Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Medium
Capriati, 18, has not played tournament tennis since the 1993 U.S. Open. She left the tour after experiencing personal problems and struggling with her game.
Organizers of the $750,000 tournament said the 1992 Olympic champion accepted a wild-card invitation to the event, which runs Monday through Nov.13. The draw to determine first-round matches is scheduled for today.
In her last match, Capriati lost in the first round of the 1993 Open. Burned out by tennis and despairing over her appearance and relationships, Capriati, who turned pro when she was 13, left the tour.
Capriati said she had nightmares after losing in the Open in 1991 and began crying after she lost in the '93 Open.
She said many of her problems stemmed from turning pro too early.
``I was always expected to be at the top, and if I didn't win, to me that meant I was a loser,'' she said. ``I felt like my parents and everybody else thought that tennis was the way to make it in life, they thought it was good, but I thought no one knew or wanted to know the person who was behind my tennis life.''
In November 1993, Capriati moved into her own apartment in Boca Raton, Fla. Her legal problems began Dec.10, when she was arrested for shoplifting.
On May 16, she was arrested at a motel in Coral Gables, Fla., and charged with misdemeanor drug possession. She entered a treatment program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Fla.
Capriati, after having not touched a racket for months, said she realized during the winter she wanted to play tennis again.
``It wasn't like I wanted to go back to it yet,'' she said. ``But when I thought about the [Grand Slam events], I always thought, `I'll be there again.'''
by CNB