Jennifer Capriati is back.
Her problems buried in the past, her desire for tennis burning again, Capriati stunned top-ranked Monica Seles 6-3, 6-3 Saturday in the semifinals of the Ameritech Cup, a huge step in a steady comeback that appears to have pushed her back into the elite of women’s tennis.
Capriati, ranked No. 50 in the world, came out with all guns firing from the first serve, chasing Seles around the court with a barrage of powerful forehands, cross-court winners and perfectly placed drop shots.
She blew open a 3-3 tie in the first set by breaking Seles’ serve, then dominated the next three games to take the set.
By midway through the second set, the crowd of 6,712 at the UIC Pavilion could sense they were seeing tennis history, cheering for Capriati on every major point. She finished the match by forcing Seles to hit wide, then looked up in the stands and smiled at her family.
“It’s what I’ve been working for, to see if I could be up there, to see if I could play good tennis again,” said the 20-year-old Capriati, who was once ranked as high as sixth.
Seles, feeling she played less than her best, was still wondering what hit her after the match.
“She was clearly the better player tonight,” Seles said.
Capriati was able to do whatever she wanted Saturday, displaying a versatile game that showed the physical maturity of her two-year layoff.
“That’s what I’ve been working on, not just playing one type of game, but adding variety,” she said. “I want to come to the net and change it up, not play the same way all the time.”
The key to the victory–and perhaps the most surprising part of her game–was how well she moved across the court, returning cross-court shots that a slower player would have let pass. She seemed to draw energy from expending it.
“I’ve been working on that, too,” she said of her physical conditioning. “That’s a part of my game I wanted to make strong.”
Both players agreed the key was the seventh game of the first set. Seles, who appeared to be playing on her heels most of the night, couldn’t convert several game points, and Capriati started smelling blood.
“When I let that slip, I knew I was in for a tough match,” Seles said.
The win did more than validate Capriati’s comeback. It signaled the rebirth of the Seles-Capriati rivalry.
Until Saturday, they hadn’t met on a tennis court for four years, back in a more innocent time before a shocking tragedy sabotaged Seles and a personal one felled Capriati.
Coming in, Capriati knew a victory over Seles–or even a close match–would prove she still has the talent and desire that had made her a teen phenom, at 14 the youngest top 10 player in women’s tennis history, at 16 the youngest women’s player to surpass the $1 million mark in career earnings.
Burned out, Capriati left the tour in 1993, then returned for one tournament in ’94 before her spiral took her down an unwanted path of personal turmoil.
She returned again in February of this year, winning her first two matches before losing in the quarterfinals in three sets to Jana Novotna, her opponent in the Ameritech final at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Capriati was unranked until this year’s French Open, debuting at No. 109. Before the next tournament, she was down to 100, then moved up progressively until entering Ameritech at No. 50. Win or lose Sunday, she’ll probably move into the top 30 next week.
Here, she defeated No. 34 Lisa Raymond in the first round, bounced defending champion Magdalena Maleeva in the second and advanced to the semis when Meredith McGrath retired from their quarterfinal match with a knee injury and Capriati leading 5-2.
Few gave her a chance against Seles. But she proved them wrong.
“This whole week I’ve felt myself playing well,” Capriati said. “I knew if I could keep it up, I had a pretty good chance.”
The comeback, she said, has been about more than winning on the court. It’s been about the feeling of playing tennis again for the pure love of the game.
“It’s been a long time,” Capriati said, smiling. “It’s about being out there and playing and just being able to play well every match. That’s what’s important to me.”
Later, she hinted at why she has put herself through the grind and scrutiny of such a public healing.
“More than anything,” she said, “I just did it for myself, for self-satisfaction.”
