Tennis star jennifer capriati biography

Capriati won her first Grand Slam match in five years at Wimbledon. She won her first title since at the event in Strasbourg, France. In October she became world ranked 1 for the first time. She also reached the semi-finals in at Wimbledon and the US Open. She made a promising return in with a few top 10 placements, but her rankings fell in She began her ascent once again inwinning a pair of titles, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, and rocketed to the top 20 of the WTA rankings.

She reached the finals for the first time in her career and won, her first Grand Slam title. After a few more title wins, she won her second consecutive Grand Slam at the French Open. She also achieved the no. Inshe kept her streak going, winning the Australian Open a second time for her third Grand Slam title. Over the next couple years, she won several other titles, with her biggest coming at New Haven in as part of the WTA tour.

However, declining performances in Grand Slam tournaments and injuries forced her to step away inat the age of Search Biographies:. Contact Us Privacy Policy Sitemap. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Jennifer Capriati. Jennifer Capriati Biography. Jennifer Marie Capriati born March 29, is an American professional tennis player, currently living in Saddlebrook, Florida.

Born in Long Island, New York, Capriati was taught to play tennis at a very young age by her father, Stephano Capriati, who continues as her coach. As a youth she was coached by Jimmy Evert, father and coach of Chris Evert. Turning pro on March 5, at age 13, in her WTA Tour debut at Boca Ranton, she became the youngest-ever player to reach a pro final, aged 13 years, 11 months.

When Jennifer was a baby, her father did cribside calisthenics, propping her backside with a pillow and helping her do situps. When she was four years old, the family moved to Fort LauderdaleFlorida, to further Jennifer's tennis.

Tennis star jennifer capriati biography

By then, she could hold her own with a ball machine. He took her to see Jimmy Evert, tennis star Chris Evert's father. Evert did not even want to meet her since she was only four, but when he saw her skill he agreed to take her as a student. He coached her from age four to age nine. Along the way, Jennifer became friends with Chris Evert.

Inthe tennis star gave Jennifer a Christmas bracelet that reads, "Jennifer, Love Chris" that Jennifer wears in all her matches. But the driving force in her budding career was her father, whom she called her main coach and whom the other members of her entourage called "the main boss. After years old, you cannot direct them anymore.

They must want it. As a junior tennis player, Jennifer wanted it. She relished the competition. In at age 12, she won the U. In she won the and-under French Open, made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and won the junior title at the U. The rules said girls under 14 could not turn pro, but inher father, coaches, and tennis boosters thought she was ready.

She's already put in 10 years," said tennis legend Billie Jean KingJennifer's periodic doubles partner. However, the United States Tennis Federation was stubborn. It would not allow Jennifer to play until the month of her 14th birthday. Her father thought about challenging the rule in court, then changed his mind. Already, Jennifer Capriati was getting lucrative endorsement contracts.

Later in the year, she made a commercial for Oil of Olay face cream. But it was no joke: before even turning pro, Capriati was the third highest endorsed tennis player behind Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. John Evert, Chris Evert's brother, became Capriati's business manager. In between the relentless pace of tennis, Jennifer Capriati went through eighth grade at Palmer Academy in Wesley Chapel.

When she couldn't go to school, she'd take her homework with her or have it sent to her on the road by fax machine. By March when she went pro, she still had to do homework in between matches. In September she started ninth grade at St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton, a student private school. She was prepared to leave the Harry Hopman tennis facility of Saddlebrook and was offered a contract as touring pro at the Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton.

But later that month, her parents changed their minds. Uncomfortable in a temporary home in Boca Raton, the Capriatis went back to Saddlebrook and Jennifer returned to the Palmer Academy, where she had attended eighth grade. The family intended to move to Broken Sound in January, then realized it would be better to remain at Saddlebrook.

Jennifer's emotional happiness is the bottom line. Also in September ofranked 12th in the world, Jennifer traveled to Tokyo for the Nichirei tennis championship. The remainder of the year she planned to do an exhibition match for former first lady Nancy Reagan, one for Chris Evert, and then hoped to make the Virginia Slims Championships in New York in November.

The pace was grueling, but her spirits were high. When I'm off, I'm just a kid. Her tennis stuff continued to wow observers. One coach praised her aggressive style, unpredictability, and power: "She was strong before, but her movement wasn't very good. Now she covers the court as well as any of the men I can think of," said Tommy Thompson, head tennis pro at Saddlebrook, to the New York Times.

She has no fear when she's going in there to tennis star jennifer capriati biography. Thompson said later in the Washington Post, "She's a kid off the court but a killer on it. Whether the kid can continue life as a killer on the court without becoming overwhelmed is the question many had as her first six months on the circuit ended.

While Capriati appeared to have a solid head on her shoulders, there were the inevitable comparisons with Andrea Jaeger and Tracy Austin, both of whom started tennis as young sensations but burned out from injuries and pressure. Jaeger won her first pro tournament at 14 but left the tour at 19 because of shoulder injuries. Austin, at 16, was the youngest player ever to win the U.

Open, inbut foot and back injuries sidelined her permanently at age When asked about this by interviewers, Capriati sighs and replies wearily. How do they know what my limit is? As time went on, she started to learn her limit. InCapriati peaked. She ranked in the Top 10 No. Open and Wimbledon. Inshe won the gold medal in the Olympics at Barcelona, but no other tournaments.

In September, after losing in the first round of the U. Open, Capriati returned to Florida from the tour to recover from bone chips and tendinitis in her elbow. In November, she moved out of her parents' home to an apartment. She later announced in January of that she was taking a leave from the tour to complete high school. In March, she dropped out of high school and moved to Boca Raton.

According to People magazine, the arrest followed a weekend of serious partying with other teenagers. One of the teens, Thomas Wineland, was booked for possession of suspected crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia. He later claimed that he and Capriati smoked crack for a couple of hours, then smoked reefers, took painkillers, and drank. A flurry of criticism and "I told you so" articles followed from the media.

Mike Lupica of The Sporting News wrote an article reflecting the thoughts of those who know Capriati. He had plenty of negative things to say about Stefano Capriati and the Capriati entourage. He wrote, "The short-term marketing was brilliant. The short-term thinking was stupid and greedy. They were called by many 'The Capriati Rules. They also should have been called 'The Capriati Rules.

Capriati did come back and play one match in November —losing to Anke Huber in Philadelphia. She then remained absent from tennis star jennifer capriati biography until February She won two matches in the Faber Grand Prix in Germany, finally losing in the quarterfinals. Anne Person Worcester, The Corel WTA Tour's chief executive officer, told Tennis magazine, "The hardest part about coming back for her is not the tennis, not the other players, not the fans; it's the media.

Tennis magazine suggested that Capriati will have to find the right support group to accompany her on the tour to keep the pressure at bay. Stefano Capriati, now divorced from Jennifer's mother, Denise, traveled with Jennifer to Germany, but insisted that he was not pushing her. He told Tennis, "She will decide what it is she wants. Whatever she will decide, I will give.

Whatever she needs, I give. Capriati lost in the first round of the French Open in May The Sporting News reported that five days later, she had another brush with the law. Capriati was at a nightclub in Miami with her boyfriend. Police said she got into an argument with him and tried to punch him. Her boyfriend ducked, and Capriati accidentally hit a waitress.

Club security turned her over to the police. The state attorney will determine if charges will be filed.