An unbroken will

Jennifer Capriati, she of the newly rediscovered life and tennis game, was about to polish off Serena Williams in straight sets in the French Open women's quarterfinals. At match point in the second set--5-4 and 40-30--Capriati had a much-anticipated semifinal showdown with Martina Hingis on her racket.

She double-faulted.

Before she knew it, Capriati was serving at 5-6 and 15-all, battling just to stay in the second set and force a tiebreaker.

She double faulted. 15-30.

Another double fault. 15-40.

Williams closed out the set on the next point, and there was a chance that the resurgent Capriati's confidence might collapse. And when Williams held serve to open the third set, and then gained a break point on Capriati's serve in the next game, Capriati was on the ropes.

She didn't double fault.

Capriati crafted a few clutch winners, while Serena--pressing a little too much--hit a number of unforced errors, which killed her in the first set, won handily by Capriati, 6-2.

By the time that game had ended, Capriati had survived three successive break points without an ad point to hold serve. But after parrying away those three break chances, Capriati finally got an ad point and immediately converted it. One-all, and all was well for Jenny.

Rewind to yesterday's men's fourth-round match between Andre Agassi and Argentina's Franco Squillari. After Agassi had evened the match at one set apiece, Squillari held serve to open the third, and then had a break point against Agassi to go up 2-0 and regain momentum.

Agassi circled the wagons, denied Squillari's break opportunity, and promptly broke back to seize control of the third set. By getting on top in the third set, Agassi's fourth-set follies didn't cost him the match. The 6-1 drubbing he received in the fourth became a time for him to reserve energy, gather himself mentally, and roar back with a French bagel in the fifth, squishing Squillari by a 6-0 count.

After facing a break point, Agassi--like all other great players--turned around and immediately broke back, as if to say, "Now THAT is how you break serve!"

So, just exactly what happened after Capriati fought off those three breakers to square the final set at 1-all?

Oui, oui--she broke Mademoiselle Williams' serve, and after facing a 40-love deficit. Five straight points turned the tide for the woman who is riding an exceptionally high wave of confidence this year.

The NBA and NHL playoffs evoke the mentioning of shooting and save percentages. Against Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati converted 7 of 7 break points. Not bad in a monster Grand Slam quarterfinal against an accomplished big-point player. Not bad for someone whose life had been careening out of control just a few years ago.

Jennifer Capriati's life has been marked by healing and mending wounds over the past few years; yesterday at the French Open, she broke down... Serena Williams.