Jennifer Capriati has done her best to make the past a foreign country. Eleven years ago she burst on to the tennis stage as a fledgling teenager of prodigious talent, and reached the semifinals of the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open before she was 16.
Her fall is well documented, a seemingly burnt-out case that persuaded the authorities to change the rules regarding the number of tournaments any young woman could play before the age of 18. Fortunately, after many fresh beginnings and false dawns, Capriati, now 24, has gradually refound her tennis feet and, much more important, a personal philosophy which has enabled her to accept fresh challenges without forever dwelling on those early years.
She now faces Martina Hingis in the final of the Australian Open on Saturday, after beating defending champion Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-4 in the semifinals Of course there are reminders, with the name of Monica Seles, another player with an excess of historical baggage, figuring large, and no match more so than the 1991 US Open semifinal, an encounter of coruscating hitting, which Seles won on a third-set tie-break.
Capriati had lost all her five previous grand slam encounters with Seles, old and new, prior to this week, so her 5-7 6-4 6-3 quarter-final victory laid a few ghosts. ”It’s great,” she laughed. ”Now we won’t have to talk about 1991 any more. I got tired of hearing about it.” Seles, the holder of nine grand slam titles, although none since this one in 1996, bridled last week at suggestions she might retire soon.
However, at the age of 27 she admits tennis is much tougher physically now, and the fact that she lost a 4-2 lead in the second set was largely down to Capriati’s superior fitness. Capriati is now coached again by her father, Stefano, a further source of contentment after their earlier turbulent relationship. ”I just feel free and relaxed, with not too much expectation or pressure. I’m just happy playing tennis and have a real peace with it all.”
Now, take a clutch of ancient quotes by Greg Rusedski’s new Australian coach Pat Cash, throw in the least flattering picture of Davenport you can find, use the word ”big” a lot, and — hey presto — the debate is on about whether women’s tennis players are fit, and should they receive equal prize money. Wimbledon has steadfastly refused to give the women parity, to the surprise of nobody and the disdain of most right-thinking tennis administrators.
The Australian Open has this year caught up with the United States Open and paid men and women equally. The French will surely follow, leaving the predominantly white (clothes, that is) and politically incorrect All England Club to make more feeble excuses, no doubt, with their spurious surveys.
Davenport made light of the ”can you be fit and fat?” debate. ”I’ve never fooled anyone I’m the fastest person in the world or the skinniest. I know my game, I work hard at it and I do the best with what I was given. If this is how people try to knock me down, I can take it. I’m the one in the semifinals.”
A couple of years ago there was some justification for doubting the fitness of many on the women’s professional tour, but less so now. The power game of the Williams sisters has concentrated minds and bodies most wonderfully, and women’s tennis is all the better for it, even if a little too much finesse and subtlety have been lost in the process.
Davenport had clinched her semifinal place with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Russia’s Anna Kournikova, whose play remains as inconsistent as her multiple endorsements are constant. Miss Glam has yet to win a title but steadfastly believes all will change.
”You can never say when it will happen, but I know that I am a good player. My game will come together and everything will be fine. I will win grand slams.” Her blonde pigtail swished as she made her exit. Some claimed to see pigs fly as well.
