Former world No. 1 Jennifer Capriati has been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Newport, R.I.-based Hall announced today. A three-time Grand Slam champion, Capriati won the Olympic gold medal, a Fed Cup title with the United States team, and staged a stirring comeback to reach the No. 1 ranking after personal issues, including a pair of arrests, drove her away from the game. Capriati cracked the Top 10 in 1990, her first season on tour, and in October 2001 she became world No. 1, a position she held for a total of 18 weeks.
"This is a dream come true and an extraordinary tribute. I love this game and am incredibly honored by the Hall of Fame's vote," Capriati said. "Tennis has been my passion and dedication for my entire life, and to be acknowledged for this passion and dedication is truly icing on the cake. I truly feel humbled to be a part of history and am honored to be considered among the greatest of all time."
The 36-year-old Capriati joins fellow former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten as the two inductees in the Recent Player Category. Capriati and Kuerten both won French Open singles titles in 2001. She is the final member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2012 to be announced. Spanish tennis legend Manuel Orantes; tennis administrator and promoter Mike Davies; and wheelchair tennis star Randy Snow, who will be honored posthumously, round out the Class of 2012. The induction ceremony will be held on July 14, 2012 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
A tennis prodigy, Capriati was born in New York City and moved to Florida where she was raised. At age 14, Capriati stormed to the 1990 French Open semifinals. At the 1991 U.S. Open, the seventh-ranked Capriati and second-ranked Monica Seles staged a classic semifinal with Seles fighting back for a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory in a match that signaled the start of a new baseline power era in women's tennis. In 1992, she shocked Steffi Graf on clay at the Barcelona Olympics to win the gold medal. Capriati became the poster girl for tennis burn-out after a 1993 arrest for shoplifting at a Florida mall followed by a 1994 arrest for marijuana possession. Her mug shot from that arrest was plastered across American sports pages.
Personal issues and a growing indifference toward the game and its accompanying fame, caused her to drift away from tennis from 1994-95 and again from 1997-98. Capriati staged one of the most memorable career comebacks of the Open Era. At the 2001 Australian Open, Capriati defeated world No. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam title. Having entered the tournament seeded No. 12, she was the lowest seed to ever win the title, a record that still stands. Seeded fourth at the French Open, Capriati beat No. 1 seed Hingis in the semifinals and rallied for a 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 triumph over No. 12 seed Kim Clijsters to claim her second straight major — 11 years after her captivating Roland Garros semifinal run at 14. Capriati was halfway to the Grand Slam in 2001, and finished that year as the only woman to reach at least the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. She bested Hingis again for the 2002 Australian title.
Capriati, who never formally announced her retirement, stopped playing at the end of the 2004 season due to an assortment of injuries, but primarily a shoulder injury. She is still unable to serve. She compiled a career record of 430-176, won 14 career singles titles and one doubles title
—Richard Pagliaro