Capriati takes a beating, learns a lesson at Wimbledon

By the middle of the second set, with time running out on the 45-minute slaughter, Capriati knew it didn8217;t much matter anymore. She was out on Centre Court, dealing with defeat, and life, all on her own.

It took a good while for her to reach this apparent and necessary demarcation, 14 years after she made her tour debut at age 13 years 11 months. The story of Capriati8217;s rise and fall and rise is well documented, world-known. But however she fared, wherever she went, her parents and especially her coaching father have been in the picture, a little too close. Until here, at Wimbledon, where Capriati finally declared her nuclear independence and uninvited the folks and played for herself. 8216;8216;I8217;m 28 years old, it8217;s not that unusual to kind of be on my own and I think I can handle it,8217;8217; she said.

Her father, Stefano, accompanied her to the French Open, and whooped it up when she beat the same Serena, as if his daughter was still a pig-tailed 13. Most youngsters that age cringe at the sight of their parents making spectacles of themselves within a one-mile radius. Better late than never.

Capriati lost in the semifinals in Paris to Anastasia Myskina and severed a brief coaching arrangement with Heinz Gunthardt, a former player from Switzerland. One week later, she left a voice-mail message for Gullickson, who helped coach her when she was 14.

8216;8216;Are you coaching anyone at Wimbledon?8217;8217; Capriati said when Gullickson called. 8216;8216;No,8217;8217; he said.

8216;8216;Would you like to coach somebody?8217;8217;

Thus was their partnership reformed, at least temporarily. These relationships usually begin as live-in arrangements before marriage. Brad Gilbert, who was Andre Agassi8217;s man, is now in Andy Roddick8217;s corner. Paul Annacone, formerly Pete Sampras8217; muse, sprinkled stardust here on Tim Henman but the gracious Englishman was eliminated just the same in straight sets Wednesday by unseeded 20-year-old Mario Ancic of Croatia.

Roger Federer, whose streak of 105 held service games at Wimbledon was broken Wednesday evening in his four-set victory over Lleyton Hewitt, doesn8217;t even have a coach at the moment, and he8217;s No. 1. While acknowledging Federer as a tennis genius, Gullickson gave a ringing endorsement to Peter Lundgren, Federer8217;s ex, because coaches have to eat, too.

8216;8216;Peter did a phenomenal job with Roger,8217;8217; Gullickson said. He conceded that watching Federer operate on his own is evidence of that, and added, 8216;8216;You don8217;t want to make them dependent on you, looking up at you for signals on every point.8217;8217;

At times, it seemed that way with the Capriatis, the ties unyielding even long after Jennifer8217;s rebellious, teenage, tennis runaway phase, when she was poster girl for the force-fed young athlete.

Perhaps it was never that simple. Steffi Graf also started early and she won 22 Grand Slam events. These days, superstars like Freddy Adu in soccer and Michelle Wie in golf are hailed as precocious treasures. Was the world too judgmental of the Capriatis?

With all that going on, who couldn8217;t be happy for them when Jennifer broke through, won the first of her three Grand Slam events, in Melbourne, Australia, three years ago? But time marches on and firing a father who means well but doesn8217;t know when to let his daughter grow up is not so easy to do.

Nor does Capriati give the impression of full-blown maturity, often coming across as adolescently thin-skinned. Her sentences reverberate with 8216;8216;I mean8217;8217; and 8216;8216;you know8217;8217;. It8217;s difficult to fathom that she is the same age as Lindsay Davenport, who left mom and dad behind and who appeared adult-like at 18. Now Davenport, who plays Maria Sharapova on Thursday in the semifinals, is married and contemplating retirement, while Capriati said she views 30 as 8216;8216;just a number8217;8217; along a road she may finally be driving solo.

8216;8216;The thing that impresses me about her is that she8217;s got that sparkle back in her eye,8217;8217; Gullickson said, after the Williams demolition, allowing Capriati her time of 8216;8216;temporary insanity, without a well-meaning coach telling you what you did wrong8217;8217;.

He knew that she knew it was Williams, playing with what Capriati labelled 8216;vendetta8217;, after two successive losses to Capriati on clay.

8216;8216;Jenny8217;s been on her front foot for four matches,8217;8217; Gullickson said. 8216;8216;Today, she was on her back foot.8217;8217;

Capriati nonetheless stood tall, finally on her own, after 14 years. She may have lost Wimbledon and still won the war.

The New York Times