Seles Tops Capriati In OK City
Monica Seles, who struggled with her timing all week, found her game during the third set to beat Jennifer Capriati 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, in the finals of the IGA U.S. Indoor Championships on Sunday.
Seles, who lost to Capriati in the quarterfinals during Capriati's run to the Australian Open championship, came up with her only ace in the third set and managed to break Capriati's serve twice.
"I was so disappointed with my match yesterday, and I said I better play some good tennis or it's going to be a quick match," said Seles, who had trouble in the semifinals. "Maybe that got me more relaxed."
Neither player served all that well - Seles had five double faults, Capriati six - but Seles was good on 79 percent of her first serves in the final set.
Seles, the defending champion and top seed, won the first set easily. Capriati, in her first tournament since Australia, double faulted to lose her first service game, then lost her second game after falling behind 15-40.
The two players traded breaks in the first two games of the second set, then stayed on serve. The set appeared headed for a tiebreaker before Capriati broke Seles at love in the 12th game to win the set, with Seles double faulting on the final point.
"I think that was a very bad game for me, at 6-5 down and losing my serve at love," she said. "Maybe in some ways that was good, that I had to refocus and the match was still not over."
At 2-2 in the third set, Seles earned a break when Capriati hit a backhand into the net after falling behind 30-40.
"I just made a few errors that I shouldn't have made," said Capriati, who was seeded second. "It just changed the momentum again and she just picked up her game after that."
After Seles held serve, the seventh game went to deuce before Capriati double faulted and hit a backhand long to give Seles a 5-2 lead.
"I'm definitely not going to be disappointed with today. I'm just proud of myself for coming back this week and playing well," Capriati said.
"They say you have that letdown after winning a grand slam. I don't think I had a letdown this week or today."
Seles is 8-4 against Capriati and 2-1 in finals matchups. The victory was worth $27,000.
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