PHILADELPHIA -- It is officially the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia, but don't be deceived. In fact, it is the Jennifer Capriati Open.
Last night, Capriati returned to pro tennis for the first time since a first-round loss at the 1993 U.S. Open and subsequent run-ins with the law, including an arrest for marijuana possession and a stint at a drug rehabilitation center.
She returned to a standing ovation, cheers and whistles, as an unseeded wild-card entry to face Anke Huber, No. 13 in the world.
And though she didn't win, she learned she is still competitive and compelling.
She lost to Huber, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, before a crowd of about 4,000 and an additional gathering of nearly 150 print and broadcast media from as far away as Europe and Japan.
Capriati started slowly in the first set, and came on like a comet in the second before finally fading in the third.
Her bruising, two-handed backhand is intact, and when she streaked from deep in the back court to catch up to a Huber drop shot for a stretched-out, cross-court winner to take the second set, it was apparent most of the rest of her game is, too.
All she seemed to lack was the consistency that comes from match play.
"I think she has to look within herself and find her own motivation," Pam Shriver said of Capriati. "When she does that, she won't feel pressure from what's written or from past expectations. That comes with maturity.
"I just hope she wipes the slate clean -- or nearly clean. It's going to be hard, but I think she can. I think with 14 months off and with the kind of last year she has had, expectations will be much more modest."
Perhaps Capriati's expectations will be less -- she says they are, "I'm not even thinking about winning," she said. "I just want to play tennis and have fun playing tennis."
But the expectations others have for her appear to be just as demanding.
Yesterday, New York Times tennis writer Robin Finn wrote Capriati is returning just in time to "rejuvenate not just herself, but the very business she abandoned."
Capriati, who turned pro at age 13 and was once ranked as high as No. 6, had been the darling of the women's pro tennis world: A Sports Illustrated cover story, a finalist in her first pro tournament in 1990, a French Open semifinalist at age 14.
By 1991 she ranked among the Top 40 highest paid athletes in the world, with $20 million in earnings and sponsors paying her an additional $5 million annually. In 1992, she won a gold metal at the Olympics in Barcelona.
Then came a December 1993 reprimand for allegedly shoplifting a $15 ring at a store in Tampa, Fla.
Last March, she moved into her own apartment in Florida, while a high school senior, and began hanging out with drug users. In May, she was arrested on marijuana possession charges, was abandoned by all her sponsors and checked into a drug-rehab center.
Afterward, she moved, with her family, to Palm Springs. And now, still only 18, she is taking her first step toward a professional comeback.
"I think it's tremendous she's coming back already," said Lindsay Davenport, an 18-year-old who didn't turn pro until she was 16.
By the time Capriati was 16, she had already been a semifinalist in three Grand Slam tournaments.
"I didn't think she'd try to come back until next year," said Davenport. "But I've spent some time with her here and I think she's ready to come back. She has a different attitude, a different approach. She's here without her parents and I think that's a major step. Tennis isn't a family project -- at least it shouldn't be."
But Capriati's family was involved. Once Capriati turned pro at 13, her father's only job was managing his daughter's career and her earnings supported the family.
"My dad still worked when I turned pro," said Davenport. "He didn't want all his eggs in one basket with me. He still works -- so does my mom."
Capriati is here with former touring pro Jose Higueras, who coaches Jim Courier. He and Capriati met about four weeks ago and he has been helping her since, though he says he is not her coach. "She's out here to have a good time and compete," said Higueras. "She's hitting the ball well, but she hasn't played in 14 months."
Higueras said she is practicing three to four hours a day and that her attitude has been good. "She's having a good time and that's what is important," he said. "I care about Jennifer more than I care about Jennifer's tennis."
While in Philadelphia, Capriati has been to lunch with a group of players, where she acted like a normal teenager.
"She talked about movies she'd seen," said Shriver, who has started the process of finding out if Capriati would like a regular doubles partner next season. "She said she walked out in the middle of "Pulp Fiction" because she didn't like it. And she talked about her dog."
Pretty normal stuff, even if your name is Jennifer Capriati.