Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2001 Australian Open, 2001 French Open, and 2002 Australian Open, and an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Capriati set a number of youngest-ever records. She made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 13 years, 11 months, reaching the final of the Boca Raton tournament. She reached the semifinals of the 1990 French Open on her debut and later became the youngest-ever player to reach the top 10, at age 14 years, 235 days, in October of that year. Following a first-round loss at the 1993 US Open, she took a 14-month break from professional tennis. Her personal struggles during this time (including arrests for shoplifting and possession of marijuana) were well documented by the press.
In 1998, Capriati won her first major-level singles match in five years at Wimbledon. During the next two years, she slowly returned to championship form, winning her first title in six years in Strasbourg in 1999 and regaining a top-20 ranking. At the 2001 Australian Open, the reinvigorated Capriati became the lowest seed ever to win the championship when she defeated Martina Hingis in straight sets for her first Grand Slam championship. She also won the French Open that year, claiming the WTA No. 1 ranking in October. After successfully defending her Australian Open title in 2002, she became a top-10 mainstay until injuries derailed her career in 2004. Capriati was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.
Capriati won the Junior Orange Bowl in both the 12- and the 14-year categories, and is one of only nine tennis players to win the Junior Orange Bowl Championship twice in its 70-year history, which list includes Andy Murray, Jimmy Connors, Monica Seles, and Yishai Oliel.
Capriati made her professional debut as a 13-year-old, reaching the finals of two of her first three pro events, losing to Gabriela Sabatini and Martina Navratilova in the Boca Raton and Hilton Head tournaments, respectively, earning her first two wins over top-10 players (No. 10 Helena Suková and number-five Arantxa Sánchez Vicario). She entered the rankings in April, at No. 23. Capriati made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open. She went all the way to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Monica Seles. She then reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to Steffi Graf. Later in the year Capriati won her first career title in Puerto Rico, defeating Zina Garrison. After this victory Capriati entered the world's top 10. She qualified for the WTA Championships, narrowly losing to Graf in the first round in three sets. She finished her first season as a professional at world No. 8.
Throughout the season Capriati set multiple "youngest ever" records. She was the youngest player to reach a tour final, the youngest player to reach the semifinals at the French Open, the youngest seed ever at Wimbledon, and the youngest player to qualify for the season-ending championships. She was also the fourth-youngest player to win a WTA Tour title. She was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year for 1990.
In her second season as a touring pro, Capriati established herself as a consistent top-10 player. She won two singles titles during the summer hard court circuit, defeating world No. 1, Monica Seles, in a third set tie-breaker in final of San Diego, and Katerina Maleeva in straight sets in the final of Toronto. She also reached two Grand Slam semifinals, at Wimbledon and the US Open. At Wimbledon, the 15-year-old Capriati stunned nine-time champion Martina Navratilova, defeating her in the quarterfinals in straight sets. Capriati became the youngest person to ever reach the semifinal round of the tournament, losing to Sabatini. At the US Open, Capriati defeated Sabatini in the quarters but lost in the semis to eventual champion Seles in a third-set tiebreak after serving for the match twice. Capriati qualified for the year-end championships for the second time, reaching the quarterfinals. She ended the year at No. 6.
Capriati also won the only doubles title of her career at the Italian Open, partnering with Seles.
1992–1993: Continued success, Olympic gold medal
Capriati's 1992 season was highlighted by her victory at the Summer Olympics. She defeated second-seeded Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals and came from a set down to defeat top-seeded Steffi Graf in the gold-medal match. Capriati next defended her title in San Diego, defeating Conchita Martínez in the final, the only time that Capriati won back-to-back singles titles during her career. She reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (in her debut), at the French Open, and at Wimbledon, and then she lost in the third round at the US Open. In Miami, Capriati ended Monica Seles's streak of 21 consecutive finals by defeating her in the quarterfinals. Capriati finished the year ranked in the top 10 for the third straight year, at No. 7. She also became the youngest player to surpass $1 million in prize money (Martina Hingis later broke this record). Also in 1992, a Sega Genesis video game titled Jennifer Capriati Tennis was released by Renovation Products.
At her first tournament (Sydney 1993), Capriati defeated third-ranked Sabatini in the semifinals before defeating Anke Huber in the final. For the second straight year, she reached the quarterfinals at the first three majors of the year. She reached the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, losing to Steffi Graf. At the US Open, the seventh-seeded Capriati lost her opening match to former top 15-player Leila Meskhi, her first loss in the first round of any pro tournament. Following this loss, Capriati decided to take a break from tennis. She finished the year ranked ninth.
Capriati only played one match in 1994, losing in the first round of Philadelphia to Anke Huber. She fell off the rankings in June. She did not play at all in 1995.
Capriati, unranked, played her first match in 15 months in Essen, where she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Jana Novotná in three sets. She reached her first final in more than three years at Chicago, defeating Monica Seles en route, before losing again to Novotná in three sets. Capriati also reached the quarters in the fall at the Zurich Open, defeating Sabatini in the opening round in what was the last singles match of Sabatini's career. Capriati competed in her first Grand Slam tournaments since 1993 at the French Open and the US Open, losing in the first round of both. Capriati re-appeared on the rankings in April at No. 103, and finished the year inside the top 25, at No. 24. She was named the WTA Comeback Player of the Year for 1996.
1997–98: Descent in the rankings
In January 1997, Capriati reached the final in Sydney for the second time in her career, defeating world No. 9, Lindsay Davenport, en route to her only top-10 win of the year, losing to Martina Hingis in the final. She only reached the quarterfinals at one other tournament, Oklahoma City, where she lost to Davenport. Capriati finished the year at No. 66, losing her final six matches in 1997.
Capriati did not play the first half of 1998. By the spring, she was ranked below the top 200. She accepted a wildcard entry into the clay-court tournament in Hamburg, Germany, where she reached the quarterfinals, but then lost to Martina Hingis. Capriati was also a quarterfinalist in Palermo, Italy. In the first round at Wimbledon, Capriati won her first Grand Slam singles match in five years, before losing to Lori McNeil in the second round. Capriati finished 1998 ranked 101.
1999 was Capriati's best season in several years. She won her first title in six years at Strasbourg, defeating ninth ranked Nathalie Tauziat in a quarterfinal for her first win over a top-10 player in two years. She defeated Russian Elena Likhovtseva in the final. She won her second title of the year at Quebec City, defeating American Chanda Rubin in the final. She also reached the round of 16 (octofinals) at both Roland Garros and US Open. She finished the year at No. 23.