Jennifer Capriati
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| Country: | United States |
| Residence: | Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA |
| Height: | 171 cm (5'7.5") |
| Weight: | 72.5 kg (160 lb.) |
| Date of birth | September 29, 1976 |
| Plays: | Right |
| Turned pro: | 1990 |
| Highest singles ranking: | 1 (2001-10-15) |
| Singles titles: | 14 |
| Grand Slam Record Titles: 3 | |
|---|---|
| Australian Open | W (2001, 2002) |
| French Open | W (2001) |
| Wimbledon | SF (1991, 2001) |
| U.S. Open | SF (1991, 2001, 2003-2004) |
Jennifer Marie Capriati (born March 29, 1976, in New York City) is a former World No. 1 women's tennis player from the United States. During her career, she has won three Grand Slam singles titles (2 Australian Open, 1 French Open), as well as the women's singles gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games.
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[edit] Childhood
Capriati was introduced to tennis while she was still a toddler by her father, Stefano Capriati, an Italian-American former boxer turned tennis coach, who has continued to coach her in her later professional career.
In 1986, when Jennifer's burgeoning tennis talent became obvious, her family moved to Florida, where the ten-year-old player was enrolled in an intense training program run by Jimmy Evert, the father of Chris Evert.
[edit] Early titles
In 1989, Capriati served notice to the tennis world by becoming the youngest player to win the French Open junior singles title at the age of 13 years and 2 months. (The record stood until 1993, when it was broken by Martina Hingis who won the title as a 12-year-old.) Capriati went on to win the junior singles title at the 1989 US Open and the junior doubles titles at both the US Open and Wimbledon (partnering Meredith McGrath).
Capriati turned professional on March 5, 1990, three weeks before her 14th birthday. In her debut tournament on the tour, at Boca Raton, Florida, she defeated four seeded players on her way to becoming the youngest-ever player to reach a tour final, where she lost 6-4, 7-5 to Gabriela Sabatini. Despite the loss, the attention she got from her debut landed her on the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week.
Three months later, she became the youngest-ever semifinalist at the French Open (aged 14 years and 2 months), where she lost to the eventual champion, Monica Seles. Capriati reached the fourth round at both Wimbledon and the US Open that year and won her first top-level singles title that October in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She finished her first year on the tour ranked the World No. 8.
1991 saw Capriati reach the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open. She became Wimbledon's youngest-ever semifinalist after defeating the defending champion, Martina Navratilova in the quarterfinals, forcing Navratilova's earliest Wimbledon exit in 14 years. Capriati won two singles titles that year, as well as her first (and only) tour doubles title (in Rome partnering Monica Seles).
The biggest moment of Capriati's early career came in 1992, when she won the women's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. In the final, she defeated Steffi Graf (who was the gold medalist four years earlier in Seoul) in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
[edit] Personal challenges
But despite her Olympic triumph, it became clear to observers that Capriati was struggling to cope with the pressures of playing at the top by the end of 1992. Her enjoyment of the game, which she exuded when she first joined the tour, seemed to have drained away, and her results started to suffer.
After some disappointing losses in 1993, Capriati took a break from the tour to concentrate on her high school studies. She soon ran into personal and legal troubles. She was involved in a shoplifting incident in December 1993, and in May 1994, she was arrested for marijuana possession. In November 1994, a return to the tour lasted just one match, which she lost to Anke Huber in the first round. After that, she did not play on the tour for 15 months.
[edit] A Comeback Career
With her career seemingly in doubt, Capriati returned to the tour in 1996 and beginning a steady rise that would culminate in the World No. 1 ranking, but not before several false starts. It was not until May 1999 that she finally won her first tournament in six years, at Strasbourg.
In 2001, 11 years after she had started playing on the tour, Capriati finally made her Grand Slam breakthrough. She reached the final of the Australian Open against the then-World No. 1 player Martina Hingis, and won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. She followed up by capturing the French Open title five months later, beating Kim Clijsters in a dramatic final 1-6, 6-4, 12-10. In October 2001, Capriati claimed the World No. 1 ranking.
Capriati won her third Grand Slam title in 2002, when she successfully defended her Australian Open crown. In the final against Hingis, Capriati was down 6-4, 4-0 but battled back to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-2. She fought off 4 championship points during the final, which is a record for most match points saved during a Grand Slam tournament final.
In 2003, Capriati reached the US Open semifinals, only to lose a classic match to Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne in a third set tiebreak, with the final score 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). The battle concluded well past midnight and left Henin-Hardenne needing medical attention due to dehydration and exhaustion. During the match, Capriati was just two points from victory eleven times.
During her career, Capriati has won 14 professional singles titles and 1 doubles title.
Recently, Capriati has struggled with different injuries that have kept her from playing a full tour schedule, including her right shoulder and wrist with two surgeries done on each. Capriati hopes to return to the WTA tour sometime but has indicated more than once that she may never make it back to the tour.
[edit] Accolades
In 2002, she received an ESPY for Comeback Player of the Year. That year's nominees included such high profile talent as Mario Lemieux and Michael Jordan.
In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put her in 36th place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Wins (3)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2001 | Australian Open | Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Martina Hingis | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2001 | French Open | Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kim Clijsters | 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 |
| 2002 | Australian Open (2) | Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Martina Hingis | 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 |
[edit] Titles (14)
[edit] Singles (14)
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[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | QF | QF | A | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | SF | W | W | 1R | A | A | A | 2 / 8 |
| French Open | SF | 4R | QF | QF | A | A | 1R | A | A | 4R | 1R | W | SF | 4R | SF | A | A | 1 / 11 |
| Wimbledon | 4R | SF | QF | QF | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 4R | SF | QF | QF | QF | A | A | 0 / 11 |
| U.S. Open | 4R | SF | 3R | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 4R | 4R | SF | QF | SF | SF | A | A | 0 / 13 |
| SR | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 3 / 43 |
A = did not participate in the tournament
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
[edit] External links
- WTA Tour profile for Jennifer Capriati
- Fed Cup record
- Jennifer Capriati fan site
- Jennifer Capriati photo collection
- The official site of Jennifer Capriati in Ukraine and Russia
- "American tennis star Jennifer Capriati bows out of Athens; replaced by Raymond" - Canada.com article dated August 10, 2004
| Preceded by: Martina Hingis Lindsay Davenport Venus Williams Venus Williams | World No. 1 October 15, 2001 - November 4, 2001 January 14, 2002 - February 24, 2002 March 18, 2002 - April 21, 2002 May 20, 2002 - June 9, 2002 | Succeeded by: Lindsay Davenport Venus Williams Venus Williams Venus Williams |
| Preceded by: - | WTA Newcomer of the Year 1990 | Succeeded by: Andrea Strnadova |
| Preceded by: Monica Seles | WTA Comeback Player of the Year 1996 | Succeeded by: Mary Pierce |
| Preceded by: Venus Wiliams | WTA Player of the Year 2001 | Succeeded by: Serena Williams |
| Preceded by: Martina Hingis | ITF World Champion 2001 | Succeeded by: Serena Williams |
| Preceded by: Marion Jones | Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 2001 | Succeeded by: Serena Williams |
