ROME – Jennifer Capriati lost her opening match at the
Italian Open with one of her worst outings of the year, wasting a
one-set lead against Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis on Wednesday.
|  | | Jennifer Capriati returns a shot to Rita Kuti Kis on Wednesday. |
The second-seeded Capriati looked strong early but faltered en
route to the 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) defeat.
The American won the Australian Open in January, captured
another tournament in Charleston, S.C., and also has two runner-up
finishes in 2001, including last week in Berlin.
Capriati didn't think Wednesday's performance bodes ill for her
chances at the French Open later this month.
Asked who she thought had the best chance to win in Paris,
Capriati shrugged. "I think myself," she said. "I feel good. I'm
not going to let this loss hurt my confidence."
Kuti Kis, ranked 59th in the world, defeated Capriati for the
second straight time – both on clay. She was runner-up at the
claycourt event in Bogota, Colombia in February.
"I an so happy that I've beaten Jennifer, especially now she is
at the top," Kuti Kis said. "This is one of the best moments of
my career. I think I played very well, aggressively and
mentally, and I was feeling strong."
"She (Kuti Kis) was very tough," Capriati said. "Maybe I was a
little tired, I've been playing a lot. Now I'm going to have a
rest which might be a good thing before going to Paris."
The top eight seeded players received first-round byes at the
Italian Open, a $1.185 million clay-court tournament.
While Capriati made a quick exit, No. 7 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
moved into the third round of a tournament she's never won by
beating Germany's Bianka Lamade 6-2, 6-3 in 77 minutes.
"The first match is always the most difficult,"
Sanchez-Vicario said. "I feel very comfortable with how I'm
playing."
A three-time French Open champion with 27 career tournament
wins, Sanchez-Vicario has never done better in Rome than reaching
the final. She was runner-up here to Gabriela Sabatini in 1989 and
Conchita Martinez in 1995.
"Sure, you come each time hoping to do well," Sanchez-Vicario
said. "I'll try to see if this year can be the year."
Nathalie Tauziat and Magdalena Maleeva each lost her first match
of the tournament.
Tauziat, seeded fifth, lost to South Africa's Joannette Kruger
5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Italian Francesca Schiavone downed the eighth-seeded
Maleeva 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) to advance to the third round.
Another Frenchwoman, Amelie Mauresmo, seeded fourth, beat
Spain's Angeles Montolio 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.
Mauresmo is coming off her fourth title of the year, having
beaten Capriati last week in the final of the German Open on clay.
Mauresmo, who lost in the final here a year ago, will try later
this month to follow the example of Mary Pierce, who last year was
the first Frenchwoman to win the French Open since 1967.
"I'll have a week off to get as fresh as possible before the
French," Mauresmo said.
Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, seeded 14th, advanced with a 6-2,
3-6, 6-4 win over Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, while Argentina's
Paola Suarez beat Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6).
Other second-round winners Wednesday included Russians Nadia
Petrova, Lina Krasnoroutskaya and Elena Likhovtseva, Spain's Gala
Leon Garcia and the Czech Republic's Denisa Chladkova.
Chladkova advanced when 13th-seeded American Meghann Shaughnessy
withdrew before their second-round match.
Top-seeded Martina Hingis, who beat Tatiana Panova in the second
round, plays Likhovtseva in the third round Thursday.
Information from SportsTicker was used in this report. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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Wednesday's results
Pierce struggles against Petrova in Rome
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