Jennifer Capriati

WIMBLEDON, England - Jennifer Capriati exited Wimbledon without a curtsy or a crown yesterday. She left with her baseball cap tugged low and her head down, her Grand Slam dream buried by a Belgian on a patch of English grass. Capriati lost to Justine Henin in Wimbledon's women's semifinals, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, running straight into the Belgian's beautiful backhand in a big match on a gorgeous summer day on a stage called Centre Court. But the outcome and setting were all almost beside the point when measured against Capriati's career, her comeback that might be the greatest in modern sports history and her season of redemption.

MELBOURNE, Australia - Women's tennis will have to wait until next month at least for the return of the Williams sisters. For now, the sport will have to settle for the return of just one. While Serena is still not prepared to make a comeback after knee surgery and a six-month break, Venus is back here, warming up on the practice court and in front of the microphone for her first official tournament since she lost in the Wimbledon final to Serena in...

Days until opening ceremonies: 50.Key things left to do: Finish 12 new competition venues and convert existing venues for Olympic use; raise $160 million to make $1.7 billion budget; install misting fans at outdoor arenas to shelter athletes from heat; plan water restrictions in case drought causes shortage during games; complete street improve- ment program; send 3.7 million tickets to U.S. customers; get IOC accreditation for drug-testing facility; train...

NEW YORK -- No. 4 seed Andy Roddick saved the U.S. Open from its worst nightmare yesterday when he rallied from two sets and a match point down to beat Argentina's David Nalbandian in an amazing five-set match. The victory set up a showdown between Roddick, the man who was called the favorite from the beginning of this two-week marathon, and the new No. 1 player in the world, Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. No. 3 seed Ferrero earned the Open final with a fine upset of No. 1 seed Andre Agassi, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The tournament has been beset by weather problems that have had residual effects.

Martina Navratilova and Jennifer Capriati, two women wh lived in the headlines almost every day in the U.S. Open the past two weeks, will be coming to Baltimore on Nov. 26 to play in Pam Shriver's Sixth Annual First National Bank Tennis Festival presented by The Baltimore Sun at the Baltimore Arena, Prince Racquet area representative Herb Sweren said yesterday.Navratilova, 34, and Capriati, 15, will meet in a singles match to highlight an evening of tennis that also is expected to include Shriver and local pro Elise Burgin.

In a twist on early retirement that's unprecedented in tennis, Jennifer Capriati, 17, has decided to temporarily walk away from the sport that anointed her its brightest superstar at 13, but has brought her as much stress as success.The 12th-ranked Capriati will miss the first Grand Slam of 1994, the Australian Open, which began today, and she also may skip the year's second Grand Slam, the French Open in May, because it conflicts with the finish of her high school career.Capriati, who hasn't played a match since her first-round exit from the U.S. Open last summer and endured a chronic battle with bone chips in her elbow through much of 1993, has decided to finish high school first.

NEW YORK -- On the third night of the Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden last night, top-seeded Monica Seles provided a fleeting glimpse of her powerful game, rushing past overmatched Julie Halard of France, 6-1, 6-0, in 37 minutes.The tennis fans had a much longer look at Jennifer Capriati. In a sloppy but eventually interesting performance, Capriati, 15, ousted Nathalie Tauziat, 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), in a 1-hour, 53-minute marathon to complete the opening round of this 16-player, season-ending tournament.

Jennifer Capriati, in the midst of a rebirth on the Women's Tennis Association Tour, is returning to Baltimore after a nine-year absence. Capriati, 24, will join Anna Kournikova of Russia in the featured match of the 2000 Chevy Chase Bank Tennis Challenge. The event, presented by The Baltimore Sun, will be held Nov. 21 at Baltimore Arena. The announcement comes on the heels of Capriati's victory Sunday over Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in the finals of the Seat Open in Luxembourg. It was her first title of the year and the ninth overall for Capriati, who in 1990 was the youngest player (14 years, 235 days)

Hurricanes' Erickson signs 5-year contractCoach Dennis Erickson, who repeatedly has said he'll stay with the Miami Hurricanes rather than take an NFL job, put the pledge in writing on a new five-year contract yesterday.Erickson has led the Hurricanes to the national championship in two of his three seasons at Miami. In the past month he has been mentioned as a candidate for several vacant NFL jobs.This season, the Hurricanes shared the national championship with Washington. The Huskies were No. in the coaches' poll.

Fila Holding S.p.A., the Italian athletic footwear and apparel designer with its U.S. subsidiary based in Sparks, said yesterday that its chief executive officer, Michele Scannavini, resigned. The resignation, accepted by Fila Holding's board of directors yesterday and effective immediately, comes as Fila Holding's parent company is trying to sell its interest in Fila. "Mr. Scannavini is leaving to pursue a new professional challenge in a different industry," Fila Holding said in a statement.

