Capriati Gets Second Win of Comeback

Jennifer Capriati rallied in both sets to defeat Austria’s Barbara Schett, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, Thursday and take her comeback to a third day in the Faber Grand Prix tournament at Essen, Germany.

Capriati was down, 4-0, in the first set and 1-0 in the second. She advanced to the quarterfinals with her second victory of the tournament and was exuberant, saying she was “in better shape than ever” after 2 1/2 years off from the tour.

Capriati added that she believed her success after the layoff was because of her natural tennis ability.

“You don’t lose your talent after such a short space of time--maybe after five or 10 years,” she said.

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Top-seeded Pete Sampras, facing his toughest test since regaining the No. 1 ranking, struggled to defeat 16th-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-1), in the third round of the St. Jude Championships at Memphis, Tenn. In the quarterfinals Sampras will face ninth-seeded Mark Woodforde of Australia, who took out eighth-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile, 6-2, 6-4. Luke Jensen, who upset No. 3 Andre Agassi a day earlier, lost to Jiri Novak, 6-4, 6-4.

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Top-seeded Boris Becker rallied to beat qualifier Andrei Olhovskiy, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and reach the quarterfinals of the European Community Championships at Antwerp, Belgium. Third-seeded Goran Ivanisevic beat Belgian Filip Dewulf, 6-2, 6-3.

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Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands, seeded No. 2, beat Jana Nejedly of Canada, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, to reach the quarterfinals of the IGA Tennis Classic at Oklahoma City. Third-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Maureen Drake of Canada in three sets.