Captivating Capriati is born again

American holds nerve in a compelling final set to capture her second consecutive Grand Slam title

The second Grand Slam title of the year went Jennifer Capriati's way at the French Open in Paris yesterday, just as the first had done in Australia last January. But Capriati will forever remember the mara-thon confrontation she had to overcome before outlasting the brave and obdurate Belgian teenager Kim Clijsters, 1-6 6-4 12-10 in two hours 21 minutes.

Capriati, the first American to win here since Chris Evert in 1986, remains on course to match the sweep of all four major tournaments last pulled off in 1988 by Steffi Graf. It was fitting that Evert should present the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. As a seven-time winner of this title and one of the greats of the women's game, Evert was the heroine of Capriati's early days. There was a catch in Jennifer's voice as she said of the ceremony, "Chris said she was proud of me and happy to see I won".

Winning was frequently far from Capriati's mind, especially in a one-sided first set which Clijsters dominated and then in an absorbing deciding set which lasted 79 minutes and swung first one way and then the other. The wonder was that the pair were still standing, never mind running, as the crowd roared their approval of an unforgettable contest.

"I was really surprised how high the level still was after two-and-a-quarter hours," said Clijsters, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam final. "We both kept fighting until the end." Capriati concurred: "I was just happy to pull out such a tough match. I was fighting for my life out there but I just wanted to win so bad. I'm happy and relieved."

Roland Garros has a habit of producing classic women's finals, and this was up there with the finest of them. The total of 155 unforced errors (79 by Capriati, 76 from Clijsters) was testimony not to wayward tennis but to the manner both women went for their shots in thrilling fashion, striking wonderful winners or just missing the target.

"All the up-and-coming players hit the ball hard and like to go for the points," said Clijsters. "This is the future of women's tennis." This was also an opinion shared by Capriati. "It is better to take the chance. You have to be aggressive to end it."

End it she did eventually, with a forehand beyond the reach of the fast-tiring Clijsters before leaping high into the air, just as she had done in Melbourne at the end of the Australian Open, and then rushing to courtside to be embraced by her father, Stefano, and brother Steven. So the fairy tale flows on, surely one of the most heart-warming in any sport; a tale of how a child prodigy burnt out and managed to come back at the second attempt from a world she had grown to fear as "a dark place''.

Standing on the rostrum to receive her trophy, Capriati confessed to feeling it was all a dream after what she had been through. "It was a surreal feeling just to be standing there," she said. "All the people clapping me, just an amazing feeling." The fourth-seeded Capriati is the first woman to win the year's first two Grand Slams since Monica Seles in 1992. "I guess the Grand Slam is feasible, anything is feasible," she said. "For instance, I didn't expect to win a first Grand Slam, or my second."

But the statistic she will surely treasure is that it is 11 years since, as a 14-year-old on this same court, she reached the semi-finals of the French Open. These days, 11 years is virtually two careers and that, of course, is what Capriati has gone through, with a nightmare period of drop-out and burn-out in between.

Capriati was entitled to wonder if her second Grand Slam would turn out to be a bleak experience. Watched by her boyfriend, the Australian Davis Cup player Lleyton Hewitt, Clijsters showed all the fighting qualities inherited from her footballer father, Leo. Having won the opening game, Capriati lost the next seven. Capriati was a set down with less than half an hour gone, looking taut and tense, involving herself in altercations about the state of the umpire's microphone and looking anything but the in-form player of the women's tour.

"Kim was playing unbelievable tennis in the first set," she said. "And I wasn't focused at the beginning." Unwrapping a new racket at 0-1 in the second set did the trick temporarily as she captured the next two games. A further break of serve was enough to secure the second set and level the match, with Clijsters sticking to her strategy of attempting to expose Capriati's lack of pace with repeated drop-shots. Some worked but most didn't. Capriati is no longer slow and heavy.

So the stage was swept and prepared for that historic third set, with the black, red and yellow flags of Belgium prominent in the crowd and football-style chanting support for the Flemish girl, who celebrated her 18th birthday the day before this final. Incredibly, Clijsters was still managing to match Capriati, one of the game's hardest hitters, for power of shot, as well as impeccable length. It was riveting stuff. Capriati broke in the opening game. Clijsters broke right back. Then the two settled into a period of solidity on serve, despite the increasing double faults as arms grew heavy.

At 6-5 Clijsters stood two points from victory on two occasions, but the moment slid away on a couple of errors. Back bounced Capriati to break and to serve for the match at 7-6. Clijsters stood firm and levelled at 7-7. Capriati changed her racket again and then broke once more to go 10-9 ahead. Again she served for the match and failed to make it, losing serve on a freak volley from Clijsters which struck the tape and looped over her head.

But this is not the Capriati who used to give up when the going got bad. "We were both tired, but if you can stay in there physically nothing will make you give it up mentally when you have got so far," she said later. Capriati attacked the faltering Clijsters serve yet again and broke her. After two hours and 20 minutes the contest produced its first match point.

Capriati missed it, striking a backhand wide. But there was one more match point, and this she did not miss. The fact that Clijsters won more points than Capriati (131-126) was of no consolation. Next stop Wimbledon.

But I'm not even thinking about that right now," she smiled, touching the trophy which makes her champion of France.