Capriati Draws a Crowd, Loses to Jing

Self-destruction draws a crowd.

The same compulsion that causes motorists to gawk at traffic accidents drew an overflow crowd to an outside court at the French Open on Tuesday to see a former American ingenue newly returned from the brink of despair.

Jennifer Capriati of today is not what French fans may remember from 1990, not a 14-year-old semifinalist, smiling and giddy at her first trip to Paris. Nor is Capriati the strung-out, nose-ringed grunge rocker some might have expected. What the curious discovered at remote Court 10 was a mid-level player, No. 109 in the world, struggling to put one solid match together. They saw a 20-year-old trying to make a living and live a life.

Capriati’s return to the slow clay courts of Roland Garros was well-attended but short-lived. She lost to Jing Qian Yi of China in the first round, 6-3, 7-5, on a sunny and warm afternoon. It is the fourth tournament for the 1992 Olympic champion since she returned to the tennis tour in February, ending a well-documented 2 1/2-year crash and burn.

Her life has been picked over during a cascade of public humiliations: Busted for shoplifting, an arrest for marijuana possession, a couple of stints in rehab and a stutter-stepping comeback to the tour. Thus, crowds gather where Capriati plays, curious less about the state of her game than the condition of her psyche.

Capriati, who had charmed followers after turning pro at 13, moves gingerly in the spotlight. She strode onto the court for Tuesday’s match appearing fit and with her long hair pulled into a pony tail. Her tennis clothes and bags were unadorned--all her former sponsors dumped her after her arrest.

A crowd poured in during the warmup, unusual for a match between players of such stature. The small court was situated near the foot of center court, which towers over it. The sounds and smells from an adjacent food court drifted in. No longer does Capriati enjoy the privileges that come with rank.

Both players acknowledged feeling nerves early in the match. Jing, who was selected at age 8 to become a tennis player because she could run fast, kept a tight rein on her shots, unlike Capriati.

Capriati appeared tight and loosened up only a little during the match. Forehands, in particular, sailed long. Capriati was officially credited with 34 unforced errors, a number some believed to be conservative.

Capriati’s serve was a victim of ill-timed tosses and her general hastiness. She double-faulted 11 times, four times on game points. She lost her serve seven times.

Jing rushed to a 4-0 lead in the first set but lost her serve in the fifth game. Capriati showed flashes of her former competitiveness and broke Jing in the seventh game. She couldn’t hold the advantage and lost her serve on a double fault to fall behind, 5-3. Jing held to win the set.

The crowd chose Capriati to support. Children in the seats began chanting, “Gee-nee, gee-nee.” Spectators filing into center court paused to watch from the stairwells. Capriati’s mother, Denise, yelled encouragement from the top row of bleachers.

For the most part, Capriati’s face betrayed no emotion. She skidded badly in the early games of the second set, falling behind, 4-1. But an umpire overrule against her in the next game revitalized Capriati and the crowd. She broke Jing in the sixth game and held.

There was an urgency to Capriati’s shots, great depth and pace. It seemed that she was coming back. The match’s momentum had shifted, but too late for Capriati to do anything but put a fright into Jing.

Capriati lost her serve at 5-5, and Jing held in the next game to win the match.

There was no incisive analysis from Capriati afterward. Since her return, Capriati’s interactions with the media have been wary. She appears to trust no one, certainly not the same image-makers who reported with bemusement Capriati’s assessment of Napoleon as ‘the little dead dude,” in her first trip to the French Open. She knows that among these same reporters are those who transformed her arrest for possession of marijuana into a drug bust at a crack den.

She was not the insolent player who dealt with reporters at the State Farm Evert Cup at Indian Wells in March. Still, she does not enjoy the interviews.

The most revealing insight was that she was roiling with emotions on the court.

“You know, when I’m out there, I do feel a lot of emotions,” she said. “I let them get to me. I let them get to me.”

She did have a moment of great clarity. Asked what advice she would give to young players, Capriati sighed.

“You know what? I don’t know,” she said. “I really haven’t found the key, yet. I’m still experiencing this life for myself.”