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FINAL: Capriati D Hingis 6-4, 6-3
Certainly, this was the most unexpected victory in a final. Jen was the #12 in the tournament and no one had ever
seen her as a winner. So this victory was important on two fronts: along with being her first success in a Grand
Slam, it also declared the beginning of her second, and an even more brilliant tennis career. Jennifer showed all
the tournament her bravery and her willpower for winning by defeating three of the fittest players of the
tournament: Monica Seles in the quarter-final, Lindsay Davenport in the semi-final and Martina Hingis who was
playing her fifth consecutive final (she won three out of five).
Walking toward the final
FIRST ROUND. Capriati D Nagyova 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
SECOND ROUND. Capriati D Oremans 6-0, 6-2
THIRD ROUND. Capriati D Ruano-Pascual 6-0, 6-2
FOURTH ROUND. Capriati D Marrero 7-5, 6-1
QUARTERFINAL. Capriati D Seles 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
SEMIFINAL. Capriati D Davenport 6-3, 6-4
Final's report
Martina Hingis started to serve but Jen soon broke her serve. Jen held her serve and was leading 2-0 when, in the
third game she broke the Swiss’s serve again, who went 4-0 mortgaging the first set. Leading 5-2 Jen served for the
first set but lost her serve for the first time and Martina Hingis regained enough to reach 4-5, denying Jen two
set points in the ninth game. Jen again served for the first set and this time she did it properly, leading the
Swiss 1-0.
The second set was balanced till 2-2. However, in the fifth game Jennifer stole Hingis’s service (helped by a double
fault) and she confirmed the break in the following game leading 4-2. Without further breaks, at 5-3, Martina Hingis
served to remain in the match. This was the decisive match. Jennifer played at her best, without any fear or emotion,
she caught quite impossible balls and she closed the match with a winning answer that went along the line.
WTA article
CAPRIATI WINS HER FIRST GRAND SLAM TITLE
MELBOURNE, Australia (Sportsticker) — The bumpy road that Jennifer Capriati's career has taken finally is paved with
Grand Slam glory.
Having seen her tennis career derailed by personal problems as a teenager, Capriati put a stamp on her comeback by
defeating topranked Martina Hingis, 6-4, 6-3, on Saturday in the Australian Open women's final for her first major
title.
Capriati was on top of her game throughout against Hingis, breaking the three-time champion four times. She concluded
the 63-minute match with a backhand winner down the line off the world No. 1's serve, touching off an emotional
celebration in which she threw down her racket and ran to her father and coach, Stefano.
"Who would have thought I would ever make it here?," Capriati said. "Dreams do come true.
You have to believe in yourself."
Hingis' drought in Grand Slams was extended to eight straight majors since claiming her fifth here in 1999. It was
the second straight year the 20-year-old from Switzerland lost in the Australian Open final.
"I think there are worse disasters in life than what happened to me today," Hingis said. "I can still
smile. I'm healthy. I have more opportunities to come. It's great for her (Capriati). She had a tremendous tournament,
but for me life goes on."
Capriati did not appear nervous in her first Grand Slam final, blistering returns from the baseline and breaking Hingis
twice to race to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. Hingis got back one break to draw within 3-5 and saved two
break points in the ninth game to force Capriati to serve out the set.
Capriati's improved conditioning could not be more evident than on set point
at 5-4, when she ran down one of Hingis' patented drop shots and hit a
backhand winner down the line to take the set. Capriati had lost nine
straight sets to Hingis before winning the first on Saturday. Capriati held
in the second game of the second set. Three games later, Hingis got irate
with the chair umpire over a forehand down the line by Capriati that
appeared to land just wide but was ruled in. Two points later, Hingis
double-faulted to get broken at love and give Capriati the pivotal break.
Capriati collected approximately $450,000 for her victory, with the
Australian Open awarding equal prize money to the men's and women's singles
champions for the first time. It was her 10th career singles title. Seeded
12th, Capriati became the lowest women's seed to win a Grand Slam since Iva
Majoli captured the 1997 French Open as the ninth seed. The victory will
move Capriati from 14th to seventh in the world -- one spot lower than her
career-best ranking in 1991. This will be the first time she is in the top
10 since January 1994 when she was ranked ninth. It was Capriati's first win
in six meetings with Hingis and the victory marked the 11th time a female
has defeated the top two seeds in the same Grand Slam event since 1968. A
semifinalist last year, Capriati proved that showing was no fluke as she
dropped just two sets en route to the title. Her last three wins came
against three of the world's top five players -- Hingis, Davenport and
four-time champion Monica Seles, Capriati's quarterfinal conquest.
"I think after today and after what's happened, I'm no longer going to
doubt myself in anything," Capriati said. "Now I know anything's
possible. "From here on, I always will have the belief in myself that I can
do anything. I will never be afraid of any match I go into."
At the age of 14, Capriati became the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist at
the 1990 French Open. She reached the Wimbledon and U.S. Open semifinals the
following year and captured the Olympic gold medal in 1992 at Barcelona. But
her career then took a downward spiral. She quit the tennis circuit for more
than two years before returning in 1996. She went on to capture her first
singles titles in six years with two tournament wins in 1999 and another last year.
"I guess the difference is that I'm older and wiser," Capriati said.
"Also I am stronger than 10 years ago and I have more variety in my game
now. It's about more exactly knowing what I want."
Now at age 24, Capriati has proven that a career many considered dead in the
mid-1990s is as alive as ever in 2001.
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