Jen Capriati is not afraid to pull any punches with her provocatively direct and blunt Tweeting style – Politics is not her only subject to speak her thoughts – Check out this posting to Serena’s agent this week – ——————————————— Hey @jsmoll I didn’t know how else to reach u since u havnt responded. I decided I had a right to send u this message no matter the forum, I had no choice. I heard from u when my father died, u reached out, u cried, u said anything I need, u said u loved my father and me. You had contacted me as I thought a friend which was very thoughtful and kind since we go way back. then you continued to contact me several other times making promises to help me and doing what u can on a personal and professional level. I take this to heart. But this lasted about a month before the same old ways reverted to itself. Was it only a show because my father died? Was it a way of manipulating me, making yourself look good? Using my fathers death? My father died and at least the very least, u could of shown me respect instead of making outlandish phony promises u never meant to keep. then not having the courtesy to contact me again and actually ignore my calls instead of giving a simple explanation. I gave u the courtesy to extend your condolences in such a private moment for me and my family I opened myself, I think the very least I deserve the courtesy of an honest, heartfelt response or explanation. It doesn’t matter to me who u represent but I know I deserve respect and integrity regardless of who that person is. Jen
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catherine bell · April 28, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Not sure what she’s talking about.
Andrew Miller · April 28, 2016 at 3:55 pm
JCap becomes the Godfather.
Scoop Malinowski · April 28, 2016 at 5:54 pm
Catherine: I interpret it as Capriati is not pleased with Jill Smoller’s fake and calculated feigning of friendship – Capriati called her out on it – If you follow her on twitter you will see she is not afraid to speak what she thinks – interesting reading –
Andrew Miller · April 28, 2016 at 7:57 pm
JCap, JCap, JCap.
The reluctant us champ. I look at Pierce, JCap as like a tale of two cities.
Dan Markowitz · April 28, 2016 at 8:03 pm
This is said about Jill Smoller, who I played against once on the red clay courts of Harbor Island in Mamaroneck, NY.
J Cap has to learn to write what she feels. She’s all bottled up.
Dan Markowitz · April 28, 2016 at 8:04 pm
J Cap needs to go out on the Futures Tour like Alexandra Stevenson and release some of this emotion.
Scoop Malinowski · April 28, 2016 at 8:12 pm
One of the greatest most riveting moments in modern tennis was when Capriati made her comeback and finally won her first major in Australia – I once interviewed Sean Hannity for a Biofile for DirecTV Guide and we talked tennis and he said he cried watching that happen – Capriati will always be America’s girl – like Chrissie Evert –
Dan Markowitz · April 28, 2016 at 8:30 pm
Capriati “America’s Girl,” uh, I don’t think so. The girl showed up in a cheap motel whacked out on drugs. She was in the New York Post once dancing in her bra in a bar. Look, we found out Chrissie’s no angel either, but compared to JCap, Chrissie is like Olivia Newton John.
Scoop Malinowski · April 28, 2016 at 8:42 pm
Well I doubt Olivia Newton John was a prude in real life like her character Sandy in Grease 🙂 Capriati was a party girl for a while – like a lot of young pretty girls – especially celebrities with a lot of $ to party – Not sure if Capriati was the superior partyer than Evert – I’ve heard stories about Chrissie’s wild days 🙂
Michael · April 28, 2016 at 9:41 pm
Don’t ruin my image of ONJ.
catherine bell · April 29, 2016 at 2:53 am
Chris’ ‘wild days’ were making up for some of the strict discipline of her early years – she’s admitted as much.
But don’t think Chris ever came to the brink like JC – very different characters. And Chris always had a sense of public dignity.
I once watched Capriati play at the US Open surrounded by about 20 agents and other sleazy hangers on – she was 12 then. Not surprised at what happened to her.
By the way – just heard Serena W withdrawn from Madrid – she just might be stumbling here –
Harold · April 29, 2016 at 6:19 am
One early evening at Flushing Meadow, saw what appeared to be a drunk Cap and Majoli trying to convince a young Leo Dicaprio, to go to a players party with them. He politely refused
Scoop Malinowski · April 29, 2016 at 7:16 am
Harold if you don’t have a photo of it your story is about as believable as Evert going on a double date with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Herve Villachez 🙂 But I will ask Capriati about it on Twitter 🙂
catherine bell · April 29, 2016 at 7:41 am
It’s well known that Chris had a great line in off-colour jokes 🙂 🙂
Nowadays there’d be someone hanging around with a mic of course and on Twitter in a second 🙂
Andrew Miller · April 29, 2016 at 1:27 pm
“Newsflash, people: it was #never about ‘the tennis’.”
