Born on this day 39 years ago, the tall American Lindsay Davenport earned a reputation as one of the hardest hitting female tennis players to ever take up the game.

– On this day: Indomitable Lions roar into life
– Happy Birthday – June 7 – Cafu & Kournikova

Davenport was an elite competitor during an era containing the likes of Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis, being at her best between 1998 and 2000 when she won three grand slam titles.

A semi-final loss at the 1998 French Open was the only thing which stopped her from completing a clean sweep.

She was world No1 on eight different occasions, also winning gold on home soil at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Her game was built around her solid groundstokes and devastating serve, though her height preventd her from being the most mobile of competitors.

Davenport last played competitively in 2011, since going on to be a well-respected and frequently-booked pundit.

Also celebrating their birthdays today are…

1932: Ray Illingworth, former England, Yorkshire and Leicestershire cricket captain (83).

1970: Steve Renouf, Australian former rugby league player nicknamed ‘The Prince of Centres’ (45).

1983: Kim Clijsters, former US Open and Australian Open champion who was engaged to Lleyton Hewitt (32).

1984: Javier Mascherano, Argentina international with more than 100 caps and Barcelona star (31).