Grand Plan for Capriati

PARIS —  The 25-year-old woman who is one match away from completing half a Grand Slam still has some teenage instincts stirring beneath the surface.

Parisians may be known for their blase attitude, but Jennifer Capriati does not share that emotion.

Not long after defeating Martina Hingis of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-3, in Thursday’s French Open semifinals, Capriati jumped into the arms of her father, Stefano, in the players’ lounge. She said she felt reincarnated. At the end of a collected, thoughtful exchange in the crowded interview room, the 14-year-old in Capriati reemerged when asked to compare this to the Australian Open.

Is there any sense of calm?

“No, right now, I just want to scream at the top of my lungs,” she said, grinning. “I just want to jump out right now. I’m just really excited.”

Capriati looked at a roomful of reporters, who couldn’t help but smile back at her obvious glee.

“There’s nothing more I can say,” she said.

For the second time Thursday, Capriati had the final, emphatic answer. Earlier, the top-seeded Hingis was the one searching for solutions against the powerful, accurate ground strokes of No. 4 Capriati. After 1 hour 16 minutes, Hingis was a broken champion, and not just in regard to her serve, either.

She is a lot like a politician running behind in the polls, knowing it’s a matter of time before the election takes place, or in this case, holding on to No. 1 before the WTA computer catches up to reality.

The French Open is the only major to have eluded the 20-year-old Hingis, who twice reached the final at Roland Garros. This is her second consecutive loss in the semifinals and she was questioning her own mental toughness. She also lost to Capriati in the Australian Open final in January.

“The middle of the year, I could say I always have a little crisis,” Hingis said. “Mentally, I’ve always been like somewhere out in the clouds sometimes before this tournament. . . . Other players get injured. But with me, it’s more the mental problem to stay in there.”

Additionally, this loss caused her to make an admission about the top spot in the women’s game.

“I could say Jennifer. She’s proved it,” Hingis said. “She won Australia. She beat me there. She beat the [Williams] sisters. Right now, I’d say she’s the most consistent, the hottest player on the tour.”

Said Capriati: “Wow. I mean, thank you. I’m flattered by that. I’m not ranked No. 1, so I can’t say I’m No. 1.”

If Capriati wins Saturday’s final against No. 12 Kim Clijsters of Belgium, it would give her the first two legs of a Grand Slam--the first to do so since Monica Seles in 1992. But a victory would not move Capriati into the top three, though it would greatly narrow the gap between her and No. 3 Lindsay Davenport.

Clijsters, who will turn 18 today, defeated countrywoman Justine Henin, seeded 14th, in the first semifinal, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Henin got tight and then tired, blowing a 6-2, 4-2 lead, as her forehand steadily deteriorated.

“I don’t think anyone expected me to play this well, to play a final of a Grand Slam especially on clay,” said Clijsters, the first Belgian to reach a Grand Slam tournament final. “A lot of people thought clay wasn’t my best surface.”

There was a short rain delay, of about five minutes, in the Clijsters-Henin match. The skies were threatening and it started sprinkling near the end of the Capriati-Hingis match. The rain came down hard about two minutes after the finish. Capriati, serving at 5-3, wrapped it up quickly, serving the match out at love. Hingis put only one ball back in play during the final game.

Hingis did have her chances. In the second set, she had three break points at 3-3 and failed to convert, falling behind, 4-3. Capriati promptly broke her in the next game to go up, 5-3.

The first set had a momentum swing after Capriati, leading 4-1, received treatment on her right knee from the trainer, requiring an injury timeout. Hingis won the next three games to make the score 4-4, but faltered again at a key juncture. At 4-4, Capriati saved two break points and broke Hingis at 15 to win the set.

Capriati said the problem was nothing major, possibly lingering tendinitis. After a momentary lapse, she regained her focus and forehand. In all, she had 13 forehand winners to two for Hingis.

“When I needed to put the ball away, when I needed to dictate the points, I would up the pressure,” Capriati said. “It just seemed to work. I would get the short ball, put it away. I guess she couldn’t hang in there with it.”

And so, Capriati is close to completing the 11-year circle of promise, which started at Roland Garros when she was 14 in 1990. She reached the semifinals in her Grand Slam debut, losing to Seles, and the future seemed limitless.

“She was so young and so happy to get to the semifinals,” said her mother, Denise Capriati. “So much has happened. We’ve gone through so much and it proves if you believe in yourself, work hard and dig deep, you can accomplish anything. Dreams come true.”

Capriati survived a troubled past, and is thriving in the present. Her whole family is in Paris, including younger brother Steven. He was 11 in 1990.

“I don’t remember anything about that,” he said. “I told her yesterday, ‘This is the first time I can remember being this late in a Grand Slam with you.’ ”

She was reflective too, pointing out her goal used to be to simply win a round at a Grand Slam event.

“I never knew if it would ever come again,” Capriati said. “It wasn’t looking that way a few years ago when I lost two first rounds here. I guess that makes it sweetest. Also, just the way I’m playing, the way I’m into the finals.

“This is the best tennis I’ve played.”