It's a dream come true for inspired Capriati

By Nirmal Shekar

MELBOURNE, JAN. 27. Shortly after 2.45 p.m. on a balmy Saturday afternoon at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park, a 24-year old woman, seemingly in a trance, breathless in excitement, was speaking into her cellphone, the cheers still ringing in her ears.

``I can't believe it. I can't believe this is really happening,'' the young lady told her brother in Florida.

But then, who, who for God's sake, would ever have believed it. Of all the believe-it-or-not tales that sport has to offer, of all the fantastic pieces of drama enacted on a great sporting stage, this one is truly extraordinary.

And, even as one of the most riveting tales of our times in the world of sport reached its fairytale climax with 12th seed Jennifer Capriati blasting her way to an astonishing 6- 4, 6-3 victory over the top seed and overwhelming favourite Martina Hingis in the women's singles final of the Australian Open for her maiden Grand Slam title, sport itself was suddenly elevated to that exalted level where the line between fantasy and reality is blurred.

``It's been a long, long road,'' said Capriati today. ``Not many people believed I could do it. But dreams do come true, you just keep believing in yourself.''

``When I hit that backhand on the last point, I got the chills,'' said Capriati. ``I couldn't believe all this was happening. This has been an amazing two weeks.''

An amazing second week, to be precise. For, who would have thought that Capriati would beat Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis in back-to-back matches to win the title?

``My opponents, maybe they were taking me lightly,'' said Capriati. ``For me the key was to get a good start, to jump on top of my opponent early.''

Today, the 24-year American did just that. Before Hingis realised what was happening, Capriati won the first four games of the match.

Not only was she serving very well but also Capriati came up with blistering forehand drives and some spectacular backhand winners.

Hingis, for her part, looked a step or two slower than she was on Thursday when she overwhelmed Venus Williams. Perhaps she was suffering a letdown after beating the Williams sisters back to back for the first time.

But there was no spring in Hingis's step and no fizz to her groundstrokes. And her serve, as weak as it is, was easy for Capriati to pounce on, especially the second delivery.

``I didn't have the power today. Mentally too I fell short,'' said Hingis, whose last Grand Slam title had come here in 1999. This was her fifth straight Australian Open final.

``I made too many mistakes and she didn't give me many chances,'' said Hingis who, only the other day against Venus, had suggested that she had figured out a way to get past the big hitters on the big stage, at long last.

Hingis has no answers

But against an inspired Capriati, who had nothing to lose and who was uninhibited in her strokeplay, Hingis simply had no answers on a day when her game was as flat as water on a tin plate. In two sets, Hingis had 32 unforced errors.

The 20-year old Swiss superstar suggested a revival as she broke Capriati's serve when the American first served for the first set in the eighth game and then staved off two setpoints on her own serve to hold to 4-5.

But Capriati was far too focussed to let go of the second chance today. She confidently ran down a drop to close out the first set on serve in the 10th game and broke Hingis's serve in the fifth game of the second set.

Capriati set up breakpoints with a forehand return winner and finally the pressure got to Hingis who double faulted to lose serve. From there, to the point where she hit that backhand return winner on her first matchpoint to close out the match on Hingis's serve in the ninth game, it was a short journey for the woman-who-would-be-champion.

Yet, what a long and arduous journey this has been for Jennifer Capriati.

Lesser women, ones who are not blessed with an iron will, might have given up long ago.

But sport at its highest levels is a playground of the believers, and Capriati has always believed - in herself.

``She never lost faith in her own ability. I never lost faith in her ability,'' said Stefano Capriati, her father and coach, the man the champion ran up to after jumping for joy in the greatest moment of her life.

Asked if she felt any pressure now as a role model, Capriati made a very pertinent point. ``I just keep being who I am. Whatever that is, that is all I can be,'' she said.

So, what was she? What is she? Teen sensation? Baroness of the Burnout Generation? A warning rather than an example? A woman of substance?

None of these, really. She was, and she is, Jennifer Capriati, one of life's very successful learners.

Bjorkman-Woodbridge pair triumphs

Australian Todd Woodbridge won his 12th Grand Slam title when he teamed with new Swedish partner Jonas Bjorkman to win the Australian Open men's doubles final here today.

Fourth seeds Bjorkman and Woodbridge beat No.14 seeds Byron Black of Zimbabwe and David Prinosil of Germany 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours, 52 minutes.

The results (prefix denotes seedings):

Women's singles final: 12-Jennifer Capriati bt 1-Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-3.

Men's doubles final: 4-Todd Woodbridge and Jonas Bjorkman bt 14- Byron Black and David Prinosil 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

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