Star-crossed Jennifer Capriati is recovering from what her spokeswoman called an “accidental overdose” of prescription medication, the Associated Press reports.
Capriati was rushed to a South Florida hospital on Sunday morning after a suspected drug overdose. The former tennis champ was rushed by paramedics from a hotel in Riviera Beach, Fla., to a nearby hospital, TMZ reported.
Lacey Wicline, Capriati’s spokeswoman, said Capriati is stable and a full recovery is expected. She declined to identify the medication and would not say how Capriati was found or who called emergency services.
Capriati, 34, was one of the biggest names in tennis by the time she turned 16. She won 14 career titles, including three Grand Slams.
But Capriati’s life off the court was troubled by bouts of drug abuse, brushes with the law and binge-eating. Capriati turned pro at age 13, and many tennis insiders say problems are the result of being pushed too hard too early by her parents.
She was involved in a shoplifting incident in 1993 and charged with possession of marijuana in 1994. She gained weight, which she later said filled her with so much self-loathing that she considered suicide.
By 2001, however, she was ranked No. 1 in the world after winning the Australian Open and French Open titles, and finishing as semifinalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
But injuries derailed her career, and in 2007, she told the Daily News that her old demons had returned, and that she had been plagued again by depression and suicidal impulses.
“When I stopped playing, that’s when all this came crumbling down,” she said. “If I don’t have (tennis), who am I? What am I?”
