MELBOURNE, Jan 14, 2008 - Former world number one Lindsay Davenport became the all-time top money winner in women's sport on Monday when she made the second round of the Australian Open.

　　The 31-year-old American, who has won 54 WTA titles, overtook fellow tennis star Steffi Graf who held the record for the past 10 years.

　　But Davenport may not be tops for long, with world number one Justine Henin and golfer Annika Sorenstam both in with a chance of catching her.

　　Her 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 over Italy's Sara Errani bumped her career prize money to 21.89 million dollars and continued the impressive form she has shown since returning after 11 months out to have a baby.

　　She has won 19 of the 20 matches she has played since returning to the circuit after giving birth to a boy, with a mouth-watering second round showdown now looming against world number five Maria Sharapova.

　　"It was definitely the most challenging match I've had since coming back," she said, adding that her preparation was far from ideal after being woken up at 5am by her crying baby, Jagger, who was having a nightmare.

　　"You know, I was so excited about coming back here and a lot of anticipation. Ironically, I probably played the worst that I've played since I've been back.

　　"I definitely wasn't hitting the ball very clean today. I think a lot of that was the wind. Because of that, I wasn't moving well."

　　Many people expected Davenport to retire after giving birth but she said the pull of the tennis court was too strong, although she admitted she thought she had played her last Grand Slam.

　　"All these places I felt like I would never play again. And just to play a Grand Slam again, I never thought I would be in this arena again in my career," she said.

　　"So coming back here, it's been a lot of fun. There was definitely a lot more nerves than I thought there would be. And it was tough to get through it today.

　　"But I'm happy I did. It's been great to be here all week. I've seen a lot of people. It's exciting to get back on the biggest stage we have in tennis."

　　Davenport, who won here in 2000, entered the tournament ranked 52 in the world and unseeded, which means she will meet Sharapova in the second round, something she is looking forward to.

　　"It will be interesting. It will be the first Grand Slam winner I've played since being back," she said.

　　"And she's a great player. I mean, it's one of the few players I don't have a winning record against probably in the draw.

　　"We play very similar styles. She's outplayed me the last couple times we played and I'm going to definitely have to hit the ball well, be more aggressive than I was today, just basically do everything a lot cleaner."

　　Despite the heavy workload, Davenport is clearly enjoying being a mother, and juggling all that it entails with a professional tennis career.

　　"Oh, it's not a bad thing. I mean, it's my whole life now. It's my little boy," she said.

　　"I'm ecstatic, I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have him, still be able to play tennis. I've managed everything so far pretty well. Hopefully it continues to go that way."