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At an age when many professional tennis players start contemplating retirement,
Jennifer Capriati mounted one of the most impressive comebacks in the history of
the game. In 2001, the 25-year-old Florida native proved she could still compete
at an elite level by winning the year's first two majors and reaching the
semifinals of its second two. For Capriati -- who turned pro at 13 and dropped
off the tour four years later because of drug and personal problems -- simply
playing tennis again would have been a significant feat. Capriati's resurgence
began in January when she arrived at the Australian Open in peak condition and
stunned top seed Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-3 to win her first career Grand Slam
title. Proving her performance Down Under was no fluke, in early June Capriati
survived a showdown with Kim Clijsters in the French Open final to become the
first American woman since Chris Evert in 1986 to win in Paris. At Wimbledon,
Capriati tore through the opening rounds, riding a 19-match Grand Slam win
streak into her semifinals faceoff against Justine Henin. Though the Belgian
teenager rallied to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and end Capriati's bid for a Slam sweep,
Capriati used the energy and competitive drive she had been fueled by all year
to reach her first U.S. Open semifinals in a decade. After jumping out to a 4-1
first-set lead against eventual champion Venus Williams, Capriati faded and
ultimately lost 6-4, 6-2. Though disappointed by the defeat, Capriati closed out
the 2001 Slam season with grace, and in mid-October displaced Hingis to become the world's No. 1 player for the first time in her career. Capriati came out of the year with something far more important than titles and a top-ranking, however: renewed
confidence, "Dreams do come true," said Capriati. "if you keep
believing in
yourself."
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Photograph by Bob Martin
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