," Lindsay Davenport said, as reported by Guardian.
"The only thing that I could maybe even compare it to would be 9/11" - Lindsay Davenport on the tennis tours shutting down during COVID-19
When the WTA and ATP Tours shut down for a while in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lindsay Davenport opined that the only thing similar in effect on the players was the 9/11 attacks.
The former World No. 1 considered it "jarring" to see the global impact of the virus but was happy to see how the tours and players adapted to the situation and continued to make their living despite the setback.
"I have certainly never seen anything like this. The only thing that I could maybe even compare it to would be 9/11 and the aftermath of that—and that would not be the same on a global scale. To see the whole tennis tour shut down, to see businesses around the world, to see how it has globally impacted everybody and their way of life and their way of doing things. I think that has been the most jarring. Everyone has had to learn to do things differently," Lindsay Davenport said.
"I think the players, to suddenly have their careers and their livelihoods taken away, has been a huge issue. The good news is that we are starting to bounce back, and starting to get tournaments back, trying to restart this tour," she added in an interview with the US Open.
