MELBOURNE, Australia -- Forget the troubled past. For
Jennifer Capriati it's all about the future, which now includes her
first Grand Slam final.
|  | | Jennifer Capriati lost her four previous semifinals in major tournaments. A teen prodigy, Capriati dropped out of tennis for a while dealing with drug and personal problems.
|
Capriati notched one of the sweetest victories of her tumultuous
career Thursday, upsetting defending champion Lindsay Davenport
6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Capriati lost her four previous semifinals in major tournaments,
with three of those defeats in 1990-91 when she was a teen prodigy.
That was before her hiatus from tennis in the mid-1990s because of
drug and personal problems.
The 12th-seeded Capriati's opponent in the final Saturday will
be No. 1 Martina Hingis, who played almost flawless tennis to rout
No. 3 Venus Williams 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes. Hingis, who edged
Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, swept the sisters in the same
tournament for the first time.
"It's taken me a long time to get to the final of a Grand
Slam," said Capriati, 24. "It's something I really wanted."
Capriati avenged her loss to Davenport in last year's
semifinals, and she did it by hitting boldly from the baseline. Her
blistering returns put the second-seeded Davenport on the
defensive, and the defending champ quickly began to look
discouraged, hanging her head and swatting at the court with her
racket between points.
"Maybe Lindsay underestimated me in the beginning," Capriati
said.
When Davenport dumped a forehand into the net on the second
match point, Capriati waved her fist, grinned broadly and clenched
her cap as though in disbelief. Davenport then hugged her at the
net.
"It's great for her," Davenport said with a smile. "I'm not
happy, but she's a very nice girl and obviously has been through a
lot."
Capriati had lost her past five matches against Davenport dating
back to 1997, including three in Grand Slam tournaments.
On a sunny, hot and humid afternoon, Capriati jumped to a 3-0
lead against Davenport, then held serve the rest of the way to take
the first set. Davenport was unable to convert any of her six
break-point chances in the set, and on four of the points she
failed to get her return into play.
For Capriati, Saturday's match will be her biggest since at
least 1992, when she won the Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. Her
ranking has climbed to 14th from 23rd at the start of last year,
and she attributes her improvement to conditioning work.
Her father, Stefano, began coaching her last year.
"Everything is thanks to her and not to anybody else," he said
after her victory. "She played well, but it's not her best. She
can play better than that."
"I knew breaking her serve was the key," Capriati said. "I
got an early break; maybe she didn't expect it."
A bizarre point gave Capriati a service break and a 3-2 lead in
the second set. Davenport hit a forehand off the net post, and when
the ball deflected high in the air to Capriati's side, she stepped
forward and slammed a winner.
Capriati closed out the next game with back-to-back-aces, and
Davenport's play became even sloppier down the stretch. She shanked
a pair of returns as Capriati held for a 5-3 lead.
Davenport made unforced errors on 43 of the 78 points Capriati
won.
"She played great," Davenport said. "She was really fired up.
I thought I was not playing all that well. Combine the two, and it
wasn't all that close."
|
|
ALSO SEE
Hingis defeats Venus Williams to reach final
Hingis' comeback spoils sibling showdown
Clement upsets Kafelnikov, advances to semis
Davenport makes easy work of Kournikova in quarters
Shriver: Semifinal picks
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jennifer Capriati defeats Lindsay Davenport to advance to her first Grand Slam final.
avi: 2010 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Martina Hingis makes quick work of Venus Williams to advance to the Australian Open final.
avi: 2439 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
