Jennifer Capriati Biography
One of the best in the world, Jennifer Capriati is a former pro-tennis player. In 1990, she was the youngest player to ever be ranked in the Women's Tennis Association top ten. After several well-documented personal struggles, including drug possession, she took a break, but only to make an incredible comeback, eventually winning 14 professional tournaments during her career.
Contents
Synopsis
Early Life
Child Tennis Star
Comeback and Struggles
Early Life
Tennis player. Jennifer Capriati was born on March 29, 1976 in New York. Her mother, Denise, was a flight attendant, and her father, Stefano, was a former Italian professional soccer player turned movie stuntman turned tennis instructor. The Capriatis decided to move to Long Island, New York before having kids so that their children would be American citizens. Family legend holds that Jennifer Capriati began playing tennis while still in the womb. Approximately 17 hours before her birth, Stefano had taken Denise out to play tennis. "He knew she would be a tennis player before she was even born," her mother later said. Capriati was a precociously gifted athlete from the time she was an infant. She learned to swim before she learned to crawl and was able to swing all the way across a set of monkey bars before she could walk. As a young toddler, she played on the side of the tennis courts, chasing down balls during her father's hitting sessions. Stefano began giving his daughter tennis instruction when she was three years old, and her prodigious talent immediately became apparent. After less than a year of playing the game – all before she began kindergarten – she could sustain long rallies and return balls shot from a ball machine.
When ennifer Capriati was four years old, the family moved to Lauderhill, Florida so that she could play tennis year round. Jimmy Evert, an acclaimed tennis instructor and the father of tennis superstar and former child prodigy Chris Evert, lived in nearby Fort Lauderdale, and the Capriatis asked him to begin teaching their daughter. Although Evert initially refused, saying he could not teach such a young child, once he saw her play he immediately changed his mind. For the next five years, Capriati took lessons from Evert and continued to develop her sensational talents. By the time Capriati was ten years old, she had run out of competition in her hometown of Lauderhill. "She was beating every player in town," Evert recalled later, including skilled adult men.
Child Tennis Star
In pursuit of challenging competition, the Capriatis moved again, this time to Wesley Chapel, Florida, near the Saddlebrook Tennis Center, a training facility for many of the world's best junior players run by legendary coach Harry Hopman. Upon her arrival at Saddlebrook, Capriati began entering junior tennis competitions and immediately learned she could dominate opponents several years her senior. In 1989, at the age of 13, she became the youngest player in history to win the French Open junior title. She followed that by winning the U.S. Open junior title as well as the U.S. Open and Wimbledon junior doubles titles in the same year.
A year later, in March 1990, still only 13 years old, Capriati made her professional debut in the Virginia Slims tournament held in Boca Raton, Florida. In her very first match, she dismantled ten-year veteran Mary Lou Daniels in straight sets. Later that day
One of the best in the world, Jennifer Capriati is a former pro-tennis player. In 1990, she was the youngest player to ever be ranked in the Women's Tennis Association top ten. After several well-documented personal struggles, including drug possession, she took a break, but only to make an incredible comeback, eventually winning 14 professional tournaments during her career.
Contents
Synopsis
Early Life
Child Tennis Star
Comeback and Struggles
Early Life
Tennis player. Jennifer Capriati was born on March 29, 1976 in New York. Her mother, Denise, was a flight attendant, and her father, Stefano, was a former Italian professional soccer player turned movie stuntman turned tennis instructor. The Capriatis decided to move to Long Island, New York before having kids so that their children would be American citizens. Family legend holds that Jennifer Capriati began playing tennis while still in the womb. Approximately 17 hours before her birth, Stefano had taken Denise out to play tennis. "He knew she would be a tennis player before she was even born," her mother later said. Capriati was a precociously gifted athlete from the time she was an infant. She learned to swim before she learned to crawl and was able to swing all the way across a set of monkey bars before she could walk. As a young toddler, she played on the side of the tennis courts, chasing down balls during her father's hitting sessions. Stefano began giving his daughter tennis instruction when she was three years old, and her prodigious talent immediately became apparent. After less than a year of playing the game – all before she began kindergarten – she could sustain long rallies and return balls shot from a ball machine.
When ennifer Capriati was four years old, the family moved to Lauderhill, Florida so that she could play tennis year round. Jimmy Evert, an acclaimed tennis instructor and the father of tennis superstar and former child prodigy Chris Evert, lived in nearby Fort Lauderdale, and the Capriatis asked him to begin teaching their daughter. Although Evert initially refused, saying he could not teach such a young child, once he saw her play he immediately changed his mind. For the next five years, Capriati took lessons from Evert and continued to develop her sensational talents. By the time Capriati was ten years old, she had run out of competition in her hometown of Lauderhill. "She was beating every player in town," Evert recalled later, including skilled adult men.
Child Tennis Star
In pursuit of challenging competition, the Capriatis moved again, this time to Wesley Chapel, Florida, near the Saddlebrook Tennis Center, a training facility for many of the world's best junior players run by legendary coach Harry Hopman. Upon her arrival at Saddlebrook, Capriati began entering junior tennis competitions and immediately learned she could dominate opponents several years her senior. In 1989, at the age of 13, she became the youngest player in history to win the French Open junior title. She followed that by winning the U.S. Open junior title as well as the U.S. Open and Wimbledon junior doubles titles in the same year.
A year later, in March 1990, still only 13 years old, Capriati made her professional debut in the Virginia Slims tournament held in Boca Raton, Florida. In her very first match, she dismantled ten-year veteran Mary Lou Daniels in straight sets. Later that day
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati v. Kim Clijsters | 2002 Australian Open Highlights
Jennifer Capriati v. Monica Seles | 2001 Australian Open
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