See JCap as the WTA version of an Agassi-like figure who never made peace with the game. Her storybook comeback-and make no mistake about it, that was one of the best comeback’s in the sport’s history, ATP or WTA-didn’t end with a standing ovation, a tearful speech, and plunging into a new line of work.
It didn’t even end like Mardy Fish, who withdrew mysteriously, then came back for a farewell tour (the honorable thing IMHO), then wrote about his dilemma in a very thoughtful way, and who’s now coaching for the USTA.
It didn’t end like Seles’, who made a fierce comeback as well (probably the 2nd best comeback on the women’s tour – more dramatic in someways but also more realistic – we know no one could or would hit a ball like Seles, whereas the Capriati JCAP style of play was more of an emerging standard that was becoming common on the men’s tour).
No, this about what the game OWES to one of its past stars.
Not buying this one. I’ll go ahead and say that a lot of people exploited Capriati for sure. And I’d also say that her family, for the most part, was there for her. Her brother should be commended, he continues to always be there for his troubled superstar sister.
But I’d put some major emphasis on the “troubled” part. JCap is “unofficially retired” and seems like she can’t really bring it to herself to say “I’m retired”. She’s a hall of famer who’s like the player-coach in basketball – could be the coach, but would probably not be able to resist the urge to grab the player’s racquet and take over the set to show how it’s done.
It is a dance for sure – you can get everything from the sport. Fame, fortune. But when that’s all over, and believe me, IT’S OVER for the talented JCap in terms of the playing days, there’s something that’s required and that’s turning the page.
I’d guess here that, probably, she’d need someone to help her sort this out in a book. A ghost writer, and that would probably put it front and center “JCap on JCap”. Get this stuff out in the open and in a coherent format.
I nominated SCOOP DAN for this project.
catherine bell · April 29, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Andrew –
Jennifer was exploited – no doubt, when she was really young.
When I saw her at the US Open playing in the juniors and surrounded by all these fat cats wanting a piece of her I felt nothing but foreboding – it wasn’t nice.I actually wrote a paragraph about the whole scene in my report that year.
Then later, when everything went haywire, I did wonder about how she could grow as a young girl/woman in that environment and particularly if she had problems.
She wasn’t the only young girl player exploited in the 80s either.
And yes – it’s over. When you’re famous for doing something and then you’re not famous for that anymore, you’re not famous. Have to have a lot of strength to move on from there or a settled life, family etc.
Has JCap already done a book ? If not, then maybe you’re right. Get it down on paper, not on Twitter, and sort it. There’s a lot of anger floating around.
Andrew Miller · April 29, 2016 at 2:46 pm
Catherine, I agree on the exploitation. Seles was also a young star but maybe the details matter here. Seles grew up under the iron curtain as a player without a country – Yugoslavia as a placeholder, she is ethnically Hungarian and like Navratilova played for the U.S.
Seles also managed her entire business, probably with some help but she was the one people came to. Someone wrote about this, how she would get a tournament check , then once saw a financial advisor, asked how they would invest, then said thanks and proceeded to invest it herself. No one was going to make bank on Seles’ back without her say so, and it was only someone who literally went after her that took her out of the sport.
One of the worst events in tennis.
But the roots of Capriati’s misfortune are so different than the Seles tragedy of the world’s best player derailed. There is a lot more ego here and for sure she wasn’t protected.
Agassi in his book had a lot of trusted people who stood by him, got him out of trouble. For whatever reasons those safeguards weren’t there for Capriati.
But when we look at Capriati, she always seems like a person at war. Forced into tennis and basically the engine for her family’s wealth, kind of like a Stephon Marbury figure. Now I know a lot of players are like this and some of them made peace with this part of their life also. Djokovic accepts that he has to look over his family and gives his parents a tournament to run while putting himself in Monaco to give himself some distance. Nadal probably helps his family also, but they have a business and don’t really need his help, so he doesn’t have the same love hate relationship to the sport.
JCap is a conundrum. She never left tennis but the game has moved on from her. I can’t imagine the us open hasn’t tried to have her on board announcing, but maybe there is some sense she wouldn’t be interested in being a part of the big show unless she was the show.
