Dream duo shine in magical year

Although neither finished the year ranked world number one, 2001 proved to be the year dreams finally came true for Goran Ivanisevic and Jennifer Capriati.

While other players amassed more computer points or captured more prestigious titles, for sheer heart-warming achievement and staggering determination the unpredictable Croatian and resurrected American golden girl could not be bettered.

There was a hint of what was to come in an astonishing year for the sport when Capriati, the precociously talented Florida girl who became a byword for teenage mutiny and burn-out, penned another chapter to her remarkable story at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The pony-tailed American stunned pundits and fans by reaching the final and beating the favourite Martina Hingis 6-4 6-3.

"I can't believe this is happening," she said through tears of joy afterwards. "Who would have thought that I could ever make it here? But dreams do come true and, if you just keep believing in yourself, anything is possible."

A grand slam title for Capriati, who seven years earlier had thrown away her tennis rackets and reappeared with a nose-ring and black nail varnish, had indeed seemed all but impossible. But after a hiatus of several years, her love of tennis drew her back to the circuit.

Andre Agassi picked up the men's title at the opening grand slam of the year, the only one he was to win in 2001, but his highpoint came towards the end of the year with marriage to former world number one Steffi Graf and the birth of their first child.

LOVE AFFAIR

The grand slam circus rolled into Paris in May and Gustavo Kuerten's love affair with the French blossomed during a magical fortnight at Roland Garros.

Kuerten, whose captured his third French Open title, once again melted the hearts of the sentimental Parisian crowd, drawing love-hearts in the Centre Court clay and kneeling to blow kisses to the crowd.

Capriati continued where she had left off in Melbourne and won an epic third set to beat Belgium's Kim Clijsters 1-6 6-4 12-10 in the final of the women's event.

The victory came at the end of what was the longest final set in the history of French Open women's finals. "Really I am just waiting to wake up from this dream... it doesn't seem like a reality," she said after beating Clijsters, the first Belgian in a grand slam final.

Capriati's wake-up call came just weeks later at Wimbledon when she was beaten in the semifinals by Justine Henin, the second Belgian to reach a grand slam final.

But as Capriati's dreams of winning all four grand slam titles in one year were left in shreds by the small Belgian with the sweetest of backhands, Wimbledon was firmly in the grip of another improbable and irresistible drama.

Goran Ivanisevic, that wildest of wildcards, buried the nightmare of losing in three agonising Wimbledon finals with a inspirational performance to finally win a major title after 13 years as the nearly-man of tennis.

Grabbing the All England Club's invitation to play in the main draw of the men's singles despite a woeful world ranking of 125, the seasoned warhorse beat both Britons, Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman, as well as Marat Safin, Andy Roddick and, in the final, Pat Rafter to fulfill his life's ambition.

EMOTIONAL TEARS

"All my life I was always second," he said after his emotional tears had finally dried following the Monday lunchtime final.

"Now finally I am champion of Wimbledon. This is everything for me. All my dreams have all come true."

Venus Williams defended her Wimbledon crown by beating Henin in the final with a signature brutal display but her heroics were overshadowed by Ivanisevic.

She also defended her U.S. Open crown in September in a history-making final against younger sister Serena. Again, though, her achievements were overshadowed by the men's draw where a tough and wilful Australian announced his arrival in the upper echelons of the sport.

Lleyton Hewitt, considered a likely prospect for supremacy in two or three years' time, showed he had no intention of hanging around that long and won his first grand slam title at Flushing Meadow with a demolition job of the fast-fading Pete Sampras.

Having started the year with ambitious goals to reach the top five in the world and make a grand slam semifinal, Hewitt also became the youngest man in history to finish the year ranked number one in the world, clinching the accolade with triumph at the Masters Cup in Sydney.

"I think it's come as a bit of shock to most of us," the 20-year-old Hewitt said afterwards. "I guess it's something that I dreamed of as a young kid."

Hewitt's other ambition, helping Pat Rafter to finally win the Davis Cup with Australia, turned sour at the last minute, though, when the Australians were beaten by France in the Melbourne final.

Rafter is now expected to retire without a Wimbledon crown having lost the last two finals. But the examples of Capriati, Ivanisevic and Hewitt may persuade him to make one more try.