Capriati, 13, Shows the Poise of a Veteran in Pro Debut

Jennifer Capriati, wise beyond her 13 years, knew better than to put too much stock in her first professional tennis victory.

“Now I know a little bit about what it’s like to be a pro,” she said. “But not a lot.”

The sport’s latest child prodigy made her pro debut a success Tuesday by beating Mary Lou Daniels, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1. The first-round match in the $350,000 Virginia Slims of Florida drew a crowd of 5,000 and a horde of media.

Reporters and cameramen tried to follow Capriati everywhere. Some 75 of them crammed into a tent for the postmatch news conference.

“I’m excited about my match,” Capriati said with a smile. “But I think the media are a little out of control.”

The debut of Capriati, who grew up near Boca Raton, had long been anticipated while she dominated junior tennis. And appraisals of her first pro match will only heighten expectations.

Ted Tinling, a tennis historian, said Capriati displayed enough talent to justify all the attention.

“She’s one of the historic moments in tennis,” Tinling said. “She’s made a gift to American tennis.”

The vanquished Daniels compared Capriati’s groundstrokes to those of Steffi Graf, the No. 1 player in the world. “She hits the ball really hard and deep with a lot of pace,” Daniels said. “I’d say she’s right up there with Steffi.”

What did Capriati think of that comparison? “I don’t think I can answer that question because I’ve only played one match,” she said.

At the outset, Capriati played as though it was just another day at the office instead of her first day at the office. She smacked a backhand winner to take the first game, a service ace to clinch the second and a sizzling forehand to win the third.

Capriati played quickly, as though she had a lot of winners in her and wanted to get them out as fast as possible. The crowd applauded politely rather than exuberantly, perhaps waiting to be shown that all the publicity was deserved.