"I'm just waiting to wake up from this dream," Jennifer Capriati told the crowd at Roland Garros on Saturday after winning the French Open title. "It doesn't seem like reality right now." Understandably so.
Between 1994 and 1996, the former child prodigy played just one professional tennis match. A series of run-ins with the law soon followed, including incidents of pot smoking and shoplifting, as Jennifer pondered ending her life.
"When I looked in the mirror I actually saw this distorted image. I was so ugly and fat I just wanted to kill myself," says the 25-year-old. "At the end of a match, I couldn't wait to get off the court. Mentally, I'd just lost it. I wasn't happy with myself, my tennis, my life, my coaches, my friends…"
Jennifer's mum Denise takes some of the blame for her child's near self-destruction. "The money, the excitement, the endorsements, the pride – you get caught up in it, and you're not thinking of what your child is missing, and if this is what's best for them." Jennifer took time off, enrolled in a normal high school, and eventually returned to tennis on her own terms.
And since winning the the Australian Open in January, Jennifer's been unstoppable. She's 14-0 in the majors this year, and has beaten everyone from Serena Williams to Monica Seles. Even top-ranked Martina Hingis referred to Jennifer as "the best player in the world right now."
"She's at a time in her career where she's really enjoying it," says an executive at the Saddlebrook Resort in Florida where she's trained since age 11. "She doesn't feel the pressure or expecations she felt in the past. That's maturity."
"I feel like I've been reincarnated," Jennifer says. "I'm living a second life."
With both the Australian Open and the French Open trophies on the mantelpiece, Jennifer is halfway to a Grand Slam sweep that only three women in history have accomplished, most recently Steffi Graf in 1998. The last woman to win both the Australian and the French open titles was Monica Seles in 1992.
Jennifer continues her onslaught June 25 at Wimbledon.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
