Jennifer Capriati Biography

Tennis Player

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At age 14 Jennifer Capriati reached the semifinals of the 1990 French Open. The next year she became the youngest-ever women's semifinalist at Wimbledon, and in 1992 won the Olympic gold medal by beating Steffi Graf in Barcelona, Spain. Then the pressures of being a teen sensation seemed to unnerve her, and her career fell apart. She was stopped for shoplifting in a Florida mall in 1993, and the next year arrested for possession of marijuana after a party in a Florida motel. Her police mug shot was widely published and became an enduring image of a teen idol turned tortfeasor. Capriati began a slow career comeback in the late 1990s, and in 2001 she unexpectedly won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. She followed that with a second Grand Slam victory at the 2001 French Open. In January 2002 she again won the Australian Open, defeating Martina Hingis to defend her title. She was ousted in the first round of the 2003 Australian Open, and has since been hampered by back and shoulder injuries.

Extra credit: Other tennis stars on Who2 include Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Amanda Coetzer and Anna Kournikova.