Jennifer Capriati should be in Europe this week, slugging it out with other great athletes in the prestigious French Open tennis tournament and spending her free time shopping in Paris.
Instead, the teenage tennis phenom is in Florida, slugging it out with a drug problem and struggling to put her life back together in a Miami Beach rehabilitation center.A mere four years ago, just weeks into her professional tennis career, Capriati reached the French Open semifinals. Three years ago, she was a semifinalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In 1992, she defeated the world's foremost female tennis machine, Steffi Graf, to capture a gold medal in the Olympics.
Long before she was old enough to vote, Capriati was a millionaire from endorsements and tennis prize money.
Now Jennifer Capriati faces a misdemeanor drug charge. Her tennis career is in ruins. Her future is as cloudy as an 18-year-old's future can be.
How could this happen?
Round up the usual suspects.
Blame Capriati's fortune-seeking parents for pushing her too hard. Blame the sport of tennis for exploiting little girls who are blessed with the fabulously marketable knack of hitting a ball with a racket. Blame society for pressuring young athletes to win - no matter the cost.
About the only person who hasn't been targeted for blame is Jennifer Capriati.
And therein lies the problem.
If this likable, fortunate, incredibly wealthy, amazingly talented young woman is a victim - well, she is a victim only in the sense that she is one more pathetic example of what can happen when society refuses to hold individuals accountable for their actions.
If Capriati's parents are to blame for their daughter's sad predicament, it isn't because they pressured her to become a tennis star. It's because they didn't pressure her to become a responsible person.
The only difference between Jennifer Capriati and any other 18-year-old in trouble is that so many people know who she is and what she's been up to. Fame and fortune didn't cause her problems any more than all that money in the bank could prevent them.
If the pressure and profits of being a tennis prodigy are certain to pave the road to self-destruction, why have we never seen a police mug shot of Chris Evert or Tracy Austin?
Because Chris and Tracy had enough character to keep their heads on straight when the cash and accolades started rolling their way. Maybe they learned it from their parents, or their coaches, or maybe they figured it out on their own. Capriati hasn't learned it and she's paying the price.
If Capriati believes all this media malarkey that says everyone but Jennifer is responsible for her troubles, she may never learn.
Sooner or later, the excuse-making has to stop. Sooner or later, if our society is ever to get itself on track, people must begin taking responsibility for themselves.