Jennifer Capriati

Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player.

She made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 13 years, 11 months, reaching the final of the hard-court tournament in Boca Raton, Florida.

She reached the semifinals of the French Open in her debut and later became the youngest-ever player to reach the top 10, at age 14 years, 235 days, in October of that year.

She was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year for 1990.

In her second season as a touring pro, Capriati established herself as a consistent top-10 player.

She won two singles titles during the summer hard court circuit, defeating world No. 1, Monica Seles, in a third set tie-breaker in final of San Diego, and Katerina Maleeva in straight sets in the final of Toronto.

She also reached two Grand Slam semifinals, at Wimbledon and the US Open.

At Wimbledon, the 15-year-old Capriati stunned nine-time champion Martina Navratilova, defeating her in the quarterfinals in straight sets.

Capriati became the youngest person to ever reach the semifinal round of the tournament, losing to Sabatini.

At the US Open, Capriati defeated Sabatini in the quarters but lost in the semis to eventual champion Seles in a third-set tiebreak after serving for the match twice.

Capriati qualified for the year-end championships for the second time, reaching the quarterfinals.

She ended the year at No. 6.

Capriati also won the only doubles title of her career at the Italian Open, partnering with Seles.

A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Capriati set a number of youngest-ever records at the start of her career.

Capriati's 1992 season was highlighted by her victory at the Summer Olympics.

She defeated second-seeded Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals and came from a set down to defeat top-seeded Steffi Graf in the gold-medal match.

Capriati next defended her title in San Diego, defeating Conchita Martínez in the final, the only time that Capriati won back-to-back singles titles during her career.

She reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (in her debut), at the French Open, and at Wimbledon, and then she lost in the third round at the US Open.

Following a first-round loss at the 1993 US Open, she took a 14-month break from competitive pro tennis.

Her personal struggles during this time (including arrests for shoplifting and possession of marijuana) were well documented by the press.

In 1998, Capriati won her first Grand Slam singles match in five years at Wimbledon.

During the next two years, she slowly returned to championship form, winning her first title in six years in Strasbourg in 1999 and regaining a top-20 ranking.

At the 2001 Australian Open, the reinvigorated Capriati became the lowest seed ever to win the championship when she defeated Martina Hingis in straight sets for her first Grand Slam championship.

She also won the French Open that year, claiming the Women's Tennis Association No. 1 ranking in October.

After successfully defending her Australian Open title in 2002, she became a top-10 mainstay until injuries derailed her career in 2004.

She won 14 professional singles tournaments during her career, along with one women's doubles championship.

Capriati won the Junior Orange Bowl in both the 12- and the 14-year categories, and is one of only nine tennis players to win the Junior Orange Bowl Championship twice in its 70-year history, which list includes Andy Murray, Jimmy Connors, Monica Seles, and Yishai Oliel.

Capriati made her professional debut as a 13-year-old, reaching the finals of two of her first three pro events, losing to Gabriela Sabatini and Martina Navratilova in the Boca Raton and Hilton Head tournaments respectively, earning her first two wins over top-10 players (No. 10 Helena Suková and number-five Arantxa Sánchez Vicario).

She entered the rankings in April, at No. 23.

Capriati made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open.

She went all the way to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Monica Seles.

She then reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to Steffi Graf.

Later in the year Capriati won her first career title in Puerto Rico, defeating Zina Garrison.

After this victory Capriati entered the world's top 10.

She qualified for the WTA Championships, narrowly losing to Graf in the first round in three sets.

She finished her first season as a professional at world No. 8.

Throughout the season Capriati set multiple "youngest ever" records.

She was the youngest player to reach a tour final, the youngest player to reach the semifinals at the French Open, the youngest seed ever at Wimbledon, and the youngest player to qualify for the season-ending championships.

She was also the fourth-youngest player to win a WTA title.