Either you are it or nothing.
Some players decide sport is bigger than they are and they have a role still to play for the better. With JCap my sense is her unresolved angst over the game and its betrayal of her, which isn’t true see her HOF , is standing in the way. The issue isn’t tennis. It is JCap.
catherine bell · April 30, 2016 at 7:47 am
There were murky undercurrents in tennis in the 80s, not just the women’s game.
However, I’d like to believe the WTA is more proactive now in dealing with very young/immature players and maybe offering help if someone seems to be going off the rails.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2016 at 8:46 am
What did Capriati (and Evert) do that just about any other US teen/young adult hasn’t? She partied like an animal and used drugs – I know a lot of people who did that and worse and ended up solid upstanding professionals and successful in life – It’s a stretch to say she went off the rails –
catherine bell · April 30, 2016 at 10:38 am
Scoop –
Don’t know that much about Capriati later on, and I wasn’t really referring to her in particular as ‘going off the rails’ but I honestly think what happened to her went beyond just ‘partying’ – and Chris ? Really, she never ended up, as Dan says, in flea bag motel zapped on various illegal substances. Chris didn’t do drugs like that.
I’d guess Jennifer remains ‘troubled’ – that message suggests so.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2016 at 6:56 pm
Andrew: Nobody leaves tennis – if you were a serious player it’s always a part of you – Capriati follows it and I heard she was training pretty hard about a year ago – She should do a biography in the future and I would definitely be interested to help her do it – I would guess she’s ready to do it now that years have passed and the sense of nostalgia is setting in –
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2016 at 6:58 pm
Catherine: Which great player didn’t go off the rails at one point? Borg – McEnroe – Seles – Agassi – Daniel Evans 🙂 – Vitas – Most of the top players go off the rails – I bet a few do and we never hear about it 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2016 at 7:03 pm
In other news: Kozlov had to MPs vs McGee but lost in a third set tiebreaker 7-1 – I thought he was too nonchalant at the end showing that casual attitude and it was McGee who jacked up his intensity – sure enough the player with the greater intensity level won – It was 1-1 in the deathbreaker and Kozlov netted a drop shot and he never won another point — Tiafoe had a great week and got to the finals today beating a resurgent Harrison in the SF – don’t forget Harrison rebuilt his confidence by winning the doubles in Savannah – doubles wins can rebuild confidence as Harold has learned here at tennis-prose 🙂 – Fratangelo earned the WC into the FO via the point totals – Fritz lost to Stepanek in the qualies in Italy Challenger – Ruben R Hidalgo had a nice run in China Challenger – he’s got to be about 39 now – Just spoke with Fritz Buehning about Facing McEnroe – classic info – Fritz knows McEnroe since age 11 –
Andrew Miller · April 30, 2016 at 8:45 pm
Steps czeched Fritz. Scoop jcap will need a writer to help. Tried to read someones accounting of a major past event, completely undone by the writing. David foster Wallace spoke on this too. Great athletes , for them to actually say what they want, need skilled wordsmiths. Otherwise their perspective is all garbled. Agassis biography is a terrific read worthy of the player. Pete Sampras had Bodo on board . Bodo helped pat mac too.
Actually with so many great players set to retire id be surprised if they didn’t turn to Dan and Scoop.
catherine bell · May 1, 2016 at 7:20 am
Scoop –
If you venture down the ghosting path (if you haven’t already) get a good agent and a better contract.
And prepare to shed tears before you’re done 🙂
Michael · May 4, 2016 at 1:06 am
@scoop “Which great player didn’t go off the rails at one point ?”
How about every great player except for the 70s. Try Laver, Rosewall, Edberg, Sampras, Rafter, Chang, just to pick a few.
And, of course, currently Federer,, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.
Scoop Malinowski · May 4, 2016 at 7:33 am
michael – we don’t know if these guys went off the rails in private life do we?
catherine bell · May 4, 2016 at 1:59 pm
Scoop –
The point is – Jennifer C went off the rails in very public life. How many other players can boast a gallery of police mugshots ?
Most elite players are fairly conservative – they don’t do drugs or drink ( Aussie players of the past excepted re beer))and as far as I know none of the players Michael mentioned have anything to hide. In the 70s some players did do a lot of coke, but Vitas was the only really top player who indulged and he wasn’t caught in those days. Stalled his career though.