Posted: Saturday January 26, 2002 1:58 AM
Updated: Saturday January 26, 2002 1:58 AM
CNNSI.com's Marc Lancaster breaks down the stats and strategies from Jennifer Capriati's 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Martina Hingis in the final.
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Capriati |
Hingis |
| First-serve % |
61% 65 of 106 |
72% 74 of 103 |
| Aces |
2 |
2 |
| Double faults |
5 |
6 |
Unforced errors |
39 |
44 |
Winning % on 1st serve |
58% 38 of 65 |
55% 41 of 74 |
Winning % on 2nd serve |
44% 18 of 41 |
34% 10 of 29 |
Winners (incl. service) |
29 |
24 |
Break point conversions |
53% 8 of 15 |
50% 7 of 14 |
Net approaches |
55% 11 of 20 |
83% 24 of 29 |
Total points won |
108 |
101 |
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Jennifer Capriati came from behind for the first time in this year's tournament. AP |
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Capriati was in a 0-4 hole in the second set, but had come back to 3-5. Hingis was serving and had her first match point at 40-30, but she lost three consecutive points, throwing in a double-fault at the end to give Capriati the break and put the pair back on serve. Hingis had two more match points up 6-5 and another in the tiebreak, but Capriati came up with the goods every time.

Once Capriati got this match to the third set, her fitness won it for her. While Hingis looked awful from the first point of the set on -- even after the 10-minute break because of the heat -- Capriati never seemed terribly affected. She certainly wasn't feeling great out there, but she had more than enough power to get by, and aside from a few glitches, she generally kept the ball on the court and let Hingis dig a deeper hole for herself. You don't see many 95-degree days in Switzerland, so it didn't take long.

Why in the world did Hingis not go to the net more when she was ahead? Nearly every time she went up there, she won the point -- 24 out of 29 times in the match. Witness the final game of the first set: Hingis charged the net twice in the first three points on Capriati's serve, quickly going up 0-40 on her way to a break and winning the set. But when it counted, she hung back and kept waiting on Capriati to screw up. Hingis can run forever, but she's not going to pull out a down-the-line laser to end very many points. She has to play the angles and outsmart opponents.

You had to wonder how Capriati would handle being defending champion in a Grand Slam, and she certainly acquitted herself nicely. She also saved a ton of ranking points by winning this tournament, and set herself up well in the rankings through the entire spring. Capriati doesn't look as fit as she did at this time a year ago, but she's got more savvy now, and that should carry her through plenty of matches. Poor Hingis, however, has got to be wondering what she has to do to win another Grand Slam. She's only 21, so it's not like you can completely write her off, but it's getting harder and harder for her to play this deep into Slams, and she can't afford to waste many more opportunities like this. The upside for her is, she played a fabulous tournament up until the middle of the second set of the final, so hopefully she can carry it out in the coming months.
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