Lindsay Davenport

She lost weight, however, and regained confidence. 1996 was a breakthrough year. Davenport won the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta, defeating Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the final, and was one of only four players to defeat Steffi Graf. In addition, she helped the U.S. capture the Federation Cup tournament.

Davenport finally won her first major, at the U.S. Open in New York in 1998. She became the first American-born woman in 16 years to win the event when she defeated Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-5. The following summer, Davenport prevailed at Wimbledon, offsetting a history of struggles on its grass court. "When I won I was almost more numb than in shock," she told CNN-Sports Illustrated online after beating Graf 6-4, 7-5. "I never thought that it would be my Wimbledon because I had struggled on this surface before." She also won the doubles title there; she and Corina Morariu toppled Mariaan De Swardt and Elena Tatarkova, 6-4, 6-4.

Davenport added a third Grand Slam in January, 2000, when she beat No. 1 Hingis 6-1, 7-5 to win the Australian Open. Davenport broke Hingis's 27-match, three-title win streak at the Open and became the first American to win there since Chris Evert in 1984.