July 3, 2001

7:49 AM

Jennifer Capriati Beats Serena Williams to Keep Her Grand Slam Dreams AliveIf ever there was a game that see-sawed back and forth, it was this one! Williams took the first set and Capriati looked weak. After being down 5 games to 3 (at love - 30!), Capriati miraculously leapt back and took the second set. The third set was even more tense, as Williams took a bathroom break mid-game! Want to see how it went? Here's the log of the match.
posted by wackybrit (35 comments total)

I'm watching the match now. Thanks for ruining it for me.
posted by jilly at 8:05 AM on July 3, 2001

Nice spoiler warning. I avoided news sites during the match this morning, only to run across you and your post - nice.
posted by jca at 8:12 AM on July 3, 2001

s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
!
Serena is cool.
posted by rschram at 8:24 AM on July 3, 2001

U.S.A.!!
U.S.A.!!
(the crowd cheers)
posted by davidmsc at 8:28 AM on July 3, 2001

They're both Americans, Davidmsc.
posted by rcade at 8:48 AM on July 3, 2001

I humbly apologise for ruining your experiences of the match. I mistakenly thought that MetaFilter is a site that has news on it.. and that anything which can be posted to the BBC's front page could be posted here without causing offense.

But still, it's a great match with some great moments, result known or not. Enjoy it. (I promise I won't tell you who wins from Henman and Martin.)
posted by wackybrit at 8:54 AM on July 3, 2001

Who's Henman?
posted by Mocata at 9:22 AM on July 3, 2001

I mistakenly thought that MetaFilter is a site that has news on it.. and that anything which can be posted to the BBC's front page could be posted here without causing offense.
Yeah, sure, but it's boring...
posted by rschram at 9:40 AM on July 3, 2001

Mocata: Britain's #1 tennis player of the moment. The only hope for a Brit to win Wimbledon for the first time in 65 years. With Sampras out, he's got a good chance for once. Not too worried though, I generally only follow female tennis <g>

rschram: Probably true, but no more boring than football or sailing.
posted by wackybrit at 9:42 AM on July 3, 2001

rschram: Probably true, but no more boring than football or sailing. Or, Harappa.com
posted by rschram at 9:47 AM on July 3, 2001

rcade: I know they're both American - hence the double "U.S.A.!" Either way, U.S.A. would have advanced to the semi-finals - nice Independence Day treat.
posted by davidmsc at 9:51 AM on July 3, 2001

Jennifer Capriati looks like she's on steroids.
posted by jennyb at 9:52 AM on July 3, 2001

No...this is what a woman on steroids looks like. Capriati simply looks healthy & strong.
posted by davidmsc at 10:07 AM on July 3, 2001

wackbrit: Don't buy into the national pretence that Henman's got any kind of chance of winning.
posted by Mocata at 10:08 AM on July 3, 2001

Mocata: Doh, I walked into that one. I forgot you're British too.

I'm not too sure about Henman.. but I think this year he has a better chance than ever before. Of course, it's easy to say that year after year :-)
posted by wackybrit at 10:22 AM on July 3, 2001

jennyb, you want to talk about steroids? Try this picture! (link via kottke.org)
posted by dayvin at 10:57 AM on July 3, 2001

On the subject of Kottke, I witnessed him putting down our beloved Metafilter the other day. Tsk tsk! Metafilter's favorite blogger is rebelling :-)
posted by wackybrit at 11:06 AM on July 3, 2001

The third set was even more tense, as Williams took a bathroom break mid-game! Want to see how it went? Here's the log of the match.

I understand that Ms. Williams needed a bathroom break, but pictures of it??? Cmon! Has MeFi lost all its decency??
posted by stew560 at 11:19 AM on July 3, 2001

Jennifer Capriati is a professional athlete, for God's sake, of course she has muscles. Why must some assume they haven't been achieved through training? It irritates me that there continues to be a double-standard for female athletes. Nobody suspected Kobe Bryant was on steroids when they saw pictures of his muscles during the playoffs.

Capriati is playing some incredible tennis these days, can't we focus on that, and the role model she creates for young people interested in tennis, instead? Strong healthy women are not often seen in the American media, and the more coverage they get, and the less assumptions about illegal drug use, the better it is for all strong healthy women suffering from body image problems.
posted by megnut at 11:20 AM on July 3, 2001

Funny how the phrases"drug use" and "Jennifer Capriati" used in the same sentence now have a totally different connotation than they did a few years ago. I think Capriati is to be admired for her skill as well as overcoming her well (over?) publicized past problems. And I'm pulling for her to succeed.
posted by trox at 11:25 AM on July 3, 2001

I don't think there really is a double standard regarding male and female athletes and whether or not the public makes jokes about them being on steroids. People say it about (american) football players and such all the time.
posted by jeb at 11:25 AM on July 3, 2001

I don't really know if Capriati is on steroids or not, but her jawline is starting to look like Glenn Danzig's!

