Tennis has enjoyed its fair share of prodigies. It’s not rare to watch young players reach early glory, winning Grand Slams and titles, long before they are considered legally adults. However, Jennifer Capriati remains as one of the youngest players ever to break through the WTA Tour, still holding some records that not even Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic could achieve.
At only 14 years of age, she was one of the best players in the world. However, despite her talent and success, she also struggled with her mental health illness and addiction, as well as several scandals that made her leave the sport at only 27 years old.
Capriati was only 13 years and 11 months old when she made her professional debut, becoming the youngest player ever to reach the final of a WTA tournament. During her first year on the tour, she also won in San Juan, Puerto Rico, before reaching the semifinals of the French Open, in which she lost to Monica Seles. She also reached the Round of 16 of Wimbledon and the US Open, losing to Steffi Graf.
Due to her incredible performances, she reached the Top 10 at only 14 years of age, becoming the youngest player ever to do so. In 1990, she was the World No. 8, znd it is still a record to this day. However, it would take a little while for her to win her first major.
Jennifer Capriati had to retire at 27 years old due to injuries (A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
A meteoric rise to success: Capriati’s achievements
After her first years on the tour, which were interrupted by two sabbatical years in 1994 and 1995 —as she recovered from her addiction—, she returned to competition and slowly reclaim her place among the elite players. She won three Grand Slam titles in total: Australian Open (2001, 2002) and the French Open in 2001.
see also
Andre Agassi builds his perfect tennis player, excludes one member of the ‘Big Three’
She also won the Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, defeating Steffi Graf. In total, she won 14 singles titles and reached 31 finals, topping big names such as Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Conchita Martinez.
Her best year was 2001, in which she also reached Wimbledon and US Open semi finals. That’s why she became the World No. 1, after recovering from a few years in which she even ended up outside of the Top 200.
Her early retire due to injuries
Despite her success, Capriati started to suffer from problems in her right shoulder and back, which made her retire from the Australian Open in 2004. She also missed the Athens Olympic Games, withdrawing from the event just a week before they started. That same year, she retired at only 27 years old.
Jennifer Capriati was inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012 (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
In 2012, when she was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame, she declared: “I left the game earlier than I expected, earlier than I wanted to and because of this, I was not able to leave the game on my terms. I was not able to thank everyone who had such a positive impact on my life.” After that, she has had limited public appearances and hasn’t conceded any interviews.
see also
Legend Bjorn Borg chooses between Federer, Nadal and Djokovic as the greatest tennis player
Capriati’s drug addiction and accidental overdose in 2010
As we said, Capriati had a lot of struggles during her career. In 1994, at the age of 18, she voluntarily entered a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center two days after her arrest on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. However, one of her most scary reports came in 2010, when she reportedly accidentally overdosed with prescription drugs.
Her spokesperson, Lacey Wickline, told the Associated Press: “In response to an outpouring of concern and support shown by Jennifer’s fans and friends worldwide, we would like to acknowledge that Jen is recuperating at a South Florida hospital from an accidental overdose of medication prescribed to Jen by her personal physicians.”
However, the incident evoked her early struggles. “When I looked in the mirror I actually saw this distorted image. I was so ugly and fat I just wanted to kill myself,” she said in 2007, according to Hello Magazine. “At the end of a match, I couldn’t wait to get off the court. Mentally, I’d just lost it. I wasn’t happy with myself, my tennis, my life, my coaches, my friends…”
After that incident in 2010, she once again appeared in the headlines due to a scandal. In 2013, Capriati was charged with stalking and misdemeanor battery charges after she reportedly assaulted a former boyfriend after stalking him for several months. Capriati completed court-mandated community service and anger management counseling, and the charges were dropped.
see also
He beat Federer and faced Djokovic, but retired after playing his second Grand Slam: 'I felt like tennis hated me'
Now, she is 48 years old and she lives in Florida. While she is out of the public eye, Capriatti’s story is still one of resilience: she was a great talent that, as she explains, had ups and downs but alwayscame out stronger.