STANFORD, Calif. -- Fighting a twinge in her back, Lindsay Davenport tried to convince herself that she could deal with the pain for a few games and then it magically would go away.
Instead, Davenport's hard luck with her health continued.
The top-seeded Davenport retired in the first set of her opening match Thursday at the Bank of the West Classic with a strained lower back, the same injury that hampered her in the Wimbledon final earlier this month.
"I knew it was going to be a tough day," she said. "I did everything I could do. It's frustrating because it's so on and off. ... It's almost moody. I get clearance to play, clearance to practice and clearance to do stuff, and then it flares up again."
In the late match, fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters defeated Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.
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| Anna-Lena Groenfeld moves on at the expense of Lindsay Davenport. (Getty Images) |
Davenport stretched for a backhand during a practice earlier in the day when her back "locked up." She underwent two hours of treatment, and decided to give it a go, but quickly realized she wasn't right.
"It was pretty clear after I served the first game that I didn't have any real mobility in my back and wouldn't be able to reach much," she said.
She experiences pain and spasms on the lower left side of her back. It bothers her most when she turns or extends to serve. Davenport, the defending champion of this event, hoped she could work through it and eventually loosen up.
Her back first started bothering her in the third set of the Wimbledon final, and she lost 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 9-7 to Williams in a match that lasted 2 hours, 45 minutes.
Davenport took two weeks off afterward and didn't play Fed Cup.
"It's tough to play matches at 30-40 percent of where you need to be at," she said. "My whole life is basically revolved around treatment, eating and trying to practice in between."
Davenport's early exit eliminated the chance of a much anticipated rematch with Williams in Sunday's final. Davenport, who beat Williams for the title last year, looked off from the start of the match, struggling to get to balls she usually would reach with ease. She trailed 3-0 only six minutes in.
