June 28, 201016 yr Former tennis star Jennifer Capriati 'rushed to hospital after drugs overdose' By Paul Thompson Last updated at 5:45 PM on 28th June 2010 Comments (13) Add to My Stories Capriati at the Lorus World Sports Awards in Monaco after she made a successful comeback to tennis Former tennis star Jennifer Capriati was recovering tonight in a Florida hospital after a suspected drug overdose. Paramedics found the 34-year-old, once ranked the top female player in the world, in a 'dazed state' in a hotel room. Two other people in the room called emergency services after they were unable to wake her following what police sources said was a night of 'partying'. Capriati, who has a history of drug use, had checked into the hotel in Riviera Beach about a half a mile from her £1.2million home on the exclusive beach resort of Singer Island, Florida. The 911 call was made on Sunday morning and Capriati was rushed to the resort's nearby St Mary's Hospital. Her father Stefano told celebrity website TMZ.com she was 'recovering well' but did not go into any details about the incident. The suspected overdose marks a new low for the one time champion who burst on to the tennis scene as a precocious 14 year old in 1990. By the time she was 15 Capriati, managed by her former boxer father, had sponsorship deals worth over £10million She went on to win the Australian and French Opens and reached the Wimbledon semi finals twice, most famously in 1991 knocking out defending champion Martina Navratilova in the quarter finals for her earliest ever exit from the tournament. But by her 18th birthday she was considered the poster child for burned out sports prodigies. Capriati was widely seen as rebelling against her father's strict control. He had moved the family from New York to Florida after noticing his daughter's talent on the tennis court. From the age of 10 she received intensive coaching from Jimmy Evert, the father of US star Chris Evert. Turning professional at the age of 14 Capriati fulfilled her early promise. But within four years her career was virtually over following arrests for theft and drugs. Her mother Denise later admitted her only daughter had missed out on a normal childhood. She said: 'Jennifer went from being happy to sad and fearful, and as a parent I felt plenty of guilt and shame for the role I played in that. 'The money, the excitement, the endorsements, the pride - you get caught up in it, and you're not thinking of what your child is missing, and if this is what's best for them.' Capriati had earned $1million from tennis before turning 16. She dropped out of the sport in the mid-nineties then made a championship-winning return in 2002 Capriati hit rock bottom in 1994 when she was charged with possession of marijuana after being caught in a Florida hotel room with two drug addicts. They claimed Capriati, whose weight had ballooned from her playing days, was smoking highly addictive crack cocaine, A year earlier she had been arrested on shoplifting charges when she was caught stealing a £20 ring from a store near her home in Tampa. After a spell in a Miami drug rehab centre Capriati successfully relaunched her career. She completed an amazing comeback in 2002 by winning the Australia Open where she beat the world No 1 Martina Hingis. Months later she won the French Open and went to reach the Wimbledon semi finals. But shoulder and back problems curtailed her career and in recent years she has been living alone in a beachfront condominium on Singer Island. In 2007 with her career over, Capriati admitted she had battled with depression and even considered suicide went she went off the rails in her late teens. She said: 'When I looked in the mirror I actually saw this distorted image. I was so ugly and fat I just wanted to kill myself really. At the end of a match, I couldn't wait to get off court. Mentally, I'd just lost it. I wasn't happy with myself, my tennis, my life, my coaches, my friends.'
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