Jennifer Capriati has arrived at where she was 11 years ago. The 25-year-old American yesterday reached the point at Roland Garros that she precociously occupied at the age of 14 as a tennis phenomenon in 1990.
After a ragged match against Serena Williams that alone was a triumph for the Australian Open champion, who now faces number one seed Martina Hingis for a place in the final.
Capriati remains the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist in tennis history, a position she will always hold for her sharp decline into petty crime and temporary exit from the game confirmed expert opinion that the professional tennis circuit was no place for children. There are no more globe trotting 14year-olds.
Of the four quarter-final matches completed yesterday it was Capriati who was worked to three sets 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, by the obdurate and physically challenging Williams.
The three other contests were processional demonstrations for the winners, Hingis and Belgians Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. All three advanced in two sets. All three advanced without missing a heart-beat. All three asked questions about the depth of the women's game. The second semi-final line up between the two Belgians may also ask questions about the strength of their teenage friendship.
Capriati's match was not pretty or full of skill. It was not even particularly exciting and was doubtlessly played at a level considerably below the combined quality of both players.
Capriati double faulted on match point in the second set leading 5-4 to allow the match tumble awkwardly into a third set, while Williams hit so many balls long or wide or too high or too low, the question was one of who could steady their game enough to claim the semi-final place. Capriati did that, hitting 42 unforced errors, 23 less than Williams.
"When I double faulted I just thought oh s***, or something worse than that," she explained. Something worse probably, as a low rumbling hum of that exact expression emanated from the entirely full Suzanne Lenglen show court.
"I did lose my concentration to lose the set there. Yeah, there were a few other match points in the third set but at least I didn't double fault them away."
The match appeared to be heading merrily towards an ending similar to this year's tour final at Miami, where Capriati squandered seven match points, using a whole array of methods to contrive defeat to William's sister Venus.
"It was like deja vu," she said, admitting the Venus match did briefly haunt her. "A little bit, it did. It was starting to become a nightmare, a little bit. But I didn't let it happen. I learned my lesson from the last time."
Williams looked tired, probably as a result of not playing enough matches in the run up to Paris, a knee injury forcing her out of of Rome and Madrid, the two principal events before Roland Garros. But she flew home with her dog Jackie, her dad Richard and her mum Oracene in defiant mood, with her sights now on Wimbledon.
"This is my first match back but hey, I have a few matches now," she said. "My serve wasn't at all where I expected it to be. That's okay, I'm going to rectify that for Wimbledon."
Hingis was more succinct after her 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Italy's Francesca Schiavone. After an inspired run in her main draw debut, Schiavone none-the-less, lost little time in finally making her exit. "She'd nothing to hurt me," said Hingis. Right on the button.
Henin, using a devastating backhand, beat Lina Krasnoroutskaya even quicker. Her straight sets 6-1, 6-2 win took less than an hour and was her fifth consecutive win in two sets. Her mate Clijsters took a similarly brief stop in the last match of the day against Petra Mandula, a name never before seen in the top 100.
Henin, who weighs less than 55 kilos, is quite a body type removed from the bigger hitters. But her blazing play has turned heads. "I was cautious but confident, which was a good way to go into the match," said the 19year-old from Liege. "I think a match is a match," she said of playing Clijsters. "So when I am on court I have to beat everybody."
