Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles championships in Grand Slam tournaments, was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics, reached the World No. 1 ranking, and is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Capriati set a number of youngest-ever records at the start of her career. 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 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 Sukova and number-five Arantxa Sanchez 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 Number Eight. 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. 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 finals 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 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, which would be a career high until 2001. Capriati also won the only doubles title of her career at the Italian Open, partnering with Seles. 1999 was Capriati's best season in several years. She won her first title in six years at Strasbourg, defeating ninth ranked Nathalie Tauziat in a quarterfinal for her first win over a top 10 player in two years. She defeated Russian Elena Likhovtseva in the final. She won her second title of the year at Quebec City, defeating American Chanda Rubin in the final. She also reached the round of 16 at both Roland Garros and US Open. She finished the year at No. 23. At the 2000 Australian Open, Capriati reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in nine years before losing to eventual champion Lindsay Davenport in straight sets. At the Miami Masters, Capriati defeated World No. 6 Serena Williams for her first win over a player ranked in the top six in four years en route to a quarterfinal finish. Shortly after, Capriati was sidelined with right Achilles tendonitis in April and an elbow injury in June. Capriati had a strong fall season, winning her ninth career title at Luxembourg, defeating Magdalena Maleeva. She also finished runner up in Quebec City to Chanda Rubin and was a semifinalist in Zurich. These results propelled Capriati back into the top 20 for the first time since April 1994. She qualified for the season-ending championships for the first time in seven years. Her year-end ranking was 14, her highest in seven years. Capriati was also a member of the US Fed Cup Team, winning a singles and doubles rubber in the US's victory over Spain in the final. Capriati was seeded 12th at the 2001 Australian Open. She rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Monica Seles to reach the semis for the second consecutive year, beating World No. Two Davenport. In her first Grand Slam final, she defeated top seed and World No. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam singles title. She was the lowest seed to ever win the title, and also the first player since Tracy Austin in 1979 to defeat the top two ranked players in straight sets at a major. As a result of this triumph, Capriati re-entered the top 10 in the rankings at No. 7, the longest absence (nearly eight years) from the top 10 in WTA history. Capriati then reached the finals of the Cellular Cup in Oklahoma City, losing in the final to Seles. After electing not to participate at the 2001 Indian Wells Masters, Capriati reached the final in Miami, losing to Venus Williams after having failed to convert on eight championship points. Capriati then embarked on a remarkably successful clay court campaign. She won her second title of the year at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, defeating Hingis in three sets in the final. She then lost in the final of Berlin to Amelie Mauresmo, also in three sets. Seeded fourth at the 2001 French Open, Capriati defeated top seed Hingis in the semis and the 12th seeded Kim Clijsters in the final to win her second consecutive Grand Slam title. Her 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 win over Clijsters had the longest-ever third set in a women's final in the French Open. Capriati was two points away from being defeated four times. She was only the fifth woman in history to win the Australian Open and the French Open consecutively. At Wimbledon, Capriati rallied from 7-6, 5-3, 30-0 down in the quarters to defeat Serena Williams. Capriati's 19-match Grand Slam win streak ended in the semis at the hands of eighth seeded Justine Henin. Capriati rebounded at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ontario, making it to the final before losing to Serena Williams after saving match point in the second set. Capriati then lost in the semifinals of the US Open to Venus Williams. Despite the loss, Capriati accumulated the best Grand Slam record of 2001, and she was the only player to reach at least the semifinals of all four of the Grand Slam tournaments. Despite playing very little in the fall, Capriati became ranked world No. 1 on October 15. She lost her opening match at the WTA Tour Championships to Maleeva. Capriati would have finished the year ranked No. 1 had she reached the semifinals. Instead, she finished No. 2, behind Lindsay Davenport, with a 56-14 record.

Ask a question about this article.
How did she end up at the Grand Slam?