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The tennis world should show Capriati some love
18 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
After Pete, Steffi, Andre, Monica, Anna, Venus, Serena, Justine, Roger and Rafa, it’s hard to remember how popular and important Jennifer was for the tennis world back in the early 90’s and 2000’s. Yeah, I’m talking about Jennifer Capriati. America’s Sweetheart. Everyone loved Jennifer.
At one time, she was the biggest attraction the sport had – the young, pretty, spunky American teenager who could hit the hell out of the ball. Everyone wanted a piece of her and just about everyone got it, from the sponsors, the media, the networks, the fans, the list could keep going on. She had her highs and lows, won grand slams and Olympic gold, got to #1. She played and played and played this game we all adore – until she could play no more. The shoulder simply gave out.
Tennis chewed up Jennifer Capriati and then spit her out when her body could no longer perform on the most prestigious courts all over the world. See ya later Jennifer.
As time went by, Capriati came to a realization: She could never fill the void left by the absence of tennis in her life. “When I stopped playing, that’s when all this came crumbling down,” Capriati told The New York Daily News in 2007. “If I don’t have (tennis), who am I? What am I?”
That sounds like a call for help. But did tennis reach out and help Capriati? The answer to that question is not known.
A former boyfriend recently stated that Capriati became especially depressed during the grand slam events, which she apparently still longed for to be a part of, in some way. Jennifer Capriati was born to be a tennis player. Tennis was her life. She is tennis.
Did tennis consider to offer Capriati some kind of job, such as a TV commentator? Did her former colleagues or agents do anything to try to help her get back involved in tennis in some capacity? Not that I know of.
It happens all the time in other sports, baseball, football or basketball players who endure hard times or make mistakes are given second and third chances. Michael Irvin, despite a few run-ins with the law, is still, to my knowledge, an employed TV analyst. Mike Tyson has done some TV commentary work and he was given acting opportunities in TV and film. Jimmy Connors had a public episode not too long ago at a college sporting event but he was hired to work for The Tennis Channel as a commentator. Numerous other sports stars have had troubles with the law but were given second and third chances by their sports. Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, Isiah Thomas, Scott Stevens, Dino Ciccarelli, are other sport stars who made public mistakes but were not abandoned or shunned.
I’m not sure if Capriati has interest to be a TV commentator, but if she does, she should be given a chance. With a little training and schooling, she could do no worse than some of the commentators we have today.
Tennis is the sport Capriati knows and loves, she devoted her life to it.
But does tennis still love Jennifer Capriati?
18 comments
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Dan Markowitz · July 1, 2010 at 9:24 pm
I agree with you that Capriati has fallen out of the tennis scene, but don’t you think that is partly her own fault? I would imagine if she had wanted to be a tennis commentator she could’ve gotten a job. You’re right, everyone took a piece out of Jennifer, but like the games shows say, “She didn’t leave empty-handed either.” She made millions of dollars.
Has it come out that she overdosed on recreational drugs or medication?
vinko · July 2, 2010 at 3:40 am
She should use her time off from tennis to get an education. Alan Page of the Vikings became a lawyer and justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Debi Thomas and Eric Heiden went from skating to becoming doctors. Roger Staubach became a successful businessman. Bill Bradley and Jim Bunning went from pro sports to the Senate. There are naby pro athletes who have moved from sports to other careers and there is no reason Jennifer can not accomplish this.
vinko · July 2, 2010 at 3:41 am
typo patrol- “many” pro athletes not “naby”
Sid Bachrach · July 2, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Tennis told Jennifer to take a hike once her body could not do the work required of a top flight tennis professional. In contrast, Kobe Bryant was involved in an unsavory mess in Colorado. It might have been a sexual assualt. We will never know. Kobe hired some top flight lawyers while the county prosecutor was a kid green behind the ears. So Kobe walked away scot free and before long had the commercials, the adulation all back. In contrast, all Jennifer did was take too many pills on one occasion and she was drummed out of tennis.
Interestingly, the one player who has been able to leave the limelight and totally remake himself is Bjorn Borg. Bjorn had his ups and down and was taken advantage of by a bunch of crooks. Now at 53, Bjorn has a very successful clothing line, his old tennis clothes are still very much in demand as retro chic and he is absorbed in his business ventures. Bjorn may be the rare exathlete who can refocus himself on a new career outside of sports. Bjorn had a reputation of somebody who was uneducated and only knew tennis. We now know that this was all malarkey and he is a very astute and shrewd guy who knows how to capitalize on a beloved name.
Scoop Malinowski · July 3, 2010 at 12:08 am
Sid, you are right on, there are a lot of athletes like Borg who are totally misportrayed by the media. I have met and gotten to know a few where this was the case. And I am sure this is true about Capriati. I read that Borg book written with an axe to grind by his former associate with the clothing line and he did seem to try to make Borg to look rather unlikable.
Dan Markowitz · July 3, 2010 at 12:18 am
I reached out to Capriati to write a book. I contacted her agent at IMG, sent a copy of “Break Point,” out to Jennifer when her agent said she was interested in reading it, and she turned me down. Which is fine, but there was interest for her to write her book which is often a good, cathartic move for those select athletes who can draw a book contract.
