Davenport might lack the glitz and glamour of other top players, but it’s her game that does the talking. Just ask Serena Williams.

For nine days, Lindsay Davenport walked around the grounds of the National Tennis Center with about as little fanfare as possible for a former U.S. Open winner. Especially one who’s a legitimate threat to win it again.

There has been so much attention devoted to everyone else.

The Williams sisters because of the way they’ve been dominating the WTA Tour this summer. Jelena Dokic because her father went wacko over a high-cost piece of salmon. Anna Kournikova because . . . she’s Anna Kournikova.

“There’s definitely been more hype on other players in this tournament,” Davenport said. “You know, I’ve always kind of enjoyed that--being able to have a little bit more privacy and be able to play my matches along the way a little bit more quietly.”

Davenport brought the noise with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Serena Williams in the quarterfinals Wednesday night.

Then Davenport turned up the volume with her post-match disclosure that she and Martina Hingis have a running joke going between them that at least one of them had to prevent an all-Williams final.

“[Hingis] is fun to joke with,” Davenport said. “Venus doesn’t talk to me much. Serena, I don’t see all that much. She’s a little bit more friendly, maybe.

“But, I mean, Martina and I have talked for many, many years. I have a better rapport with her.”

When told of the little “pact,” Serena’s rationale was, “I’m sure a lot of people never want to see an all-Williams final.”

That was all a pack of journalists needed.

So by the time tabloids get through with this it will probably come out as “MARTINA TO LINDSAY: STOP THOSE WILLIAMSES” and “SERENA: THE WHOLE WORLD HATES US”

It’s tantalizing to think of all these “Survivor”-like secret alliances, but it’s probably best to follow the advice of Davenport: “I don’t want too big a deal made of this.”

In other words, don’t turn Davenport into the Susan of the tennis world.

But just about any persona for Davenport would be more of a persona than she has now. She’s known as the one who plays it straight, talks straight.

Not even the people who get paid to be clever can find a way to jazz up Davenport’s image. A series of American Express ads plastered over the city highlight qualities of tennis players past and present and refer to how long they have used the card.

Bjorn Borg has been “Valiant since 84.” Martina Hingis has been a “Femme Fatale since 99.” Michael Chang has been “Relentless since 90.”

So what has Davenport been doing since she became a cardmember in 1997? “Standing tall.”

No kidding. She’s 6 feet 2 1/2; she doesn’t have any choice. Couldn’t they think of anything else?

If there’s one thing about Davenport that definitely has changed it’s her fitness. When she lost weight and increased her mobility without sacrificing her power, Davenport moved from nice player to Grand Slam contender.

She slipped a bit this year when she injured her back during the European portion of the tour. But even with the injury and with a touch of illness during Wimbledon, she made it to the final of Wimbledon.

The difference between Davenport and the Williams sisters is Davenport has less margin for error. You see the Williamses advancing--even past tough opponents--on days when their game isn’t clicking.

When Davenport’s forehand gets sloppy, as it was in the Wimbledon final against Venus Williams, you can write her off. But when Davenport is on target, she can slug it out with anyone. And when she’s running down shots from side to side the way she was Wednesday, all of a sudden she starts looking like the favorite to win the tournament.

If Davenport gets past Elena Dementieva, she matches up well with whomever comes out of the other semifinal. Davenport can overpower Hingis and fight it out with Venus.

Serena had actually been the tougher Williams for Davenport, Serena having won the previous five matches, including the final of the estyle.com Classic last month in Manhattan Beach.

This match felt more like a final than a quarterfinal. Even when Davenport had a two-break edge in the second set, she had to remind herself to relax after a seven-deuce game that Williams won.

“I go to the chair, it felt at that time like it was so close,” Davenport said. “You look up, and it’s only 5-2. So that was a relief, because that game was pretty tense.”

As it turned out, Davenport deflated some of the building excitement in this tournament by putting a halt to the Williams vs. Williams final.

“It’s going to happen in the future, inevitably,” Serena said. “Nobody’s going to be able to stop it.”

Perhaps Davenport merely postponed it.

Standing tall--and standing in the way.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com