COLLISION COURSE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

WTA's best rivalry: Can JCap down Serena?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE HOME DEPOT CHAMPIONSHIPS – Five months ago when a stressed out Jennifer Capriati walked out on court to face Serena Williams at Roland Garros, Chris Evert noted, "Jennifer has lost to Serena four times in a row and if she wants to be considered the world's best player, she needs to find away to get the edge over Serena again."

She did then and failed, losing the tournament's best match – a heartbreaking 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 stomach churner where Capriati was in control of her own fate deep in the second set. Had Jennifer stopped Serena then, the little Williams juggernaut may never left the station.

On Sunday, Jennifer may get another shot at Serena again, this time in the semis of the $3 million Home Depot Championships. That's assuming that Serena thumps Jelena Dokic on Saturday night.

Jennifer has lost to Serena five times in a row. Jennifer beat her four times previous to that and Serena took her the first time they met. All their contests have been barnburners and it's arguably the best rivalry that women's tennis has to offer for quality and passion.

Even though Serena has had her in her pocket all year psychologically and has won the last three Slams, Capriati doesn't consider herself the underdog.

"No. I never feel like the underdog going against Serena," she said. "We've always had really tough, close matches. I could always go either way. It's a matter of a couple points here or there."

FRENCH MATCH SHOWS SERENA'S STAMINA
The two haven't played since that epic Roland Garros semifinal, where the fierce rivals engaged in thunderous rallies from the baseline, with Williams showing tremendous power off both wings and often Capriati off the court. But Capriati retrieved extremely well, and extended the faster Williams with her tremendous athleticism and determination.

Although Serena was the more forceful player in the first set, she committed a slew of unforced errors at key moments, especially from her forehand side.

Nailing holes in the tape with bullet-like, down-the-line groundstrokes and ripping her first serves to the corners, Williams charged out to a 5-2 lead in the second set. But Capriati stormed back to 5-5 when she pushed Serena into another forehand error. Capriati held to 6-5 and appeared to be in the driver's seat, but played a poor game and was unable to push Serena to the edge of defeat.

In the tiebreaker, a clearly tight Capriati was so frustrated with herself after she missed a forehand to go down 3-1 that she swore loudly and called herself a "choker." Serena took the cue and closed out the tiebreaker in stirring fashion, nailing two aces in a row, ripping a backhand crosscourt winner and then watching Capriati double fault.

Williams continued to dictate play in the third set while Capriati appeared to tire both mentally and physically.

"There wasn't much I could do," Capriati said at the time. "It's tough when every point is important. It seems like you play bad on those points, but if it weren't so intense or so close on those points, it wouldn't really matter if you made a few mistakes. I don't think I played that badly. She either forced the error or made me try to win the point. When every points means so much, you can't afford to make mistakes."

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

In the '01 Roland Garros quarters, Capriati was clearly the more focused and driven player, running over Serena in the third set. She also beat up the younger Williams in the '01 Wimbledon quarters. But Serena turned the tables on Capriati, out punching her in '01 Toronto, squeaking past her in the '02 Scottsdale and Miami finals, and grabbing an incredible three-set win in the semis of Rome.

Serena showed there and in Paris how much she has improved over 2002; she's a far more consistent groundstroker, is tougher mentally and is much faster. Plus, she appears to have the right formula for beating Capriati: bang with her as long as possible, challenge her lungs and wait for Jennifer to grow frustrated with Serena's retrieving abilities and make an error.

MIRROR IMAGE
As Jennifer once said, their games pretty much mirror the other one's: Both their backhands are consistent and are weapons; they can both blast return winners, although Serena is quicker fisted; Jennifer has a bit of a bigger forehand; Serena is quicker; Jennifer retrieves very well; neither will come to net frequently. However, Serena's serve is now much more a weapon then Capriati's.

Like she has done in their last four matches, Serena needs to impose herself on Jennifer by dictating the points. And as Evert once said, "She needs to be aggressive, but she also needs to control her aggression."

Should they meet on Sunday at the Staples Center, Jennifer needs to put a high percentage of her first serves, because if she doesn't, Serena will pounce on her second serves and make sure to work the points. Most importantly, she has to reach the finish line before she hangs a medal around her neck. Because it's been Serena who has pocketed the vast majority of the big points this year.

"It's a matter of when you're getting in that situation, to really slow down, take my time, play aggressive and go for it," Capriati said. "I have to think to myself: Now's the time where I got to play like I have been and have that attitude instead of getting tense or afraid to win, or thinking about the moment too much. It's just a matter of whether you're feeling relaxed and loose from the get-go."