Jennifer Capriati. What is there to say that hasn’t already been said about this woman? She stands as one of the greatest, most talented and divisive players in a generation bursting at the seams with greatness, talent and controversy. In her wildly scattered 14 years on tour, the American amassed a total of three Grand Slam titles, an Olympic Gold Singles medal, 17 weeks at number one and countless classic victories (and losses) against the greatest players over two separate generations.
It’s tough, however, to pinpoint her single her most memorable moment. Was it her supernova rise up the rankings while barely a teenager? She made her tour debut on the WTA tour in 1990 aged 13 and immediately stormed to the final of two of the first three events before reaching the semis of her first Grand Slam in Paris. A year later she broke into the top ten, and in the following year dispatched of Sanchez-Vicario and Graf – the top two players in the world – to take the Olympic Gold in Barcelona aged 16. Not too shabby.
Of course, there’s also that small issue of the “c” word. We’ve all heard about her famed comeback – the burnout, the shoplifting arrest, the marijuana possession, that mug shot, her resulting lengthy break and the desperate struggle (and initial failure) to regain anything resembling previous form, the reporters who smugly wrote her off. She could have easily allowed herself to swept away into the tsunami-sized wave of burnt out young prodigies. But she didn’t. She persevered, slowly building her way back to the top. After completely falling out of the rankings in 1994 and failing in her initial comeback a year later, she picked up her first Grand Slam win in 5 years at the 1998 Wimbledon. A lowly title and #23 finish followed a year later. A slam semifinal and top 15 finish in 2000. And finally, the fairy tale was completed in 2001 as she eased past second-ranked Davenport and top-ranked Hingis in succession to capture her first slam title in Australia. But you already new that all.
Two of Capriati’s single most memorable moments were her famed epic slam finals. The first at Roland Garros in 2001 when a young Aussie Kim burst into relevance by reaching her first slam final. Despite the young Belgian matching both Capriati’s supreme athleticism and power with ease, there was no panicking to be seen from the reigning Australian Open champion as she was swiftly delivered a shock first set breadstick. Instead, she embraced the challenge, putting her head down and finding her range to level up the match. By the third, both women were in full-slugfest mode with their lightning-fast movement, intricate footwork and spectacular shotmaking simultaneously cancelling each other out and enhancing the other. The third set wore on well into overtime, with Capriati twice serving for the title while a resilient Clijsters pegged the American back each time. But eventually the champion‘s extra grit and mental strength proved the difference between the two and she edged out the title..
Capriati’s third and final slam title would come in Australia the very next year in conditions so difficult that the heat practically radiated through the television set and left Capriati even pissier and more vexated than her, well, usual pissy and vexated self. Hingis raced up a set and break, looking ripe for her sixth slam title. In response, Capriati dug deeper than ever before, first hunting back the break before fighting off multiple match points. Her effort was painfully visible as she collapsed into the linesman chairs between most points, but she refused to succumb, saving yet another match point and spectacularly surviving the second set tiebreak. Before long, the script was flipped on its head as Hingis ditched her trademark overly self-confident and carefree demeanour and retreated back into the shade, panting, exhausted and defeated. The 2002 Australian Open may have proved to be Capriati’s last great victory, but she saved the best til last.
None of this answers the original question, however. Probably because she herself is far more interesting than the titles she collected. She’ll always be remembered as the complex figure she cut – the tennis player whose game was not defined simply by defence or offence, the person who paradoxically stood as the ultimate role model in the art of never giving up, yet was notorious for her vulgar attitude and behaviour. In other words, Jen-Cap will be remembered as Jen-Cap.
Last week it was announced that Jennifer Capriati will be honoured at the Tennis Hall of Fame later this year. The reaction was unanimous satisfaction at the decision to honour the former world number one and three time Grand Slam champion. And rightly so. Even by the lofty standards of those who have achieved what she had achieved, it’s difficult to think of a player who has ridden the rollercoaster of professional tennis quite as thoroughly as the American.
In her career she has enjoyed the greatest of times – bursting onto the tour as a 13 year old girl/child/infant/toddler/baby/foetus, a year later she became the youngest player in the history of tennis to reach the top 10, she defeated Steffi Graf to win the Olympic Gold in Barcelona aged 16, she embarked on quite a legendary comeback which took her from rock bottom to the pinnacle of the tennis world and brought her those numerous Slams that she was destined to win, and so on, and on, and on…
But as we have come to learn in life, sports, and never moreso than in Jen-Cap’s capricious career, the line between triumph and disaster is perilously thin. Accompanying those career-defining moments were those catastrophic times – from her infamous burnout and breakdown which culminated in her career seemingly lying in tatters as she was arrested for shoplifting and possession of marijuana, to the on-court tantrums and drama, her numerous heartbreaking losses at the semifinal stage at her home slam, her embarrassing firing from the US Fed Cup team after breaking USTA rules, the injury that ultimately ended her career and her recent struggles with drugs which left her in hospital in 2010. To say that her career has been a mixed bag would be quite the understatement.
Of all of the memorable moments of her career, what stands out most is that final against Hingis at the Australian Open in 2002. For most of the match she was simply outplayed by a more successful and better opponent, but down 4-6 0-4 and then two match points in the energy-sucking Australian heat that forced both players to sit in the shade between points, the American she dug in deeper than she ever had before, thinking through the heat to wrestle the first away with a well-thought out point finished at the net. She eventually took the match to a third set on a tiebreak after saving the second with a soul-destroying rally, before steamrolling through the final set to lift up her third Grand Slam championship in two years. Though it turned out to be the final Slam victory of Capriati’s career, it was undoubtedly her greatest.
