Jennifer Capriati is one of the first few female players who introduced the hard-hitting game into women's tennis. Debuting all the way back in 1990 at the age of 13, she was already beating top players like nobody's business. In her first 3 tournaments, she reached the finals of 2 of them and claimed 2 top 10 wins. If she's not a child prodigy, nobody is. Her powerful game style which consists of taking the ball early was revolutionary to the game and almost everybody is doing the same now.
Even before she was of legal age to smoke, drive or pretty much do anything, Jennifer has already set numerous records for being the youngest to achieve almost everything. In her impressive first career, she has already won the gold medal, defeating the great Steffi Graf for the medal in the final at the age of 16. It is not wonder she felt suffocated by tennis and her subsequent burnout was well chronicled.
After bombing out early in US Open 1993, Jennifer took a hiatus from tennis and that's when her troubles began. She experimented with drugs and was caught with possession of marijuana. She was also caught be shoplifting a $15 dollar bracelet. This infamous mug shot shows a totally different Capriati compared to the jovial and smiley Jennifer that the public is used to. That's when everybody started to write Jennifer off. They claimed her to be a burn-out and has-been. But Jennifer would prove them all wrong.
Jennifer made her return to professional tennis in 1996. But her stellar results are gone. She will make an occasional quarter-final or semi-final appearance, but nothing like the title winning ways she was used to. Nobody believed that Jennifer was a factor anymore and I think even Jennifer doubted herself. Nevertheless, Jennifer continued her hard work and slowly but surely climbed back up the rankings. Then, a miracle happened. Seeded 12 in Australian Open 2001, Jennifer clinched the first Grand Slam of the century by defeating top seed Martina Hingis in the finals. She also defeated world number 2 Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals. With this win, Jennifer's ranking rose up to number 7, her first top 10 appearance since 1993. An unbelievable 8 year gap. She followed this success by clinching yet another Grand Slam in Paris, becoming the 5th woman to win both Australian and French Open in the same year.
Her final win over Kim in 2001 was the longest third set in the history of French Open. It was also this match where I saw Kim for the first time. I guess I have to thank Jennifer for that. Her winning streak in the slams was broken after she lost to Justine Henin in the semi-finals of Wimbledon. At the end of the year, she reached at least the semi-finals of all the slams and finished the year at number 2. But she would start the next year in style by defending her Australian Open title and reaching the number 1 ranking. Her win over Martina Hingis was one of the most dramatic finals ever played and the meltdown of Hingis was the beginning of the Swiss's downfall.
However, Jennifer started to struggle with injuries as she had problems with her shoulder and wrists. It prevented her from playing her best but she was always in the latter stages of tournaments. The most heartbreaking losses were from US Open in 2003 and 2004. In both semi-finals, Jennifer lost narrowly to Justine Henin and Elena Dementieva respectively. Jennifer was 2 points away from winning the match numerous times but they were all saved by Justine's breathtaking tennis. And despite being bagelled by Elena in the first set, Jennifer fought back to level the match and produce one of the most crazy rallies in women's tennis.
Although she won that point, Jennifer lost that match in what would be her last appearance in her home slam. A pity for her as she was so close yet so far from winning her home slam. Later that year, Jennifer suffered her worst loss in her professional career in the hands of Vera Zvonareva in Philadelphia. After that loss, she took a break to recover from her physical ailments. Sadly, she never came back. Jennifer changed how the game is played today and she will be remembered as one of the greatest female tennis players ever to have played the game. We can learn precious lessons from her and implement them into our lifes.
No matter how tough the road or how many twists and turns you take, if you continue working hard and strive for your goal, you can achieve it.
Take a look at her induction speech here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byWSSSq1pfw
Take a look at her induction speech here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byWSSSq1pfw
Thank you Jennifer and it was a pleasure to watch you play tennis. You gave me wonderful memories and made a difference in my life. :)
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