Capriati completes dream Australian Open

By Paul Tait

Jennifer Capriati's dreams came true when she stunned Martina Hingis 6-4 6-3 to win the Australian Open title on Saturday and complete one of the most remarkable comebacks in modern tennis.

The former teen prodigy, whose career almost ended in the mid-1990s in a much-publicised rebellion against authority, won her first grand slam title in a surprisingly one-sided final against the top seed and hot favourite.

Capriati raised her arms in triumph after hitting a backhand winner on her first match point and then burst into tears before running to her father and coach Stefano in the stands beside centre court at Melbourne Park.

"I can't believe this is all happening. Who would have thought I would ever have made it here after so much has happened," Capriati said.

"Dreams do come true. If you believe in yourself anything can happen," she said.

DISJOINTED CAREER

Capriati, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist, was playing in her first grand slam final and won A$830,500 (US$448,470) -- the biggest pay cheque of her disjointed career.

Capriati's first win over the Swiss in six matches was remarkable for the ease with which she disposed of an out-of-sorts Hingis in just 63 minutes.

Hingis was unable to threaten Capriati's powerful serve and deep groundstrokes in her fifth consecutive appearance in the finals of the season-opening grand slam event.

"Jennifer was a little bit too much for me today," a disappointed Hingis said afterwards.

"It was a great effort. I made it five consecutive years and hopefully I can be back in the future."

It was also only Hingis's fourth loss in 42 matches in Melbourne stretching back to 1995.

The Swiss won the Australian title from 1997-99 before losing to Lindsay Davenport in last year's final.

Hingis had been in rich form before the final, helping Switzerland to win the Hopman Cup and then taking the Sydney International title before coming to Melbourne as she stretched her record to 33-1 since the U.S. Open.

RECORD SENT CRASHING

But against 12th seed Capriati that record came crashing down. The American raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set when she broke a tentative Hingis's first two service games.

She sealed the first set in only 31 minutes, her heavy and accurate groundstrokes keeping the world number one running to all corners of the court.

Capriati served for the set in the eighth game only to drop her serve for the first and only time.

She also held two set points on Hingis's serve in the ninth game but was unable to convert them. Capriati then held her nerve to serve out the set in the 10th game on her third set point.

Hingis, by contrast, started slowly and littered her play with unforced errors.

The fifth game of the second set signalled the end for Hingis as Capriati raced to three break points at 0-40.

On the second point of the game, a Capriati backhand which was called out by the linesman was overruled and called in by Australian chair umpire John Blom.

The over-rule clearly unsettled Hingis, who complained and then served a double-fault to hand Capriati the vital break two points later.

SLUMPED

Hingis slumped in her chair after the game and continued to grumble about the call before covering her face with her hand.

The win means Capriati will now rise to seven in the world rankings, her first time in the top 10 since January 1994 -- just months before her career went off the rails.

The list of Capriati's early achievements is long and well-known.

In 1990 at the age of 14 she became the youngest grand slam semifinalist in history when she reached the last four at the French Open and went on to become the youngest seed in grand slam history at Wimbledon the same year.

The fall was equally precipitous as her teenage rebellion against authority brought arrests and embarrassing police mugshots after minor drugs and shoplifting charges.

Capriati toyed fitfully with tennis until she made a real return in 1996. She worked her way back slowly to the top and won her first title in six years at Strasbourg in 1999.

The Floridian can now claim the Australian Open among her 10 career titles. Her family believed, even during the dark years, that she had the will, talent and desire to succeed again.

PROUD FATHER

"She lost it for a while but now that game is back in her heart," her proud father Stefano said.

Hingis, without a grand slam title since her last win in Melbourne, will remain number one in the world despite the loss and leaves the tournament with one important personal milestone.

She beat the two powerful Williams sisters on her way to the final, the first time she has achieved the Williams double in the same tournament after three previous failures.

Hingis survived a three-set epic against Serena in the quarter-finals and then crushed Venus in the semis.

Capriati also showed pedigree in reaching the final, beating four-times Australian Open winner Monica Seles before shocking defending champion Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals.

In Sunday's men's final, defending champion Andre Agassi will play French 15th seed Arnaud Clement.

Clement saved two match points to fight back and beat his friend and compatriot Sebastien Grosjean to become the first Frenchman to reach an Australian Open final since Jean Borotra, one of the "Musketeers" of French tennis, won in 1928.

External Links:
Capriati captures a winning moment
Jennifer Capriati's comeback is complete
Game, Set and Comeback
Capriati v Hingis: Game-by-game
Capriati's comeback