Tennis: Drug charge puts Capriati's career in doubt: More problems for American prodigy who won Olympic gold medal but now craves a normal teenage life. John Roberts reports

DURING an astonishing career spanning less than four years, Jennifer Capriati craved the normal life of a teenager, away from professional tennis. Allegations of shoplifting and now drug possession feature on the Olympic champion's record.

The 18-year-old American, whose dollars 1.5m ( pounds 1m) in official prize-money was multiplied several times by endorsements, has not played a match since losing in the first round of the United States Open in August last year. In December, she left a Florida jewellery store with a pounds 15 silver ring for which she had not paid. In January she went back to high school to finish her senior year.

The latest incident, in which she was found with marijuana in a hotel room in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables on Monday, raises further doubts about her ever returning to the sport. It also strengthens the case for raising the minimum age for competing on the tour to 16, a move supported by Martina Navratilova, among other leading players.

Capriati was given a special dispensation by the Women's Tennis Association to make her debut 23 days before her 14th birthday in March, 1990. Before hitting a ball, she already had long-term tennis clothing and racket contracts estimated to be worth dollars 5m.

That summer she went on to become the youngest seeded Wimbledon player and the youngest to win a match at the All England Club. A year later, aged 15 and 95 days, Capriati defeated Navratilova, the nine-times champion, to become Wimbledon's youngest semi-finalist.

Capriati was a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 1992 - when she went on to win the gold medal in Barcelona - and again last year. It was confirmed last week that her name was not among the entries for next month's championships.

She was arrested on Monday after an anonymous tip about a runaway led police to her pounds 50 per night room at the Gables Inn. Sergeant Mitch Fry said they found Capriati alone. During a search, they uncovered an undetermined amount of marijuana.

When the female runaway, aged 17, and a 19-year-old Miami man, Tom Wineland, arrived at the room, they were arrested on heroin and crack cocaine charges. 'They pulled up driving Jennifer's car,' Sgt Fry said. Capriati was charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor, and released to her attorney, John Ross.

The runaway, who was not identified because of her age, was charged with possession of two packets of heroin. Wineland was charged with possession of suspected crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia and was being held on dollars 6,000 bail at the Dade County Jail.

A hotel clerk, Al Ghadoor, said Capriati had been staying in the room since Saturday morning and checked out on Monday. Sgt Fry said: 'I don't even know if these people know each other very well.'

Capriati's parents live at the other side of Florida, near Tampa. It was there in December that she wandered off from a shopping mall with the silver ring. Since she was only 17, and a juvenile, police were barred from making any confirmation of the incident and she was not charged.

Capriati's problems prompted the Women's Tennis Council to form an age eligibility commission, including experts in sport psychology, medicine, orthopaedics, paediatrics and neurology, along with specialists from tennis. The commission is due to hold a conference during Wimbledon. A report will then be submitted to the WTC during the United States Open, after which a decision is due to be taken.

The work of the panel is being co-ordinated by the International Tennis Federation, whose president, Brian Tobin, said: 'It's no secret we were pushed into bending the eligibility rule a little bit when Capriati was almost 14. In hindsight, maybe we made a mistake. We're all to blame to some degree. The general guidance given by parents, coaches and managers is very important in these formative years.'

(Photograph omitted)