Capriati keeps Slam run alive

By Steven Wine
Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England — Jennifer Capriati slipped on a brown patch of grass and went sprawling as the ball bounced past on a critical point. She got back up, grabbed her racket and angrily slammed it to the turf.

Jennifer Capriati rallied from a first set loss to defeat Serena Williams and reach Wimbledon's semifinals. Associated Press

But Capriati revived her career by learning how to cope with adversity, and two points from a straight-set defeat, she staged yet another comeback to beat Williams, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3.

"Never say die," Capriati said. "It makes it that much sweeter to actually come back and win a match like that."

Williams became uncharacteristically emotional discussing the defeat. She said she was weakened by a previously undisclosed stomach virus, which sent her trotting off the court briefly during the third set when she became ill.

"I honestly think I have bad luck. I went home after the French Open and I worked really hard, only to have this setback," Williams said, her voice breaking and tears welling in her eyes. "It was pretty disappointing, as you can see."

Capriati, bothered by a sore buttock herself and mindful of Williams' tendency to blame defeats on health problems, offered no sympathy.

"Every time I play her, I'm pretty much used to something going on there," Capriati said. "I think I know the truth inside. I think most people do."

By winning her 19th consecutive Grand Slam match, Capriati reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 1991, when she was 15. She kept alive her bid for a sweep this year of all four major tournaments, which has been achieved by only two men and three women, most recently Steffi Graf in 1988.

Capriati won the Australian Open in January and the French Open last month. The U.S. Open completes the slam season in September.

Her next hurdle will be 19-year-old Belgian Justine Henin, who advanced by routing 1994 champion Conchita Martinez, 6-1, 6-0.

The other semifinal tomorrow will be an all-American rematch of last year's final between defending champion Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport. Both looked impressive yesterday, with Williams beating Nathalie Tauziat, 7-5, 6-1, and Davenport sweeping French Open runner-up Kim Clijsters, 6-1, 6-2.

The lineup for today's men's quarterfinals was completed when Britain's Tim Henman rallied to defeat Todd Martin, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The match was suspended Monday after three sets because of darkness.

Capriati-Williams lived up to its billing as the day's showcase match. The two Floridians waged a seesaw slugfest, with almost every game close as the quality of play swung wildly from awful to spectacular.

Intent on going for winners nearly every shot, the two women often seemed unwilling or unable to sustain a rally of more than four groundstrokes. At other times they would zigzag across the lawn chasing each other's shots in thrilling exchanges.

Serving for the first set at 5-4, Capriati double-faulted three times, failed to convert three set points and lost the game. Her untimely tumble to the grass gave Williams a pivotal gift point for a 4-3 lead in the tiebreaker.

"I should have won the first set," Capriati said.

As the match moved into its second hour on a warm, sunny day, Williams began to clutch her stomach, and with a 3-2 lead in the second set she took a medical timeout and swigged Pepto-Bismol.

Williams said she had been nauseated and struggling to keep food down since Saturday.

At the Australian Open she blamed food poisoning for a loss to Martina Hingis, and her father said she had food poisoning at the French Open, where she lost to Capriati. Stress may be a factor, a WTA trainer said.

Williams kept slamming groundstrokes when the match resumed, and her lead reached 5-3, 30-0. Then comeback queen Capriati dug in. She thought back to the French Open final, when she also was two points from defeat but rallied to beat Clijsters 12-10 in the final set.

"I thought, 'If I can do it there, I can do it now,"' Capriati said. "It worked."

She took the set by winning 16 of the next 19 points, including the longest rally of the match with a thunderous crosscourt backhand. And she kept the momentum to start the final set. One forehand nearly knocked the racket from the grasp of a surprised Williams, standing at the net.

When Capriati ran off 10 consecutive points for a 4-0 lead, Williams jogged to the chair umpire holding her stomach, then trotted off the court. Her facial expression suggested the aqua butterfly sewn onto her dress was fluttering in her stomach.

Five games later, Capriati served out the match at love, and Williams was gone for good.