NEW YORK - Jennifer Capriati wanted her quarterfinal match so much, she lost it. The No. 3 seed, one of a handful of players viewed as possible challengers to Serena and Venus Williams' domination of women's tennis, felt the weight of desire, the expectations of past success and the pressure of opportunity bearing down on her - all at once. When she had the chance to serve out the second set and claim the match against Amelie Mauresmo at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday afternoon, Capriati tightened up and wound up losing, 4-6, 7-6 (5)

NEW YORK - Jennifer Capriati wanted her quarterfinal match so much, she lost it. The No. 3 seed, one of a handful of players who are viewed as possible challengers to the Serena and Venus Williams domination of women's tennis, felt the weight of desire, the expectations of past success and the pressure of opportunity bearing down on her - all at once. When she had the chance to serve out the second set and claim the match against Amelie Mauresmo in Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday afternoon, Capriati tightened up and wound up losing, 4-6, 7-6 (5)

NEW YORK -- Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport. They're the Murderers' Row of women's tennis. And what about Martina Hingis? What about the woman who held the No. 1 position on the women's tour for 209 weeks? What about her? Yesterday, a little off center stage in the Louis Armstrong Stadium at the U.S. Open, Hingis played her first Grand Slam tennis match since losing the Australian Open final to Capriati in January. She is slowly making her way back into the consciousness of the tennis world after having been sidelined for much of the past eight months with two ankle surgeries, the most recent in May. During her recovery, she mostly enjoyed the company of her boyfriend, professional golfer Sergio Garcia.

Fila Holding S.p.A., the Italian athletic footwear and apparel designer with its U.S. subsidiary based in Sparks, said yesterday that its chief executive officer, Michele Scannavini, resigned. The resignation, accepted by Fila Holding's board of directors yesterday and effective immediately, comes as Fila Holding's parent company is trying to sell its interest in Fila. "Mr. Scannavini is leaving to pursue a new professional challenge in a different industry," Fila Holding said in a statement.

WIMBLEDON, England - Jennifer Capriati exited Wimbledon without a curtsy or a crown yesterday. She left with her baseball cap tugged low and her head down, her Grand Slam dream buried by a Belgian on a patch of English grass. Capriati lost to Justine Henin in Wimbledon's women's semifinals, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, running straight into the Belgian's beautiful backhand in a big match on a gorgeous summer day on a stage called Centre Court. But the outcome and setting were all almost beside the point when measured against Capriati's career, her comeback that might be the greatest in modern sports history and her season of redemption.

WIMBLEDON, England - Jennifer Capriati has been a cautionary tale and a comeback saga, a teen facing trouble and a mature adult confronting athletic history. As Wimbledon moves into the second week today with a "Marathon Monday" of round-of-16 women's and men's matches, all eyes will be on a 25-year-old woman now living up to all the expectations from all those years ago. Her every move will be assessed and analyzed as she tries to keep alive a Grand Slam dream. She's halfway there, winner of the Australian and French opens, a story that, on the face of it, can't possibly be true.

NEW YORK -- Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport. They're the Murderers' Row of women's tennis. And what about Martina Hingis? What about the woman who held the No. 1 position on the women's tour for 209 weeks? What about her? Yesterday, a little off center stage in the Louis Armstrong Stadium at the U.S. Open, Hingis played her first Grand Slam tennis match since losing the Australian Open final to Capriati in January. She is slowly making her way back into the consciousness of the tennis world after having been sidelined for much of the past eight months with two ankle surgeries, the most recent in May. During her recovery, she mostly enjoyed the company of her boyfriend, professional golfer Sergio Garcia.

BALTIMORE GETS an in-person look tonight at the two hottest tennis players in the world -- including the one who has risen to No. 2 and is threatening to replace Steffi Graf as No. 1. That's 16-year-old Monica Seles. Her opponent in a best-of-three singles match at the Arena is 14-year-old sensation Jennifer Capriati, who's ranked No. 8.Pam Shriver, who put together the First National Bank Tennis Festival, presented by The Baltimore Sun, gives an insider's look at Seles' meteoric and unexpected rise:"A year ago everybody thought Steffi Graf would rule the game for the next five years," Shriver said.

WIMBLEDON, England - There was a time when Wimbledon's first few rounds were a minefield for Jennifer Capriati. But not anymore. Yesterday, the new and improved Capriati defeated Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-1, advancing to the third round in a march that she hopes will lead to the third crown of the tennis Grand Slam. Seeded fourth, holder of the Australian and French Open crowns, Capriati is still very much a work in progress, especially on grass. The last time she was in a Wimbledon quarterfinal was in 1993.

COMEBACKS HAVE almost become a cliche at this point, perhaps because it's rare that a day passes without news breaking about an athlete coming out of retirement, coming back from rehab or endeavoring to clear some hurdle, real or imagined. This is the age of the comeback, for better or (usually for) worse. And that backdrop diminishes what Jennifer Capriati is accomplishing in rising out of the cinders of her spectacular flameout to make it back to the top of women's tennis. Eleven years ago, at 14, she was the girl wonder.