Cappy's Words
All,
The interview. What do I click on besides the link to see the interview - please?
Capriati Returns...For A Day
Photo By Angelo Tonelli By Tennis Week
03/31/2006
Jennifer Capriati celebrated her 30th birthday on Wednesday and spent part of the day today right where she wanted to be: at the semifinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open. Unfortunately for the three-time Miami finalist her return to the Tennis Center at Crandon Park cam with her back to the court as Capriati conducted an interview with ESPN2's Cliff Drysdale and Mary Joe Fernandez after Svetlana Kuznetsova's 6-1, 6-4 victory over Amelie Mauresmo.
Continuing her rehab from four surgeries over the past year, Capriati has not yet returned to the practice court and has no definitive timetable for her return to competitive tennis.
With her back turned toward the court, Capriati's position from the broadcast booth served to symbolize her current state: she's so close to tennis she can see the court, but the pain of her current plight makes it difficult to even monitor the matches.
"I've actually stayed away from tennis for a long time; it's hard to even watch sometimes because it breaks my heart," Capriati told ESPN2. "I feel like I'm close, but still so far away. If I can maybe just take it to another level with rehab, get over the hump and start feeling strong again, you never know, I could wake up tomorrow and start feeling strong again."
The former World No. 1 played much of the 2004 season limited by shoulder, back and hamstring injuries that restricted her to 41 matches. Capriati concluded the 2004 season reaching the quarterfinals or better in eight consecutive events, including a final eight appearance at Wimbledon and a semifinal effort at the U.S. Open. Since suffering a 6-0, 6-1 setback to Vera Zvonareva in the Philadelphia quarterfinals in November of 2004, Capriati has spent more time in the rehab room than on the tennis court, undergoing two wrist surgeries and two shoulder surgeries in the past 16 months.
"It's been a real shocker for me; something that I never would have expected," Capriati said. "It's frustrating and it's been a real hard time. I got hurt after the U.S. Open and things weren't feeling so great. I knew something was wrong (and) it got to the point I felt something was not right in there. I went to get it checked out and they said unless you do the surgery, it's not going to get better. So I felt maybe I need a bit of a break anyway. Since that point it's been an uphill battle to feel normal and feel like I'm pain free to even just get out there and start hitting the ball around. I've had tough battles before, but this is the hardest hitting I've ever done."
The three-time time Grand Slam champion takes solace in the fact her former practice partner, Martina Hingis, has made a successful comeback after spending three and a half years on the sidelines recovering from ankle and foot surgeries. Though she is not hitting on a consistent basis, Capriati told Tennis Week in a past interview she is committed to a comeback — she just doesn't know when her body will permit her to play.
"I'm kind of still at a loss from it," Capriati said. "I just turned 30 yesterday and it feels weird not to be in my 20s anymore, but it's all relative. I think once I can start to feel healthy again the rest of it feels okay. I look at (Martina Hingis) and other athletes who can come back and try not to give up. It's not a question of age, it's a question of feeling healthy again."
http://www.sportsmediainc.com/tennisweek/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=15007&bannerregion=
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