Jennifer Capriati’s tennis career was nothing short of stellar. She reached the pinnacle of her sport, winning three grand slam titles, an Olympic gold medal and achieving a number one world ranking. Along the way she had victories over Martina Hingis, Monica Selas, Sheffi Graf, Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova. She beat Navratilova when she was 15.
Monica Seles vs Jennifer Capriati in the match that changed women’s tennis! | US Open 1991 Semifinal
And that last little bit is what complicates her legacy. She is remembered for her achievements on the court but perhaps even more so as “the poster child for the dangers of having too much of everything forced upon someone so young.” (Daily Mail, March 2016 )
The Daily Mail story elaborated “Astonishingly good at 14, she went spectacularly off the rails…
“Suffocated by the attention and demands on her – an endorsement by Oil of Olay coincided with an unfortunate outbreak of adolescent spots – Capriati went into teen rebel mode.
“Desperate for normality, she started to dress in black and seek friends outside of tennis. After taking a break from the sport in 1993 she was caught in possession of marijuana and arrested for shoplifting a ring – she has always insisted it was an act of mere forgetfulness.”
In a 1994 story in the New York Times, she told the writer Robin Finn how she felt after losing a first round match at the U.S. Open, “I started out O.K., but at the end of the match I couldn’t wait to get off the court. Totally, mentally, I just lost it…and obviously it goes deeper than that one match. I really was not happy with myself, my tennis, my life, my parents, my coaches, my friends. . . . I spent a week in bed in darkness after that, just hating everything. When I looked in my mirror, I actually saw this distorted image: I was so ugly and so fat, I just wanted to kill myself, really.” It was after that loss that she took a 14-month hiatus from the sport.
Her widely publicized marijuana arrest occurred during that time.
“Capriati’s arrest occurred on May 16 inside a seedy Coral Gables motel room where she was bankrolling a party attended by an assortment of teen-aged revellers she later described as ‘acquaintances, not real friends.’
“What they had in common was a complete lack of interest in Capriati, the tennis player; her generosity with her car and wallet were enough to award her a high ranking in their pecking order.
“What the police, who made two felony arrests and released two others without charging them, found in Capriati’s backpack was just enough marijuana to charge her with misdemeanor possession and snap a mug shot that turned up on TV screens around the globe. Her sponsors dumped her, she went into a 28-day treatment program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, and learned another lesson.” (NewYork Times, Sept. 26, 1994)
She told the Times reporter, “I thought, ‘Am I that big that they have to make such a big deal out of this?’ And I see now that once you’re considered a celebrity, you kind of have no rights to privacy. After that I kind of forgot about everything and everyone except for my brother; all I cared about was having my music and partying with friends.”
It is Capriati’s experience that gave rise to new rules by the tennis federation limiting the number of tournaments a player can participate in under the age of 18. These rules are widely known as the Jennifer Capriati rules. Not surprisingly they are the subject of protest by the parents of other young ‘phenoms.’
Capriati did come back. Her grand slam titles and number one ranking occurred between 2001-2003. She continued playing until 2004 when a series of injuries, back, hamstring and shoulder, ended her career.
Today, you most likely won’t see her hobnobbing with other tennis celebrities in the posh court side seats at the big tournaments. She won’t be called out onto the court to pass out trophies nor will she be chatting it up with other former players in the TV studio.
“Capriati is largely cut adrift from the sport that made her globally famous. She is so detached that she does not even have an agent or management representative.
“Home for her is Singer Island, a three mile strip of land 60 miles north of Miami, and just across a bridge from mainland Palm Beach, the golf mecca where the likes of Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood have homes.
“She lives in a plush block of apartments attached to a five star hotel, with views over a private beach and the Atlantic…
“Whatever else has happened in her life, Capriati must have looked after her money to live in such a place.” (Daily Mail, March 27, 2016.)
She has emerged in public on occasion. She appeared on one episode of the reality TV show ‘The Superstars’ in 2009. Injuries again prevented her from continuing.
In 2012 she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In her induction speech she said: “I left the game earlier than I expected, earlier than I wanted to, and because of this, I wasn’t able to leave the game on my terms. I was not able to thank everyone who had such a positive impact on my life.”