Actually now that I look at it...she just might BE Glenn Danzig! Be on the look out for goat skulls on Centre Court this year!
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:09 PM on July 3, 2001

Remember when people were admired for not getting drug problems in the first place?

While not having the problem is certainly worthy of admiration, it's even more admirable, in my opinion, to have come out of a drug problem stronger and better. It takes a lot more work, a lot more effort, and a lot more will to overcome such a problem than it does to skip it entirely.

It's certainly not admirable to fall into drug addiction, but it's greatly admirable that she dug herself out.

Go Jennifer!
posted by daveadams at 12:49 PM on July 3, 2001

It irritates me that there continues to be a double-standard for female athletes. Nobody suspected Kobe Bryant was on steroids when they saw pictures of his muscles during the playoffs.

As someone pointed out, football players are questioned about steroids constantly. When Mac was chasing the home run record he was also. Add Barry Bonds to that list as well as he suddenly has 'extra' power at his disposal.

Anyone involved in weight lifting will tell you it's much harder for 'most' females to put on muscle than for a man. That's just a fact, it's not a double standard.

I don't think she used steroids at all, but for all these reasons it's just common sense for someone to suspect Capriati when compared to someone like Bryant.
posted by justgary at 2:49 PM on July 3, 2001

I think it's important to recognize a few points:

Capriati was a tremendous player ten years ago, and there was no suspicion of drugs. She's always had the potential, it's just taken her a while to develop it.

She credits her comeback to having lost about twenty pounds last year. I heard Chris Evert say the other day that Jennifer always had the shots but that now she can get to them because of the weight loss and intense conditioning.

Her muscles don't look that impressive when she's at rest; everyone who's lean has impressive muscles when they're moving fast and hitting hard.

It's not clear that steroids would provide that huge of an advantage in tennis. Hitting hard is important, but strength is only one of many factors.

Anyway, I think it's good to see her back. Her semifinal opponent ought to be easier than S.Williams, so I think an all-American women's final is all but certain.
posted by anapestic at 3:14 PM on July 3, 2001

i thought that steroids also strip the legs of their muscle? i would think strong legs would be pretty important in tennis as well.
posted by moz at 3:36 PM on July 3, 2001

A sports writer (who happens to be female) criticizes media treatment of Capriati. The gist: the media inflated her transgressions and ignored her achievements. (from MediaNews)
posted by girlhacker at 3:56 PM on July 3, 2001

And her sordid drug past is pretty tame. I mean, she got pulled over and had a small quantity of cannibus, right? I mean, let's get serious here. Illegal, yes. But certainly not a hole to be dug out of.
posted by crunchland at 7:45 PM on July 3, 2001

I thought that MetaFilter is a site that has news on it.. and that anything which can be posted to the BBC's front page could be posted here without causing offense.

Wackybrit, if I wanted to read the news from BBC, I would type bbc.co.uk.

Simple.
posted by kchristidis at 6:50 AM on July 4, 2001

Remember when people were admired for not getting drug problems in the first place?

While not having the problem is certainly worthy of admiration, it's even more admirable, in my opinion, to have come out of a drug problem stronger and better. It takes a lot more work, a lot more effort, and a lot more will to overcome such a problem than it does to skip it entirely.

It's certainly not admirable to fall into drug addiction, but it's greatly admirable that she dug herself out.

I would hate to sound like Nancy Reagan here, but do people casually "fall into" drug problems? Isn't there at least *some* agency involved? I mean, it's not like you're walking down the street and there's an open manhole cover filled with syringes and smack.
posted by mecran01 at 7:24 AM on July 4, 2001

Too bad Henin ended Capriati's chances for a Grand Slam...
posted by dalryaug at 8:08 AM on July 5, 2001

My ironic side is happy everyone's storybook ending has been disrupted.
posted by owillis at 8:16 AM on July 5, 2001

I suppose I was making a then and now kind of comparison with the steroids comment. Jennifer Capriati exhibited a masculinization of features which is typical of steroid use in women, although nowhere near the extent of the photo davidmsc linked to, and thus more realistically due to her losing weight and shaping up.

I didn't mean to suggest I think strong, athletic women are unattractive or somehow wrong, or to espouse a belief in thin, weak women as the ideal (when my personal beliefs are niles from that line of thinking) but I see where what I said sounded just like that. I'd chalk it up to the "comments which seem reasonable when uttered to your SO while watching Sports Center are not necessarily appropriate for posting on heavily trafficked community sites" syndrome.
posted by jennyb at 10:14 AM on July 5, 2001

Hello. I meant "miles", not "niles" please.

Thank you.
posted by jennyb at 10:14 AM on July 5, 2001