Beatrice Capra, who attended McDonogh School before moving to the Everet Tennis Academy in Florida, is captivating the tennis world this week with a pair of impressive wins at the U.S. Open Tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY.
On Tuesday Capra suprised Karolina Sprem of Croatia, 6-1, 6-3, in her opening round match, but she opened eyes all over the world with her performance on Thursday.
In the second round, the 19 year old from Ellicott City stunned Aravane Rezai of France, who is ranked No. 18 in the world, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Capra, who has said she is unclear about her professional tennis career, entered the Open with a world ranking of 371. After winning the first two games of the opening set, Capra dropped four straight, but rallied to secure a 7-5 win. Rezai was impressive in capturing the second set, but Capra maintained her poise and outplayed Rezai in the final set to become the lowest ranked player to move into the third round.
This is Capra’s Open debut and her first appearance ever in the main draw of any professional tour-level event. If she needs any more reminders that she is now playing on one of tennis’ biggest stages, it will be just on the other side of the net in her next match. Capra will meet former World No. 1 and three-time major champion Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
Capra’s performance this week is evoking memories of another teen sensation with McDonogh roots. Pam Shriver, perhaps the most accomplished athlete to ever graduate from McDonogh, burst onto the tennis scene as a 16-year old at the 1978 Open when she powered her way into the final opposite Chris Evert. Shriver would go on to win 21 singles titles and 111 doubles crowns, including four grand slam events, earning more than five million on the tour.
