Jennifer Capriati (#1) vs. Serena Williams (#3) (Final)
Head to Head: Capriati leads series 4-2 (Last Meeting: Williams, 2001 Toronto, F, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-3)
It was an all-American final today at the 2002 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic. The tournament was
looking to crown only its second champion in its three year history after the inaugural event's final matches
were washed out by rain. Tournament officials and fans could not have asked for a better match-up than
Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams. Both players were returning from fairly long layoffs from the tour.
Capriati had not played a tournament since capturing her second Australian Open title in January, while
Serena Williams is just now coming back from an ankle injury suffered in Sydney earlier this season.
The crowd showed no clear favorite as the players were introduced, though perhaps Capriati received a
slight edge for her continuing Cinderella story and was perhaps considered a slight underdog as the mere
sight of Serena Williams can be intimidating alone. And intimidating she was as the match began. Serena
raced off to a 5-0 start, breaking Capriati in her first three service games and each time on her first break
point opportunity. Capriati only managed seven points in these first five games. Showing a chink in her
otherwise fine armor, Capriati was able to earn one of the breaks back in the sixth game and held serve for
the first time in the match on her next service game. But Williams held at love to close out the set, 6-2 in
23 minutes. Despite the shellacking, neither player had stellar stats for the first set: first serve percentage
(Capriati: 55%, Williams: 45%), winners (C: 2, W: 4), and unforced errors (C: 15, W: 12).
Going into the second set, Capriati could at least take comfort that the match might not yet be over
considering what happened with Williams yesterday where she won a speedy first but allowed Hingis back
into yesterday's semifinal match. In a marathon second game with Williams serving, six deuces were
contested and Capriati earned her first lead in a set when she pounded away at Williams's backhand and
broke on her seventh break point of the game. But all that work was for naught, as she allowed Williams to
easily break back in the next game. However, Williams was still not on her game and having lost some
confidence in her serve, double faulted to give Capriati the advantage at 3-1. Williams had a chance to pull
the match back to even in the sixth game but did not accomplish that task until the ninth game when a
series of Capriati backhand errors got the set back on serve at 5-4. But a fifth break of the set was on tap,
with Capriati prevailing with a 6-4 second set win to even the match. Both players dramatically improved
on their first serve percentages in the second set (C: 88%, W: 65%) but Williams was clearly pressing at a
glance at the second set winners/unforced errors stats: Capriati: 6 winners, 15 unforced errors; Williams:
14 winners, 31 unforced errors.
Williams took the early lead in the third set, breaking Capriati's serve (on a double fault). At this point,
Williams finally got on a groove on serve that had been pretty shaky all week. But after her effort at this
year's Australian Open final, there was certainly no denying Capriati's ability to stay in the match or unfurl
a comeback. That appeared to be the case as Capriati broke back to even the match at 4-4. But Williams is
no slouch in the "fighter" department either. She immediately broke back and served out the match at 6-4
with a 112-mph ace to close out the match.
The crowd wildly cheered as the players shook hands after a nearly two hour match. The fans certainly felt
they got what the paid for in a tight match that could have easily gone either way. However, in their post
match press conferences, both players expressed disappointment in their play and the stats surely back them
up as errors-to-winners ratio were ugly. Capriati hit 16 winners to 43 unforced errors, while Williams
dictated play with 37 winners to 68 unforced errors. Williams's first serve percentage improved with each
set, while Capriati's fell back to her first set level in the third.
With her 12th career tournament title (in 16 final appearances), Williams will move up three spots to #6 in
the rankings. Capriati remains behind Venus Williams at #2 at least for another week - when the two
should swap the top spot once Indian Wells points age off the computer.
So ends the 2002 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic, where finally the sun shone for the entire week long
in the Valley of the Sun. Keep watch for photo galleries from the State Farm soon and keep your browser
bookmarked to On The Line as coverage of the Franklin Templeton Men's Tennis Classic from
Scottsdale and the Pacific Life Open from Indian Wells begins next week!