This "Fairytale Ending" was further enhanced by the historic battle, and by 
the incredible "heart" and resolve Capriatti displayed, her very gracious and 
humble acceptance of the award, and the warmth with which she included her 
Father/Coach, Mother, and brother in her celebration. 
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CAPRIATI MELTS DOWN HINGIS TO TAKE TITLE
Australian Open: The American overcomes four match points and 
a 4-0 second-set deficit to win in three sets.

Los Angeles Times
By Lisa Dilman
Times Staff Writer
January 26 2002

MELBOURNE, Australia -- It took the greatest moments, along with the worst, 
from a certain Grand Slam tournament in France, to produce a historic final 
between Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis.

Capriati and Hingis were influenced by their Paris past in the Australian Open. 
It was as though the ingredients for this final came from France and were mixed 
in a blender. And out came a classic as the defending champion and top-seeded 
Capriati survived four match points and a 4-0 deficit in the second set, defeating 
No. 3 Hingis, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, in 2 hours 10 minutes on a day when 
temperatures neared 100 degrees in a rematch of last year's women's final.

It was the first time in 46 years in a final that a female player survived a match 
point and won in Australia. In 1956, Mary Carter defeated Thelma Long after 
holding match point. The last time it happened in the final of any Slam for 
women came in 1962 when Margaret Court came back to beat Lesley Turner in 
Paris.

Here, the foundation for a memorable encounter seemed to come from two French 
Open finals. Last year, Capriati did not play well in the beginning and dug 
deep, finding a new level of strength, beating Kim Clijsters, 12-10, in the 
third set.

As for Hingis, this was a reminder of her close call in the 1999 French Open 
final. She was three points from winning against Steffi Graf, and served for 
the match before unraveling in a petulant mess. Until today, that was as 
close as she had come to winning a Grand Slam since her Australian Open title 
in 1999.

Instead of a complete mental meltdown, Hingis had a physical one today. 
She needed an injury timeout in the third set, suffering from cramps and heat 
exhaustion, winning only three points in the final three games after the 
treatment.

Capriati didn't quite know how she won her third Grand Slam title, her first since 
the French Open in June. "I couldn't believe finally that I won," she said. "Maybe
I thought the third set would be a lot harder. I was cruising in the third 
set because Martina didn't feel well. The first one was great, but to come 
back and win like this, I don't know what's better."

Raw emotions were running through the 21-year-old Hingis, who was appearing in 
her sixth consecutive Australian Open final.

"I think I'm overwhelmed with feelings," she said. "Jennifer was too good today... 

Capriati, 25, "I didn't know if I was going to make it"...  "Martina, you are 
a great champion. It's going to take a while to get to your status, being here six times. 
It's a tremendous effort. I don't know how I won."

It was easier for her to describe how she got out of trouble. Capriati simply refused 
to play it safe on the match points against her. The first one came at 5-3 in 
the second set with Hingis serving for it. Capriati smacked a hard cross-court 
backhand winner on the match point and escaped with the game when Hingis 
double-faulted on break point.

The next one came in the 12th game, with Capriati serving. She survived by 
crushing a hard forehand, which drew an error from Hingis. The third one came 
in that same game when Hingis hit a forehand passing shot long off a Capriati 
volley.

Finally, Hingis' fourth match point came during a tense rally in the tiebreaker when 
Hingis hit a backhand long. That made it 7-7 in the tiebreaker, and Capriati forced 
the third set when Hingis missed a volley and hit a backhand wide.

The heat and the missed four match points caused Hingis to erupt. She threw 
her racket to the side of the court, getting pretty decent distance with the toss.

"I kept fighting on those match points I was down," Capriati said. "I went for it. I 
don't know why I didn't play like that when I was ahead. The heat was incredible. 
You saw the way we were sitting down between points. I got a second wind, 
third wind, fourth wind. I don't know how many winds I had."

Because the temperature was close to 100, the extreme heat policy rule was 
invoked and the players took a 10-minute break after the second set. Hingis 
changed clothes. Capriati did not, saying: "I forgot to bring another outfit."

After she finished with such a flourish, her celebration was a lot like last 
year in Melbourne. Capriati clasped hands with her father Stefano and spoke 
on the cell phone with her brother Steven, who was home. This time, her 
mother, Denise, was able to share in the Australian victory.

"She was very brave," Stefano said. "Without a heart, she couldn't go through 
this match."