Capriati on comeback trail

Quebec, Nov 8: Jennifer Capriati finally has reason to smile. The former child prodigy, slowly making a comeback after personal problems ...

Quebec, Nov 8: Jennifer Capriati finally has reason to smile. The former child prodigy, slowly making a comeback after personal problems forced her off the WTA Tour for two years, defeated Chanda Rubin 4-6 6-1 6-2 in the Bell Challenge final yesterday.

“I’m just so happy now because of the progress that I’ve made since the beginning of the year,” said Capriati, who is now ranked 30th in the world after beginning the year at 100th. “I started off slowly on my serve, but I ended up playing well and picked up my game when I had to.”

The title was the eighth in her career and second this year. She won the Strasbourg Open in May for her first win in six years. Capriati, seeded fourth in the tournament, had little success with her serve in the first set. The 23-year-old was broken three times and went to deuce on her two other service games. After the win, Capriati said she knows there’s still work to be done. This year, she’s failed to win a set against top players such as Martina Hingis, Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport. “But I’m not going to put any pressure on myself,” Capriati said. “I’m going to take things event by event next year and see what direction I go in after that.”

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For the second straight year, Rubin, also from the US, fell just short of taking home the $27,000 winner’s check. She squandered a first-set lead and two match points in last year’s final against Tara Snyder.

In the doubles final, Amy Frazier and Katie Schlukebir of the US defeated Cara Black of Zimbabwe and American Debbie Graham 6-2 6-3.

Leconte lifts French blues
Hong Kong: Frenchman Henri Leconte lifted some of the French blues left over from the Rugby World Cup defeat by Australia with victory over favourite John McEnroe in the final of the Hong Kong Champions tournament here.

Leconte, who was involved in an ugly nose-to-nose confrontation with McEnroe during one of the qualifying matches earlier in the week here, was clearly fired up for the clash and after a tight first set which lasted nearly an hour ran away with the second to win 7-6 (7/4) 6-0. “I’m very pleased to have won, really pleased, especially after the disappointment of rugby.”