With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, we are opening up our US Open vault to bring you full match videos of classic encounters through the years in New York.
Join us Saturday at 4 p.m. ET for the latest #USOpenClassics on Facebook Live,Twitter and Oculus Venues. Next up in the series is a full-match live stream of the 2003 US Open women's singles semifinal between Justine Henin and Jennifer Capriati. The full match will be posted on Sunday on the US Open YouTube Channel.
There are classics, and then there are instant classics. This semifinal showdown between Justine Henin and Jennifer Capriati was a sure-fire epic even before it finished at 12:27 a.m. Saturday morning—still the latest semifinal finish in US Open history.
On 10 different occasions, Henin was two points from defeat against her New York City-born opponent. But each time, the diminuitive Belgian fought back, until it was her on the cusp of victory in a third-set tiebreak.
A tight encounter was to be expected; this was the sixth of seven career meetings between the pair, and each of the first six went three sets. Henin owns the lifetime head-to-head, 5-2. This was their only match in New York.
The No. 2 seed required a hospital visit after her victory, for an IV drip, and then returned on less than five hours sleep to beat top seed Kim Clijsters, 7-5, 6-1, and claim the 2003 US Open women’s singles title. A seven-time Grand Slam champion in her career, Henin would triumph again in New York in 2007.
Watch the full #USOpenClassics semifinal match via Facebook Live,Twitter and Oculus Venues on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