Vince later told me that Capriati was really dismissive of him when he talked to her after she had read the book. Maybe it was the line in Break Point where Vince says that he has Capriati’s number, but he doesn’t like to date tennis players. Vince said Capriati told him that she didn’t like that he included her father, Stefano, in the group of tennis fathers who have terrorized their tennis prodigy daughters. In the book, Stefano is included with Jim Pierce and Karoly Seles (who didn’t terrorize Monica) and Andrea Jaeger’s dad, but Stefano wasn’t pinpointed as a bad guy. Still, Jennifer, it seems, over-reacted and let Vince know she was upset by the portrayal of her dad in the book.
vinko · July 3, 2010 at 2:46 am
I wonder if she actually read the book or relied on what others told her about it. It sounds like what she heard is something taken out of context.
Dobey · July 3, 2010 at 5:50 am
Just to add to what Sid and Scoop said about Bjorn Borg, in his book “Open”, Andre Agassi has extremely nice things to say about Njorn Borg. Andre mentions that when he (Andre) was a kid and his father would have him practice with top players who were in Vegas, Jimmy Connors and Ilie Nastase were exceptionally unkind to him. Connors, according to Andre, was snarling and indifferent. Nastase was determined to humiliate Andre, calling him “Snoopy” in front of the crowd. Bjorn, in contrast, treated Andre respectfully and with tenderness, knowing that Andre was a child whose father pushed him mercilessly.
The media portrayed Borg as kind of a blank slate who knew only how to hit tennis balls. I always wondered how this could be true when you hear Borg being interviewed in about 5 different languages. He would go from one language to another effortlessly. You can’t be a dummy and be fluent in 5 languages.
I can’t believe that the WTA or ESPN couldn’t find something for Jennifer to do. She would be a good announcer with some practice.
Dobey · July 3, 2010 at 5:51 am
oops, Bjorn, not Njorn. My bad!
Tom Michael · July 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I feel for Capriati. She has no sense of identity and this is sad. She is a tennis player but no longer a professional one. So what? She has so much life ahead of her. But her perspective is all messed up. She needs to discover who she is outside of the confines of a tennis court. Hard to do, but doable. She also needs to understand that a tennis player’s life is a selfish one. So she is actually better off not playing. She needs to find a life off the court that she can be in a position of service. I look at Andrea Jaeger and now Monica Seles. Both have discovered a life filled with service. If Jennifer can first discover what this feels like, maybe through some volunteer work, then she might find some purpose again.
Dan Markowitz · July 4, 2010 at 2:30 am
Good points, Geez, you should be the tennis commentator not Capriati. You know the game and the personalities, Mr. Michael.
Scoop Malinowski · July 5, 2010 at 12:38 am
Tommyboy should consider being a tennis writer/blogger he has a lot of knowledge, passion and respect for the sport. He was 100% right about Nadal.
Dan Markowitz · July 5, 2010 at 1:19 am
Do you think this blogger, “tom michael,” is our tommyboy from tennis week?
Scoop Malinowski · July 5, 2010 at 2:42 am
Red, your deductive powers sometimes fluctuate below their normal Columbo/Sherlock Holmes levels. Yes it’s the one and only Tommyboy who has returned home.
Richard Pagliaro · July 5, 2010 at 10:51 am
Wow! A Tommyboy sighting. This is right up there with the day Tommyboy dazzled with his baseline game on the red clay of the east side courts.
It is a shame what’s happened to Jennifer, particularly since she did not go out on her terms and you get the sense listening to her that she still wanted to continue to play. Her body broke down. You take away the daily discipline tennis demands and the schedule it imposes and then all of a sudden she’s adrift. I hope she can find something to fill that void in her life.
Tom Michael · July 5, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Nice to be reunited on this site, fellows. This is great. Keep up the passionate articles.
About Capriati. She is a great player and champion. She loves the game even now. She never acted like she was bigger than the sport. She really only wanted to be a normal happy person, and that was not possible with her parents who mistakingly pushed only tennis, and not a balanced life as a whole. Yeah, she made mistakes in life in striving to find that balance, but she always accepted responsibility and punishment for them (unlike an unmentionable bald buffoon who made a fool out of himself in a charitable exhibition in California). I only hope she fills that void in her life with something positive. God Bless Her!
Richard Pagliaro · July 7, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Yes, I agree with that comment “She only wanted to be a normal, happy person….she always accepted responsibility and punishment for them….”
I remember that US Open press conference years back when she read the letter basically taking full responsibility for her problems and she broke down doing so. It is sad and I do agree: I think she basically wanted to do the right thing in tennis and in life but when you grow up in an environment where they go all in on tennis what happens when tennis stops?
The tour lifestyle, in many ways, is not the real world. Talked to her last June when she made a promo appearance in NYC and she made an interesting comment that the Tours are there with the best medical aid and trainers to help heal your body and get you back out playing, but who is there to help with your head?
It seems like she could really benefit from having someone in her life she could trust and talk to and maybe she has that person already but for the overdose to happen during Wimbledon suggests that pain and separation she feels from the sport that she poured her life into.
“I only hope she fills that void in her life with something positive. God Bless her!” Well said by Tommyboy – share those sentiments completely. Wish Jennifer all the best and just about everyone I talk to really supports her and cares about her future. I hope she realizes that and can reconnect with some of those people.
sturdy · July 27, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I don’t generally reply to content but I’ sure will in this case. Wow a big thumbs up for this