Capriati Rebounds to Beat Serena Williams in Florida

Despite some shaky moments and a mis-hit serve that would shame a weekend hacker, Jennifer Capriati upset sixth-ranked Serena Williams in the fourth round of the Ericsson Open tennis tournament at Key Biscayne, Fla., Monday, 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-3.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Capriati, the former teenage prodigy who turns 24 Wednesday. “I’m just very happy, because it shows I’ve really come a long way.”

On the bad serve, the ball hit the lip of her racket and sailed over Williams’ head into the first row of seats.

With the sloppy but dramatic victory, the 13th-seeded Capriati advanced to the quarterfinals in Key Biscayne for the first time since 1992. The last time she defeated an opponent ranked as high as Williams was in 1996, when she won at Chicago against Monica Seles, who then shared No. 1 with Steffi Graf.

Capriati has climbed to 14th in the world, her best ranking in six years. She will play 12th-seeded Sandrine Testud next and needs three more victories for the biggest title of her career.

“I definitely believe in myself that I can win it,” she said.

Potential obstacles include top-seeded Martina Hingis and No. 2 Lindsay Davenport. Hingis advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Kim Clijsters, 6-0, 6-4, and Davenport eliminated Elena Likhovtseva, 6-4, 6-4. Seles, seeded seventh, defeated No. 9 Anna Kournikova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.

In men’s play, top-seeded Andre Agassi advanced to a fourth-round showdown against Patrick Rafter by defeating Andrei Pavel, 6-4, 6-3.

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After her match with Capriati, Williams said she may skip a tournament at Hilton Head Island, S.C., next month because of the controversy there over the Confederate flag.

The NAACP has encouraged a boycott of the state until the flag is removed from the Statehouse dome in Columbia, S.C.

Williams’ sister, Venus, has yet to play this year because of tendinitis in her wrist and will miss the tournament at Hilton Head Island.

Winter Sports

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China turned in a nearly flawless short program and took the early lead in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships at Nice, France. Finishing second in the short program were Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia.

Two-time world champions Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze withdrew Sunday after testing positive for a banned substance.

Casey Puckett, refusing to settle for second place, refocused after a near crash on his second run and won the men’s giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships near Jackson, Wyo. Puckett, of Crested Butte, Colo., had a combined time for two runs of 2 minutes 7.40 seconds, only .07 of a second faster than Erik Schlopy of Park City, Utah. Daron Rahlves of Truckee, Calif., was third in 2:07.74.

Miscellany

A state senate committee approved a name change from Doak S. Campbell Stadium to Bobby Bowden Field for the football stadium at Florida State once the football coach retires. Campbell was the school’s first president.

Doctors believe a blood clot linked to recent leg surgery caused Bryce Gerhardt, 12, of Bellevue, Neb., to collapse and die during a basketball Saturday night. The game was part of a three-day tournament involving 110 teams in Bellvue.

Only two races into the season, controversy is swirling in Formula One. McLaren driver David Coulthard finished second to Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix but was disqualified when stewards ruled the front wing of his car was .08 of an inch out of tolerance. McLaren is appealing the decision, and a spokesman for FIA, the world governing body, said the appeal will be heard next week in Paris.