Just Re-Jenn-erating?

I can't resist the opportunity to blog about my favorite player of all time: Jennifer Capriati, when news of her surfaces. From the time she made her unpredictable and unprecedented comeback in 2001, I have been a huge fan of this former teen phenom. Though I was too young to remember much of her golden days, (I was four when she debuted in Miami in '90), watching old matches through YouTube and ESPNClassic I can see why Capriati captured the hearts of so many tennis enthusiasts.

Capriati has been a ghost on the WTA Tour for the last two calendar years, last competing in the fall of 2004 following her tremendous run to the US Open semifinals (including the dramatic "Wow, that ball was so far in" win over Serena Williams). Injuries have always hampered Capriati in one way or another, but a bad shoulder have kept her at bay for 27 months and rumors have circled time and again that she is thinking about anything but a return to the court.
Yet Capriati made a special appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, appearing on behalf of Sony Ericsson...a sure sign that the game's diva of divas in fact may not be finished.

In fact, she talked candidly (though non-committal) about her attempts to return to the game in an interview with Variety TV. What I have always loved about Jennifer Capriati is her ability to hint at things without really giving much information. She has always been personal with the media in a disconnected sort of way (remember the Matthew Perry debacle?)...and always ready to ask for her space.

A Capriati prediction? I just don't know. I'd love to see her back late spring to prepare for the French, but the way she hesitated to say she was only "working out" and not "practicing" means to me that she hasn't been hitting the court hard yet and might be back on the tour by summer at the earliest.

Until then, I'll continue to watch replays of my favorite Jen moments: her freaking out at the umpire in the 2002 Aussie Final (she got the linesman removed) and her "I didn't see the ball, so just keep playing, Serena!" attitude during the infamous line call at the US Open in '04. Now that's good tennis...or maybe just good tempers?