Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2001 Australian Open, 2001 French Open, and 2002 Australian Open, and an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Capriati set a number of youngest-ever records. She made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 13 years, 11 months, reaching the final of the Boca Raton tournament. She reached the semifinals of the 1990 French Open on 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. Following a first-round loss at the 1993 US Open, she took a 14-month break from professional 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 major-level 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 WTA 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. Capriati was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.

Career

1990–1991: The records

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 Tour title. 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.

At her first tournament (Sydney 1993), Capriati defeated third-ranked Sabatini in the semifinals before defeating Anke Huber in the final. For the second straight year, she reached the quarterfinals at the first three majors of the year. She reached the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, losing to Steffi Graf. At the US Open, the seventh-seeded Capriati lost her opening match to former top 15-player Leila Meskhi, her first loss in the first round of any pro tournament. Following this loss, Capriati decided to take a break from tennis. She finished the year ranked ninth. In the early 2000s, her tennis court apparel line was manufactured by Fila. She used a Prince Precision Retro 27 Midplus racket.

Legacy and accolades

Capriati was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012 at the age of just 36, and is generally considered one of the game's greatest players.<!--Do not remove "one of the greatest"; this is verified. --> She was awarded with the Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year in 2001 and Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year in 2002. She withdrew from the contest after re-aggravating a previous injury.

In 2026, she presented Australian Open women's singles winner Elena Rybakina with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in the Rod Laver Arena.

Personal life

Capriati was born in New York City to Denise and Stefano Capriati, of Italian descent. In 1993, at age 17, Capriati was charged with shoplifting a $15 ring from a mall kiosk, which she has described as accidental.

She was arrested on May 16, 1994, and charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. She agreed to enter a drug counselling program. In 2010, she required treatment for a drug overdose. In 2013, Capriati was charged with battery and stalking after reportedly following and striking former boyfriend Ivan Brennan on Valentine's Day. The charges were later dropped. In 2014, the state attorney's office in Palm Beach County, Florida, announced that Capriati had completed 30 hours of community service and four hours of anger management counseling in connection with the incident.