Capriati Comeback Curtailed In Aussie Once Again She Leaves In Tears, But This Time Vows To Fight Back

Jennifer Capriati’s comeback at the Australian Open turned into one more sad crash course and a departure in tears reminiscent of her last trip Down Under four years ago.

Amid whipping winds, wild shots and hundreds of moon balls by Jolene Watanabe, Capriati’s return to the Australian ended with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 first-round loss today.

Capriati, ranked No. 24 after reaching the final of the Sydney International last week, insisted this loss won’t have the same effect as the one that sent her game and life out of control on her last visit.

Though she lost to a fellow American ranked No. 78, a heavy-legged, 28-year-old who had never gotten past the second round here in three tries and who had no big shots to threaten her, Capriati, 20, said she’ll learn from this experience.

“I’m not going to let this discourage me at all,” said Capriati. “I have enough desire to work to reach my potential, still. I’m going to do everything I can to get that. I think it’s more mental with me than physical.”

Capriati, nervous at the start and tentative most of the match, broke down in tears after the match and again a little later when asked if she was aware of all the hope by her fans that she would succeed after coming back from an arrest, a long layoff and drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

“Yeah,” she said, “just being out there, I heard the cries.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke, a forlorn look on her face, and she couldn’t go on. Just as she left crying after a quarterfinals loss in 1993, so she departed this time.

Men’s top seed Pete Sampras avoided the kind of upset that sent Boris Becker packing Monday. Sampras cruised past Romanian qualifier Dinu Pescariu 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

In other men’s matches, No. 3 Goran Ivanisevic, No. 8 Wayne Ferreira, No. 9 Marcelo Rios and No. 16 Alberto Berasategui also won in straight sets.

Martina Hingis, who beat Capriati in the Sydney final, had trouble only with her temper in her opening-round match. Hingis, seeded No. 4, suffered from a fit of annoyance that cost her four straight games in the second set before beating Barbara Rittner 6-1, 7-5.