Belgium's Justine Henin shocked Australian and French Open champion Jennifer Capriati this afternoon to reach her first ever Wimbledon final. The teenager came back from losing 6-2 in the opening set to power her way into Saturday's final by taking the next two sets 6-4 6-2 in what was an amazing comeback when she looked down and out.
Capriati breezed through the first set with her opponent looking somewhat overawed by her first-ever appearance on Centre Court. The fourth seed broke the Belgian's serve to lead 3-1 and at 5-2 up, she broke the teen's serve once more when Henin double faulted and then followed that up with a long forehand. At that stage, Capriati looked to be well on her way to her third Grand Slam final appearance of the year, taking the first set in a mere 21 minutes.
Although the second set went with serve, Capriati looked a different class to her opponent, who required on-court treatment for painful blood blisters on her right foot between sets. However, despite being under pressure from Capriati, the eighth seed began to settle down and finally forced a break point, coming back from 40-15 down to take the game with a beautfiul lob and then a stunning smash down the line to lead 3-2.
The 25-year-old American broke back immediately but Henin's famed backhand suddenly reappeared and she forced Capriati to make some crucial errors on her way to breaking her serve once more. That game seemed to inspire Henin as she served out for the set and with matters level at 1-1, she now looked to have the momentum in her favour.
Although Capriati was now on the defensive, Henin surprised her opponent and the Centre Court crowds by winning the first four games of the final set, breaking Capriati twice on her way to a 4-1 lead. The match was then interrupted due to rain but when play resumed, Henin continued where she left off, battling hard to hold on to her serve. Capriati managed to hold her own service game but with the score at 5-2 in Henin's favour, an upset was inevitable. Henin powered her fifth ace of the tie and followed that up with another service winner to complete her brilliant comeback and inflict on Capriati her first defeat in 20 Grand Slam matches.
"I'm not afraid of the big girls," said a defiant Henin afterwards. "I've played them all and I think I showed I can be a strong player as well. I've beaten Venus in straight sets and immediately after I'd done that in Berlin a few months ago I was one set-all with Capriati when I hurt my ankle and had to stop. So I knew I had a shot at beating her, too."
"She's the player everybody was talking about, she's great. So if I can beat her I can beat Venus again as well, although I know it is going to be difficult. I've got a lot of courage and I needed that at 6-2 and 2-1 down and my right foot feeling very painful, but after the trainer came on it felt a little better. When we started again I just said told myself to see if I could hold the next serve and go as far as I can because it is a semi-final at Wimbledon. Now I'm in the final and I can't tell you how much that means. I was two games away from going out against Kristy Boogert in the second round and I don't know if in Belgium they will quite believe what I've done," added the teenager.
Capriati was upbeat despite her defeat and said she was not that disappointed to lose out on a possible calendar Grand Slam. "Everyone made a big deal out of the Grand Slam but me," she explained. "I'm fairly happy with how the year has gone so far. It's not a disappointment at all, but it would have been nice," she added.
Capriati also paid tribute to Henin's marvellous comeback. "I don't know where it really turned. I started to make more mistakes and she made a complete turnaround - it was like a different player from the beginning.I think she was just going for it all or nothing. I think she has always had a lethal backhand but today it was everything, she was playing well," she said.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
