Jennifer Capriati

Capriati's break out year left a mark on the tennis world. She became the youngest ever semifinalist at the French Open in Roland Garros and she was the youngest ever seed at Wimbledon. She also won her first WTA singles title that year in Puerto Rico at the $150,000 San Juan Open. She finished the 1990 season ranked number eight in the world and at age 14 she became the youngest ever player to be ranked in the top ten. She earned $80,000 in prize money and signed a million dollar deal with racquet company Prince.

Capriati's success continued the following year. In 1991 she began to beat the top players on the women's tour, including tennis legend Martina Navratilova and teen sensation Monica Seles. Capriati reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. At age 15 she was the youngest semifinalist ever at Wimbledon. She finished the 1991 season ranked number six in the world.

In 1992 Capriati continued to flex her tennis muscle. She reached the quarterfinals of three Grand Slam events and won a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. She attracted more endorsements, adding Oil of Olay and Snapple to her product line. At age 16 she became the youngest player to surpass the one million dollar mark in career prize money. She finished the year ranked seven in the world.

Capriati's fourth year on the professional tour in 1993 started off as well as the first three had. She reached the quarterfinals in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments that year. However, she lost in the first round of the U.S. Open. She was also having some physical problems, suffering from tendonitis and bone chips in her elbow. In September of 1993 Capriati announced that she was going to take time off of the WTA tour to finish high school.