“I knew [with this honor] I would be able to pay tribute to the game I love and always think about. I would also be able to acknowledge and embrace what my blood, sweat, tears, determination, and heart have brought me. I would be able to remember who I am again and give me a voice again, my one voice, the true voice.” (wtatennis.com)
Jennifer Capriati: Hall of Fame Induction Speech, 2012
Her life on Singer Island has not been quite private enough to keep her out of the headlines. In June of 2010, an overdose episode landed her in the hospital. Here are two differing interpretations of that incident:
“Tennis champ Jennifer Capriati is recovering at a south Florida hospital after an accidental overdose of a prescription drug, her spokeswoman said Monday.
“’Jen is recovering fully and speedily,’ spokeswoman Lacey Wickline told Reuters.
“Wickline said the medication had been prescribed for Capriati by her doctor but did not elaborate.”
The Daily Mail, June 29, 2010.
“Former tennis star Jennifer Capriati is reported to have attempted suicide after becoming depressed over her failed career.
“An ex-boyfriend has also claimed she was upset over his decision to return to the adult film industry.
“The 34-year-old, who was found in a ‘dazed’ state on Sunday, is said to have swallowed a handful of pills in an attempt to end her life.
“A city official told the Palm Beach Post: ‘My understanding is that she had a fight with someone early in the morning and she emptied the pill bottle in her mouth.’”
The ex-boyfriend is a porn actor who goes by the name of Dale DaBone (of course he does). His film credits include such classics as ‘BatmanXXX: A Porn Parody’ (he was Batman) and ‘Naughty Reunion.’
More ex-boyfriend problems emerged in 2013 when she was charged with battery and stalking. The Palm Beach Post (March 22, 2013) described that incident:
“She began screaming at (Ivan) Brannan, then stuck her finger in his chest when he was trying to walk away, according to a police report. A witness reported seeing Capriati punch Brannan’s chest four times with a closed fist. Capriati, who lives in an Ocean Drive condo on Singer Island, left the gym while Brannan, 28, called police. The description for the stalking charge says that between Feb. 16 and 18, Capriati did ‘willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follow, harass or cyberstalk’ Brannan.
“On Feb. 18, a co-worker of Brannan’s told North Palm Beach police that Capriati tried to enter a locked door at their office. She was pacing, yelling and pounding on a window. The co-worker told police she was afraid what Capriati would do. She also told police that Capriati called the business up to 50 times a day.
“That was the ninth incident involving Capriati and Brannan in which police were called to investigate. “
On January 14, 2014, the AP reported that the charges were dropped. “Former tennis star Jennifer Capriati won’t have to face battery and stalking charges stemming from a 2013 confrontation with an ex-boyfriend under an agreement announced Monday. Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County state attorney’s office, said the charges were dropped in exchange for Capriati’s completion of 30 hours of community service and four hours of anger management counseling. Court documents show Capriati attended the anger management sessions last week and did her community service at Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute in Tampa.”
Capriati’s father Stefano, the man who foisted her into this career, died in 2015.
He had made Bleacher Report’s list of the Five Worst Tennis Fathers of All-Time. “Stefano Capriati pushed the ‘pushy parent’ model to a whole new level. Notorious for dragging his daughter onto the professional circuit at age 13, Capriati gained a reputation as a bully. In 2002, Jennifer Capriati was not selected for the Fed Cup team largely because her father refused to follow rules. Former USA Today writer Ian O’Connor once wrote that Stefano Capriati used his daughter as ‘a ponytailed ATM.‘’
Capriati had a different take. This is one of her last entries on the site formerly known as Twitter.
-0-
Whatever Happened To?
off the leash 
In June this year, Food Network’s Guy Fieri bought a house on Singer Island for $7.3 million, according to the Palm Beach Post. The house overlooks the Intracoastal. Not many diners, drive-ins or dives in that neighborhood.
Singer Island was the last home of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons. He had an 18th-floor condo in Singer Island and that’s where he had the stroke that led to his death in 2011.
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A long way from Asbury Park for the big man.
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A sad tale.
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I watched a documentary about Jennifer Capriati, they definitely made her dad out to be a real piece of work.
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There is so much that is sad in this story. The consequences of sacrificing much of a “normal” childhood/teen life for excellence in one area never seem to be good.
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Sad
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