Capriati to chase Wimbledon dream

Ossian Shine

Jennifer Capriati will chase her dream when Wimbledon starts on Monday while Martina Hingis will be praying her Grand Slam nightmare comes to an end.

Capriati, winner of the Australian and French Opens this year, is bidding to become only the third woman after Margaret Court and Steffi Graf to win all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year.

With a powerful serve, good mobility, thunderous groundstrokes and enormous self-belief, not many would rule out the American fourth seed's chances.

Capriati's all-action power-hitting style put paid to Hingis in the first two Grand Slams of the year and the Swiss player, despite being top seed and world number one, has now gone nine Grand Slam tournaments without lifting the prize.

At tour level she dominates the women's game, last year winning more tournaments than any other player, but she is fast earning the reputation as the world number one who cannot win.

With every match against stronger, faster and fitter opponents, such as the Williams sisters Venus and Serena, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce and Capriati, the 20-year-old's shortcomings at the very highest level in the game are underlined.

FRAIL PHYSIQUE
Her frail physique is dwarfed by those of more muscular opponents and the groundstrokes which used to seek out every corner of the court, leaving opponents weary and beaten, now appear quaint and almost in slow motion compared with the rockets leaving the rackets of her opponents.

The confidence of youth has been eroded by some painful defeats but Hingis still knows what she has to do.

"The only thing I can do is learn and improve until I get better and get another chance," the 1997 Wimbledon champion said.

"I've shown in the past that I'm able to win this tournament."

Defending champion Venus Williams is more intimidating on grass than on any other surface because of her height, reach and power.

Whether the second seed will be fully fit, though, is anybody's guess.

Sister Serena, seeded fifth, has the talent and temperament to win the title without much preparation but again a question mark hangs over her fitness.

Davenport, champion in 1999 and runner-up last year, has been sidelined for three months with a knee injury.

She is looking lean and fit but may be lacking match practice.

Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin and Yugoslav Jelena Dokic all have the potential to do well at the All England Club.

PENETRATING GROUNDSTROKES
French Open finalist Clijsters's power game appears ideally suited to grass.

On her first trip to Wimbledon two years ago, her big serve and penetrating groundstrokes carried her to the fourth round, where she lost to Graf.

She also upset former finalist Nathalie Tauziat in the first round in 2000 and reached the mixed doubles final with boyfriend Hewitt. Now 18, she is seeded seventh.

Clijsters's compatriot Henin, a semifinalist in Paris, is another contender for the women's title.

A true all-rounder, the eighth seed can play aggressively from the baseline but is also useful at the net and her returns can be devastating, as Venus Williams found out at the German Open last month.

Dokic, who reached the semifinals 12 months ago, will be hoping her all-action game will drive her all the way this time.

The 14th seed, who abandoned her adopted country Australia in January to play under the flag of her native Yugoslavia, claimed her first WTA title at the Italian Open on clay last month.

The win also helped her to break into the world's top 20 for the first time.