Jennifer Capriati Professional tennis player, Olympic champion/ Date of Birth: 29.03.1976 Country: USA

Biography of Jennifer Capriati

Jennifer Capriati, a professional tennis player and Olympic champion, has had a tumultuous life in her relatively short 25 years. She has been America's sweetheart, an Olympic champion, a convicted drug addict, a patient at a rehabilitation clinic, and even a runaway bride. Her story became the plot of one of the highest-rated mini-series on American TV, and her autobiography spent six months on the top ten bestseller list in the United States. Today, compared to other participants of the Women's Tennis Tour, Capriati appears as a seasoned veteran. She defeated Martina Navratilova three times, whom they named Martina Hingis in her honor. When Richard Williams, who had just been discharged from a mental institution, was looking for sponsors for his daughters Venus and Serena, Jennifer was already an Olympic champion and America's sweetheart. It was Capriati who first started earning money from her appearance when no one even knew about Kournikova's existence... She started playing in professional tournaments in 1990 at the age of 14 and immediately made a splash. Slightly above average height, well-built, with a typically American smile, she burst into tennis elite like a fury and continued to rise during the first three years of her career. Six tournament wins, victory at the Barcelona Olympics, and as a result, immense popularity in the country and abroad, multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts, constant attention from the press, and numerous fans. Everything would have been fine if it weren't for Jennifer's father, Stefano Capriati. Not a very successful used car dealer, he decided to improve his fortunes with the help of his daughter, turning her into a machine for minting golden coins. He made her shoot commercials for hours, participate in various business projects, and play exhibition matches one after another. Such an exhausting schedule could not but affect the still young girl. Under the influence of increasing failures on the court, she began seeking solace in drugs, starting with a "light" marijuana cigarette, gradually moving on to cocaine, and then ecstasy. Before she knew it, she found herself behind bars on charges of drug use. Capriati's fall into the abyss was very loud and scandalous. Americans, who worshipped the miracle girl just yesterday, immediately disowned her. Public opinion condemned the drug addict, and sponsors immediately terminated all contracts with Capriati. Meanwhile, her troubles only worsened. Just six months after her first arrest, Jennifer ended up behind bars again, this time on a rather strange charge - attempting to steal a $35 sweater from a supermarket in Miami. Fortunately for her, the local judge was a big tennis fan, so Capriati got away with only a suspended sentence and mandatory drug treatment. She disappeared from tennis for nearly two years. And when she returned, she was just a pale imitation of the great Capriati. For several seasons, Jennifer searched for her game, changed coaches, endured jeers from the crowd and skeptical looks from experts and journalists. And then, at that difficult moment, something big happened to Capriati - she unexpectedly fell in love. And with whom? With a little-known Belgian tennis player, Xavier Malisse, who was six years younger than her. Their romance began in March 1999 in the players' lounge at the tournament in Key Biscayne, and it was Capriati who initiated the acquaintance. When Jennifer saw Xavier, who had shoulder-length hair, she immediately lost her head and did not calm down until the Belgian agreed to come and discuss something. As it turned out later, Jennifer had only one thing in mind with the hairy guy, but it was urgent. As soon as he crossed the threshold of her hotel room, Jennifer, hungry for men, pounced on him and began tearing his clothes. What happened next, the reporters of the American tabloid "Globe" failed to find out, but one thing is certain - Xavier did not return to his room until noon the next day, quite battered and completely exhausted. That day marked the beginning of their romance, which quick-witted people from the Men's Tour had already dubbed the hottest match in the history of world tennis. Unlike previous tennis "couples," the new "sweet couple" did not hide their feelings from those around them and appeared together from the very first days of their romance. During Wimbledon, they even lived together, like a real married couple. But this passionate, all-consuming love became the shake-up that brought her back to life and awakened the long dormant athlete within her. "I felt young and strong again and realized that I could return to the top and finish what I couldn't achieve eight years ago - become the world's number one," Jennifer admitted in an interview during Wimbledon 1999. And now, it has become clear that her words were prophetic. Javier and Jennifer spent a whole year, so to speak, inseparable from each other, much to the displeasure of their families and especially their managers. All this time, parents, brothers, and sisters instilled in Javier and Jennifer that their love was doomed and would bring them nothing but additional problems and financial losses. And such a massive brainwashing eventually bore fruit: in the fall of 2000, Jennifer broke off her engagement just one week before the scheduled wedding. But according to malicious tongues, before parting ways, the couple couldn't resist and had a sex marathon in one of the New York hotels, staying in bed for a whole 72 hours. And then came the Australian Open, where everyone remembered the great Capriati once again. In early 2001, in Melbourne, the American demonstrated simply fantastic tennis, defeating Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, and then Martina Hingis in the final, without losing a single set to them! "I don't think I can play tennis better than in those three matches! Although you never know!" said the happy champion at the final press conference. Well, after years of oblivion and failures, Jennifer Capriati is back on top, and only the imperfection of the ranking system in the Women's Tour prevents her from taking the first place in the rankings. Fortune favors her in everything - in just the past two months, she has signed endorsement contracts worth $10 million. Thanks to her daughter's triumph, Jennifer's parents, who had long lived apart, reconciled, and, most importantly, her beloved Xavier returned to her life. So, no matter how you look at it, Jennifer Capriati is a happy woman!