June, 22nd 2009
The grass court gleamed green — a pastoral oasis in the heart of the concrete jungle — as fans dined on strawberries and cream while watching
the two former World No. 1 players trade strokes and quips from across the net while Novak Djokovic loomed large over their shoulders.
Each shot sent sprays of water flying from the felt ball as if the strings were squeegees. Opening day of Wimbledon was dry, but the damp grass court in
New York City provided an All England Club atmosphere to these proceedings.
The stage was a temporary grass court constructed in the middle of Rockefeller Center and today Jim Courier and Jennifer Capriati took the court, hitting
against each other and fans in an exhibition to launch HSBC presents Wimbledon 2009. As Courier and Capriati hit with fans, spectators sat behind the court
watching Djokovic rally past Julien Benneteau on the large video screen televising Wimbledon live while staff passed out free strawberries and cream and
used green screen technology to take photos of fans posing with the Wimbledon trophy.
In a battle of former World No. 1 players, Capriati was back on court the day before her nationwide comeback.
The three-time Grand Slam champion won’t be carrying a racquet and facing off against familiar rivals Venus Williams or Serena Williams. Instead, Capriati
could be hitting the pool, riding a bike or commandeering a kayak.
The 33-year-old Capriati competed in “The Superstars”, a reality-show revival of the 1970s TV show, which will debut tomorrow at 8 p.m. Eastern time on ABC.
The reality show is a revival of the old Wide World Of Sports Superstars competition that pitted NFL, NBA and MLB players as well as track and field
stars in the mid 1970s. Pole vaulter Bob Seagren won the inaugural Superstars and American high jumper Dwight Stones (famous for wearing Mickey Mouse shirts)
was another consistent Superstars competitor.
This new twist on an old favorite pairs athletes with celebrities. Capriati is scheduled to partner former Baywatch lifeguard David Charvet.
“It was good. It was an interesting experience,” Capriati said of the show. “It was fun and I met a lot of different people.”
Brandi Chastain, Robert Horry, Jeff Kent, Kristi Leskinen, Lisa Leslie, Bode Miller and Terrell Owens are among the athlets who competed. Celebrity
participants include Charvet, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Dan Cortese, Paige Hemmis, Julio Iglesias, Jr., Joanna Krupa, Ali Landry and Estella Warren.
The six-week summer series will feature eight teams competing weekly with one team eliminated each week leading up to the final.
Back, hamstring and shoulder injuries limited Capriati to 41 matches in 2004, which was her last season on the WTA Tour. Capriati reached the 2004 Roland
Garros semifinals where she lost to eventual-champion Anastasia Myskina, 6-2, 6-2. It was the culmination of a strong clay-court season that saw Capriati
advance to the Berlin semifinals (falling to Amelie Mauresmo, 6-2, 6-0) and the Rome final (losing to Mauresmo, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6).
Capriati concluded the season reaching the quarterfinals or better in eight consecutive events, including a final eight appearance at Wimbledon and a
semifinal effort at the U.S. Open where she suffered a painful, 6-0, 2-6, 7-6(5) loss to Elena Dementieva. She underwent shoulder surgery on January 27, 2005.
The woman whose compelling comeback made her one of tennis’ top stars when she opened the 2001 season winning the Australian Open before battling back to
earn a 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 triumph over Kim Clijsters in the 2001 French Open final was halfway to a single-season Grand Slam before bowing to Justine Henin in the
2001 Wimbledon semifinals.
Looking fit and even trimmer than she was in her final season on the WTA Tour, Capriati told Tennis Week today she feels as if she’s reached a transition
point in her life and while she has not completely closed the door on a playing comeback, she has no definitive plans for a return.
Tennis Week caught up with Capriati court-side for this interview.
Q: Jennifer, I understand you recently appeared on The Superstars reality show. How was that experience?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: It was good. It was good. It was an interesting experience. It was fun and I met a lot of different people.
Q: Were you doing a lot of different kinds of sports on the show?
JENNIFER CAPRIATIi: Yeah, there we did a lot of different things. You’ll have to tune in to see it to see exactly how it went. It’s on tomorrow.
Q: In terms of tennis, do you want to come back? Would you consider a comeback? You look real fit, you look good.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Thank you. I’m still struggling with some injuries and health issues so I won’t say yes or no if there’s going to be a possibility
of coming back. But I’m still young enough that maybe I can do it. It just depends. It’s very high level — especially nowawadays — the level is so
high and so difficult in terms of what you have to put your body through. It’s difficult. It just depends on, you know, if I’m still ready to do that
for a few more years.
Q: True, but at the same time you left the game at a pretty high level. And you’ve seen women you played like Martina Hingis and Lindsay make
successful comebacks and now Kim Clijsters is coming back. When you see players like that comeback and have some success does it cause you to
consider it even more?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: Yeah, I think I sort of set that stage for the comeback.
Q: You’re queen of the comeback.
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: (laughs). Exactly. Yeah, I definitely know what that’s like. You know, whether I have another one in me, we’ll see. Whether there’s
another comeback, we’ll see. Maybe it’s not in my hands anymore.
Q: Your story is such a unique and interesting one. Have you considered writing a book about your life experiences?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I’ve thought about it, but really right now I’m going through one stage of my life where I’m really making this transition between you
know maybe not being at that level anymore to maybe being the Jennifer Capriati that’s still out there that can play with these girls. So I like to keep
things private right now, but in the future there could be a possibility of it (a book) at the right time.
Q: When you see the majors on television do you follow it? For instance at the French Open last month — a tournament you won — did you tune in and
follow it?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I don’t go out of my way to follow it. But you know it’s a little difficult, it’s a little emotional at times to watch the Grand Slams.
Knowing that I could be and probably should still be there playing so that can be tough at times. Besides that, it’s great to watch. I would say I
definitely watch the men more than the women.
Q: Is there anyone you like watching in particular and any player who reminds you of you? During the French Open the young Romanian player, Sorana
Cirstea, reminded some people of you...
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: You’re gonna get me in trouble now...
Q: No, I don’t want to put you on the spot, I’m just wondering if anyone you see reminds you of your style or has that Capriati intensity?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I love watching Nadal and Federer of course too. Nadal, I just love his tenacity and his work ethic and the way he just goes all out for
every ball and the way he goes out there and treats every single match like this is the final. In a way, I kind of see myself in that way because I used to
train just as hard as that and always tried to play with the intensity so you know I really respect Nadal for all of that.
Q: What are your thoughts about Nadal trying to comeback from the knee tendonitis? You had to deal with some injuries with your wrist and your
shoulder — how difficult is it to comeback?
JENNIFER CAPRIATI: I think he hasn’t had any surgeries yet so I think when you have surgery that’s a really difficult thing to come back from. You just have to have the
right people around him to advise him, the right doctors, the right medical staff and you must listen to your body and just don’t over do it. It’s easier
said than done, but you’ve got to say it’s OK to step back and shut it down a little bit at times too, which can be tough. I hope he can do that because
I love watching him and he’s great.
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