The much-anticipated Wimbledon quarterfinal between defending champion Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati fell far short of its billing Wednesday, as Williams raced to a 6-1, 6-1 victory in 45 minutes. Thousands of fans were still filing into Center Court when the match ended.
Capriati held serve the first game, but then Williams won eight straight games to go up 6-1, 2-0, and never looked back. She won on a stretch forehand volley, one of the few points in which she had to exert herself. Williams’ semifinal opponent is Amelie Mauresmo of France, who beat Paola Suarez 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
”When you play Jennifer, you’ve got to come out really strong,” said Williams, who had lost to Capriati their last two meetings. “Since I’ve been playing her, I’ve been trying to come out strong and I always seem to come out slow, so I wanted to come out smokin’.”
Capriati had no answers.
Capriati complained that she was distracted by the media hype surrounding the match.