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| Capriati, Sharapova to play for charity |
November, 10th 2004
Saddlebrook resident Jennifer Capriati only felt the
end of the storms that spun Florida into hurricane hysteria two months ago.
"It was the first one for me," Capriati said of riding out Hurricane
Jeanne in late September, "but for everyone else they we're so used to it
and so prepared. It was kind of my first experience being in a hurricane and
at that point it was a low Category 1."
Capriati's mother, Denise, wasn't so lucky. Her home on Singer Island in
Palm Beach County flooded. The neighbors' windows blew out.
Now, Capriati, the WTA's 10th-ranked player in the world, will participate
in a tennis exhibition in her hometown to benefit the Florida Hurricane
Relief Fund.
The Hurricane Tennis Slam -
featuring a singles match between Capriati and defending Wimbledon champ
Maria Sharapova - will take place at the St. Pete Times Forum on Dec. 18 at 3 p.m.
"Our goal for this event is to make a substantial six-figure donation to
this fund and to raise awareness to help the ongoing needs that many
Floridians still have and will have," WTA CEO Larry Scott said.
Both Capriati and Sharapova live in Florida. Capriati is a longtime Tampa
area resident. Sharapova lives in Bradenton, where she seasoned her game at
the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
The morning of the exhibition, the WTA will host a free kids clinic at 10:30
a.m at the St. Pete Tennis Center. Nick Bollettieri will help lead the clinic.
The Florida Hurricane Relief Fund, created by Gov. Jeb Bush in the aftermath
of the storms, benefits 32 counties that were most impacted by the
hurricanes. The four hurricanes have become the second most costliest
disaster in U.S. history at a price tag of $22 billion, second to the $32
billion in insured losses in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I think that everything that
happened definitely had an effect on me, too." Capriati said. "When
this idea came about, it was something I really wanted to do to reach out
and really try to help the victims. It was just such a devastating event."
In their only previous meeting - last May in Berlin - Capriati beat
Sharapova in three sets.
"Considering I lost to Jennifer earlier in the year, it's going to be a
tough match." Sharapova said. "Obviously it's very exciting to be able to
play in a very competitive match when it's not a tournament and you're just
playing for the people."
Even though it will be an exhibition, Capriati said she will still take the
match seriously, especially with the Australian Open a month later.
"I think no matter what it's hard not to," she said, "just because
that's the way we play and that our whole lives we've been doing this and
we're just naturally competitive. I don't think we're going to be arguing
over line calls or throwing our racket or going to that extreme. But I know
that people don't want to see just hitting and giggles and us messing around."
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