25 maggio 2004
Roland Garros
PARIS (AP) -- Jennifer Capriati glared toward
the stands, told fans to shut up and endured scattered boos from the French
Open crowd.
Then, one point from victory and ready to serve, Capriati paused and waved
her hands at the fans, provoking both jeers and cheers.
"I was kind of using that to help pump me up," she said.
The tactic worked. Yulia Beygelzimer failed to put her service return into
play, and Capriati had a first-round victory Tuesday, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Court Suzanne Lenglen was more than half empty for the evening match, but
some spectators gave Capriati a hard time. She angrily shouted at them at
least once, and when she closed out the victory, she pumped her fist toward
the stands and scowled.
"I didn't think I did anything that bad for them to boo," said Capriati, the
2001 champion. "But they're kind of finicky here. One day they're one way,
the next day the other way. Next time I might go out and they'll cheer like
crazy for me."
The crowd wasn't the only source of annoyance for Capriati. Beygelzimer
appeared on the verge of defeat, trailing 3-0 in the second set, then won
nine of the next 10 games.
Capriati thought of Andre Agassi's upset loss Monday.
"It did cross my mind -- like, 'These underdogs come out of nowhere.' You're
like, 'What's going on?'" Capriati said. "For a while there, she was just
hitting winners left and right."
Trailing 0-3 in the final set, Capriati put together a streak of her own,
winning five games in a row to take the lead for good. Her second-round
opponent will be qualifier Kveta Peschke.
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