FRENCH OPEN: WOMEN : Capriati Overcomes Tough Foe and Crowd

Jennifer Capriati, the teen tennis prodigy who at 14 became the youngest woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open two years ago, struggled Thursday in a 6-4, 6-4 second-round victory over Sandrine Testud of France.

Capriati lost her first three games, which gave Testud and the partisan crowd reason for hope. Tennis-crazy France is yearning for one of its own to succeed here, and after 1991 Davis Cup hero Guy Forget was upset Wednesday, the fans rallied around Testud, a 20-year-old from Lyon.

Capriati, 16, responded by winning five games in a row, and then closed out the set. Testud, an aggressive attacker who likes to go to the net, almost broke Capriati’s serve in the first game of the second set, but a questionable line call saved the Florida teen. Testud played Capriati even until the ninth game, when she blew a 40-0 lead and lost her serve.

Capriati said she was not bothered by the crowd but was surprised to fall behind in the first set.

“I said, ‘Wait a second here, it’s already 3-0,’ ” Capriati said. “It really went by fast.”

Capriati, seeded fifth, realized that she might have lost to the 92nd-seeded player.

“I could have been in real trouble,” she said.

In the end, she was all right, but will have to raise her level of play against more formidable opponents. Although the Court 1 audience was vocal in support of Testud, Capriati said she was unfazed.

“I thought I was pretty patient,” she said. “I just thought (Testud) played pretty well.”

Also playing well was Mary Pierce, the one-time Floridian who has been living in France. She routed Larissa Savchenko-Neiland of Latvia, 6-2, 6-3. Pierce, seeded 13th, is headed for a fourth-round showdown against Capriati.

Any concerns?

“No, I don’t even look at the draw at all,” Pierce said.

One who might think about looking ahead is Jo Durie of England, who packed her bags and checked out of her hotel before arriving to play No. 9 Anke Huber of Germany Thursday. Durie had to change her travel plans after scoring a 6-1, 7-5 upset.

Other upsets were recorded when Elena Brioukhovets of Russia rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 11 Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria, and Natalia Zvereva of Russia defeated No. 16 Sabina Appelmans of Belgium, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).

The big favorites breezed, though. Top-ranked Monica Seles used powerful ground strokes to sweep past Karin Kschwendt of Germany, 6-2, 6-2. Gabriela Sabatini, seeded third, overwhelmed Sandra Cecchini of Italy, 6-0, 6-1. Sabatini has lost only one game in two matches. No. 7 Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated Veronika Martinek of Germany, 6-2, 6-0, and No. 12 Nathalie Tauziat of France eliminated Ginger Helgeson, a Pepperdine graduate, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Sabatini, playing exceptionally well in the early rounds, said she has lost weight and has better court movement. Sabatini began a strict diet after the Australian Open.

“I just feel thinner on the court,” she said.