MELBOURNE, Australia -- Monica Seles once felt at home at
the Australian Open, racking up a 33-match winning streak. The
comfort is gone.
On Tuesday, Seles lost 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to a
resurgent Jennifer Capriati, and said she had been struggling with
her game for several weeks.
"I think I left a little bit of energy three weeks ago, just
with my preparations, a lot of things not being so clear
workout-wise," she said. "I'm not used to that. It's been a
lesson learned the last few weeks, what I can do, what I cannot
do."
Seles was up 4-2 against No. 12 Capriati in the second set, but
could not capitalize on the lead over her hardhitting opponent.
"Jennifer lifted her game and I think I went the other way,"
said Seles, who has four Australian Open titles among her nine
Grand Slam crowns. "I think my serve really let me down. I started
off very slow in the third set. She just fought a lot harder and I
think wanted to win a lot more today than I did."
After a three-set, fourth-round victory Sunday against Justine Henin of
Belgium, Seles said she lacked match practice and did not feel
comfortable in her game.
Seles, 27, skipped last year's Australian Open because of a
stress fracture in her foot, but she has had stellar runs in
Melbourne every other time she has played the Grand Slam.
She won the tournament from 1991-1993 and in 1996, the gap
formed around her absence from tennis in the wake of being stabbed
on court during a German tournament. Her winning streak ended when
she bowed to Martina Hingis in the 1999 final.
Capriati had lost all five previous Grand Slam meetings against
Seles. The rivalry dates to the 1990 French Open, when Capriati was
14.
"It's one of the best matches I've played," Capriati said
after the win over Seles. "It kind of reminded me of the old
days."
Capriati reached the semifinals here last year before losing to
eventual champion Lindsay Davenport.
Seles, who reached the quarterfinals of the French Open,
Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, found comfort in her doubles
partnership with Hingis; the pair reached the semifinals with a
6-0, 7-5 victory over Nicole Pratt and Meghann Shaughnessy.
"I'm just really happy to be playing doubles here with
Martina," Seles said.
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