Capriati's top spot at risk after early exit

Jennifer Capriati was in great danger of losing top spot to fellow American Lindsay Davenport after France's Sandrine Testud beat her 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the WTA Championships on Friday.

All Davenport has to do now to finish the year in the driving seat is beat Belgian Kim Clijsters on Saturday in the semifinals of the season-ending event for the world's top 16 players.

"I had a throat infection and a fever," said Capriati, who had her match put back by 24 hours.

"In the first set I didn't even know what the score was at one point. I was just kind of delirious out there."

Davenport, who has won three tournaments in a row to move into second place just 61 points behind Capriati and has racked up 14 straight victories since the start of her indoor season, appears ideally placed to return to number one.

Capriati had her fate in her own hands as reaching the final here would have enabled her to stay top, even if Davenport won the tournament.

But a weakened body and a determined Testud prevented her from doing that.

COMBINATION

"It was a combination of not the opponent I wanted to play when I'm not feeling a hundred percent," said Capriati, who had lost to Testud in the quarter-finals last month in Filderstadt, Germany.

That defeat did not stop Capriati from jumping to number one for the first time in her career that week.

It was a remarkable achievement for the American, who burst into the limelight as a bubbly teenager before her career was derailed when she lost interest in the sport and dabbled in drugs.

Despite winning the Australian and French Open crowns in a memorable season, Capriati might now have to be content with ending the year at number two.

"It doesn't really matter to me," she said. "I've been there at least. I've been number one and next year I can start all over again."

Testud goes on to meet American seventh seed Serena Williams, who overcame a brave second set challenge from Wimbledon finalist Justine Henin and a broken string to advance to the last four with a 6-3 7-6 victory.

DRAMA

There was drama at the end of an exciting quarter-final battle when Henin, after diving and crashing onto the court to hand her opponent a match point, forced Williams into a great rally.

"The string was broken in three different parts," said Williams, who sealed victory by intercepting a lob with an acrobatic shot with her back to the net.

"One thing my dad has taught me is that if you break a string, you play the point out."

The 20-year-old American, playing her first tournament since losing to sister Venus in the U.S. Open final in September, had qualified for the year-end event Championships for the last two years but pulled out injured both times.

"I didn't think I played that great," said Williams.

"But I could have stayed out there all day. I'm in great shape and definitely looking forward to ending the year on a positive note."

Asked what her programme would look like next year, she promised it would be a busy one.

"I'll be everywhere," she said. "You guys will get tired of seeing me."