|
Jennifer Capriati was born in New York on 29 March, 1976. Her mother, Denise was an American flight attendant. On a trip
to Italy, she met Stefano who was a stuntman; they fell in love and soon got married. They moved to New York where Stefano started to work as a tennis
teacher. Denise was one of his first students.
When Jennifer was 3 years old, her father gave her a racket and started teaching her how to play the game. Only a year after, he took her to the Evert's
Tennis Academy because he wanted to make Jennifer a tennis superstar. She was only 4 years old, but when Jimmy Evert (father of the former tennis world
number 1 Chris) saw her hitting a ball, he decided to become her coach also if she was a little too young.
She immediately showed her qualities: her power, her fighting attitude, her desire to never give up and her incredible talent... it seemed that she was born
with a racket in her hand!!! And they knew that she could be one of the best tennis players in the world.
When she was 10 years old, they moved to Wesley Chapel near the Saddlebrook Tennis Academy and she started to compete in junior competitions.
In 1989, at 13 years old, she became the youngest Roland Garros junior champion. A month later, she won the Wimbledon's junior doubles title and in
September she became the US Open junior champion.
She turned pro on 5 March, 1990 (24 days before her 14th birthday). In her first tournament in Boca Raton, Florida, she stunned everyone, reaching the final.
In her early career she shattered all the possible records. She was the fourth-youngest to win a title (Puerto Rico, 1990). She was also the youngest
player to reach number 10 in the world rankings (at 14 years and 235 days), the youngest to qualify for the Masters (at 14 years and 8 months) and the
youngest semi-finalist in Wimbledon history (at 15 years and 95 days).
It seemed as if she was really enjoying herself: she was always smiling and telling people how happy she was.
She improved her game match after match and everyone was crazy about her: she became the new heroine of women's tennis in the USA.
At the end of 1991, she took a little break. She still loved tennis, but she also wanted to live as a 'normal' 15 years old.
When she came back few weeks later, many observers noted that she wasn't playing with her usual enthusiasm. She argued with her parents over almost
everything... she wanted to be a little more free, she wanted to make some of the decisions about her career.
Despite all that, she was able to win the Olympic Gold Medal in Barcelona, defeating the world number 1 Graf in the final.
In 1993 she was hounded by all sorts of injuries. Emotionally, she wasn't much healthier. Her experience at the US Open that year was really painful:
she lost in the first round. After her defeat, she raced off the court in tears. She spent the next week in bed and later admitted that she had thought
of killing herself: "I always expected to be on top, and when I didn't win, to me that meant I was a loser. I felt like no one liked me as a person.
I thought no one knew or wanted to know the person who was behind my tennis life", she said.
She reappeared after 14 months, only for one match in November 1994. She disappeared again for all of 1995, overwhelmed by a string of shameful incidents.
She was first accused of stealing a ring in a department store and then of using drugs; she stayed in the rehab clinic for a brief period. It was really a
tough period for her, made worse by her parents’ separation.
Jennifer came back to professional tennis in 1996 (after 15 months without any official matches). She started winning again - the first final of her second
career (in 1997 in Sydney), her first match won in a Grand Slam after 5 years (in 1998 in Wimbledon), her first trophy after 6 years (in 1999 in Strasbourg),
her first semifinal in a Grand Slam in 9 years (at the 2000 Australian Open) and her first time in the top 20 in the world rankings since April, 1994 (at number 17).
At the 1999 US Open she lost to Seles in the 4th round. After the match, she was expected to appear at a big press conference to discuss the match. Since
her comeback, she'd grown tired of talking about her troubled past. She wanted to be recognized for what she was becoming, not what she had been. At the
beginning of the press conference, she read a short, prepared statement: "Let me say that the path I did take for a brief period of my life was not
of reckless drug use, hurting others, but it was a path of quiet rebellion, of a little experimentation of a darker side of my confusion in a confusing world,
lost in the midst of finding my identity. I made mistakes, and, yes, I am to blame, and no one else. I am sorry to my loved ones that I humiliated and
embarrassed. And I'm sorry to my fans who I feel I let down. I'm sorry to myself for causing such pain. But I've put a great deal behind me, moving forward in
the right direction, the direction I feel is right. I feel like I've started a new chapter in my life, and I need to leave the past behind. So this will be
the final time that I speak about the past. I just ask that after today, you please respect my wishes. I can't thank the fans enough. They have touched my
heart with their support from all over the world. I feel each day for me now is getting better and better."
Still some members of the media asked her questions she didn't want to answer. She broke down and started crying. "I just wish I didn't have to talk
about this stuff all the time", she said before rushing off.
Some members of the media didn't understand her and were very rude, but Jennifer was looking ahead. In January 2001, she won her first Grand Slam tournament
(the Australian Open) beating the current number 1 Hingis, the number 2 Davenport and the number 4 Seles - the last three queens of the tournament -
becoming the lowest seed (number 12) to win a Grand Slam. In the same year she won a second Grand Slam tournament (the Roland Garros), beating Clijsters in a
three set final (12-10 the score of the last set). And she finally became the world number 1, in October.
The fairytale continued the next year. Jen won for the second consecutive time the Australian Open, defeating Hingis in the final once again. Playing in a
scorching heat, she denied Hingis 4 match points and showed everyone that she had finally reached the status of a world-class player!
In 2003 she won the New Haven title and reached the US Open semifinal, loosing in an epic match (after a three hours battle) to eventual champions Henin.
In 2004 she reached for the first time the Rome's final, the semifinal at the Roland Garros and again the semifinal at the US Open.
She played her last match on the tour on 5 November, 2004 in Philadelphia.
Between the 2005 and 2007 she was forced to undergo four surgeries: two on her right shoulder and two on her right wrist.
In January, 2007 she talked to the press in Las Vegas, during a WTA event: "These days, if I'm not travelling to go see a doctor I'm just hanging
out, trying to have some fun. I still work out, I'm still trying to come back", she said.
Just a few months later, she spoken about herself in an incredibly sad and touching interview: "Sometimes you get to a point where you can't stop
what you are thinking, It's like you're being taken over by a demon. You just feel there's no way out of this space you're in. It feels like the end of the
world. When you are just so exhausted and tired of feeling that way, you (think), 'I want to be off this planet right now, because I just feel disgusting
inside. I can't even stand my own skin, and I just want to get out.'", Jennifer said. "When I stopped playing, that's when all this came
crumbling down, If I don't have (tennis), who am I? What am I? I was just alive because of this. I've had to ask, 'Well, who is Jennifer? What if this is
gone now?' I can't live off of this the rest of my life. This is not just about me hitting a tennis ball. This is about the rest of my life. How am I going
to live on this earth and wake up happy with who I am? Do I want to go back to tennis just to fill that void again? Is that an escape almost? Is that just
the easy way out?."
Jennifer said she has battled depression for much of her life, but resisted help for a long time because she was afraid of what people would think, and
wanted to get it out by herself. She added that she has never tried to commit suicide, never gotten to the point where she had a vial of pills in her hand.
She finally added: "I'm thinking I'm never going to have those highs again. But I know it's not true. I can find another high, whether it's a family,
something I'm passionate about. Now I don't have anyone telling me what to do. I don't have to answer to anyone anymore. I know (suicide) is not the answer, I
only have one go at this. I'm still young. I still have time to figure it out. I have a choice. Am I going to let this defeat me and make me not even want to be
here? Or am I going to do something to not let this break me down, and maybe help other people? That's the mission I'm on now, to find happiness and positiveness
in the future."
|
.gif){kind=small}