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| 11 Dec 2000 | |
| Orange Bowl Spotlight: No. 1 seed Aniko Kapros |
November 11, 1988. That was the date Aniko Kapros asked for, and
received, a tennis racket for her fifth birthday.
"My dad loves tennis," says the 17-year old Hungarian, who is the No. 1
seed in the Girls 18s this week at the Ericsson Orange Bowl Championships.
"He played amateur tennis and would take me along. I thought, I want to try
this."
That was back in the Bahamas, where her parents were working in the theatre as acrobats. Kapros would spend seven years of her life there before returning to Hungary.
Ten years after getting her first racket, she broke on the world scene
as a 15-year old. Playing in her first Orange Bowl that year in the 18s
division Kapros was beaten in the first round.
She had a banner year in '99, rising to a No. 4 ranking after three
tournament titles, including the Eddie Herr, but she lost in the Orange Bowl
round of 16 to eventual winner Maria Jose Martinez.
2000 is a new year, and now she's the player to beat. "I feel pretty
confident," says Kapros, who used an off-day at last week's Connolly
Continental Cup team competition to do her Christmas shopping. "It helps to
be on top of the draw. It's a little pressure, but youčve got to take it
game by game. I just hope there will be a lot of matches."
The Continental Cup provided Kapros with a tune-up to the Orange Bowl.
She beat 15-year-old Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, the No. 6 seed this week, in
the round robin, 6-4, 6-1.
"Shečs a great player," Kapros says. "She's young. It's good to win when
you have a high-ranking opponent on the other side. It gives me confidence
for this week."
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