DEFENDING CHAMP ELIMINATED IN FIRST ROUND

Capriati can't see the sad outcome of her loss

By Alix Ramsay
Special to tennisreporters.net

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN – Just as fondling kelp can help you judge the weather, so watching the Australian Open can help you gauge Jennifer Capriati's chances in the coming year. And after her collapse at the hands of Marlene Weingartner on Monday night (2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4), it would appear that an area of high pressure has been replaced by a deep depression – and that does not bode well for the rest of the season.

When she came here four years ago and reached the semifinals, it marked the start of her return to greatness. At last, after endless doomed comeback attempts, she had to be taken seriously. A year later she won the title and nothing could wipe the smile off her face for months. Jennifer was not only back but she was unstoppable as she headed for Roland Garros glory and, eventually, the No. 1 ranking. Not only that, but she was enjoying every minute of the ride.

Then, last year, the cracks started to appear. She came back to Melbourne Park to defend her titleand, while she achieved her goal, it looked anything but enjoyable. As every champion has said over the years, getting to the top is the easy part; it is staying there that takes the work.

Tennis was becoming a regular job and that was no fun at all. By the time she had lost her French Open crown to Serena Williams, she was looking tired and fraught.

With Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis both injured, she appointed herself as the only true challenger to the Williams sisters and then proceeded to wilt under the pressure. She was not happy and her tennis was becoming ever more ragged.

At the end of the season she was forced to have eye surgery to remove pterygiums (abnormal growths that spread to cover the cornea) from both eyes. The condition is brought on by overexposure to sun, wind and dust – the usual working conditions for a professional tennis player – and the recovery takes time, time that cost her any chance of defending her title here.

"I couldn't see properly and I guess my eyes were getting worse," she said. "I could only have the procedure done in the off season and I think waiting another year would have been too late.

"I had it done a week after I played in LA [at the WTA Tour championships] and I had pterygiums removed in both eyes and I had stitches in both eyes. For two weeks, basically, I was in the dark because I couldn't be in the sunlight because my eyes were too sensitive."

Only allowed to get back to the practice courts at the end of December, she arrived in Australia under prepared and paid the price. "I feel like I just didn't give myself enough chance to prepare fully," she said. "Probably if I wasn't the defending champion, I wouldn't have showed up. I probably should have considered that."

NOT MUCH TO SAY
Capriati does not take easily to losing. In defeat her press conferences tend to be stilted, monosyllabic affairs and she is usually seething underneath. This time was different. Unable to launch a reasonable
challenge, she seemed resigned to the fact that a Williams sister, most probably Serena even if she did struggle in her opening match against Emilie Loit, would once more claim the trophy. She tried to beat the Williams sisters when she was fit – and failed – and knew that she did not have prayer when she was below her peak.

Looking exceedingly glum, she seemed to have given up the struggle. The sisters were at the top of the heap and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

When Capriati was making her way to the top, the ultimate prize of a Grand Slam title was motivation enough. Having become a champion, the recognition of her peers and the public could spur her on to work harder still. The wild child had made good and the rest of the world owed her a little respect.

But now she finds herself forced to play second fiddle to Venus and Serena and that does little for the self esteem. Whether or not she can find some sort of catalyst to spark her revival remains to be seen but based on the evidence of the Australian Open, we are in for a very grim year indeed.