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Saturday, 23 March, 2002, 22:47 GMT
Capriati lives up to ranking
Capriati was wearing new Ferrari-sponsored kit
Click here for Saturday's results from Miami
Top seed Jennifer Capriati began her new reign as world number one with a 6-0 6-3 demolition of Eleni Daniilidou in the second round of the Nasdaq-100 Open Masters. Taking inspiration from her new all-red Ferrari clothing range, the Australian Open champion sped past Daniilidou in just 63 minutes. Capriati broke her opponent - who beat Anna Kournikova in the previous round - to open the match and then raced through the first seven games.
Daniilidou went the entire match without holding serve but did manage to break her American opponent three times in the second set. The Greek had looked poised to stage a late rally when she broke to cut the deficit to 4-2 but saw any hopes of a comeback dashed when she slipped and injured her left leg. After taking an injury time-out Daniilidou returned to the court with a heavily bandaged thigh and from that point on could offer only token resistance as Capriati closed out the match. After the match Capriati fielded more questions about the $160,000 sports car given to her by her clothing sponsor than her performance on the court. "I didn't think I would ever get so excited about a car," she smiled. "Players are asking me for rides. Even the guy players are talking to me more. I guess because they think I'm cool now." Capriati reclaimed top spot in the rankings on Monday from Venus Williams - who launched her bid for a fourth consecutive Nasdaq-100 title with a second round 4-6 6-2 6-1 win over Eva Dyrberg.
Williams committed 20 unforced errors and double-faulted three times in the first set. But then she found another gear and will now meet Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Oliva, who advanced with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova. Fourth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz 6-2 6-3 but the second round marked the end of the road for Clijster's compatriot Justine Henin. Sixth seed Henin crashed out at the first hurdle for the first time this season, losing 6-7 6-3 6-4 to Israel's Anna Smashnova. Henin - a finalist at Wimbledon last year - double-faulted nine times and committed 103 unforced errors. Slovakian 13th seed Daniela Hantuchova - who beat Martina Hingis in the final of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday - lost 4-6 6-4 6-2 to Zimbabwe's Cara Black. Monica Seles was forced to go the distance by Spain's Conchita Martinez before prevailing 5-7 6-4 6-3.
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