"Rookies don't know about pressure" - When Martina Navratilova was stunned by 15-year-old Jennifer Capriati in Wimbledon QF

Jennifer Capriati was among the finest players of her generation, and she started her career as a precocious talent.

The American is still the youngest-ever player to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings, having created the record in 1990 while aged just 14 years and 235 days old. The following year, she entered Wimbledon as the ninth seed and reached the quarterfinals.

Up against then-defending champion Martina Navratilova in the last eight, Capriati won 6-4, 7-5 to become the youngest semifinalist in the history of the grasscourt Major. After the match, Navratilova claimed that pressure built up once a player got older, citing the example of Frank Sinatra.

'Take Frank Sinatra. The pressure builds up the older you get," she said.

The nine-time Wimbledon champion also claimed that "rookies" like Capriati did not know about pressure due to their young age.

"Rookies don't know about pressure," Navratilova said.

Speaking about the match, Jennifer Capriati said that once she entered the court she didn't think about the stature of her opponent, and that she just played her best.

"I didn't want the whole situation to overawe me and not let me play. I thought, 'Here I am, I am going to play Martina on Centre Court. She has won it nine times'. But as soon as I got out there, I didn't really think about who I was playing. I just went out there and played my best," Capriati said.

Capriati lost 6-4, 6-4 to Gabriela Sabatini in the semifinals.

The 1991 Wimbledon quarterfinal was the second and final encounter between Jennifer Capriati and Martina Navratilova, with the latter having won their previous meeting in the final of the 1990 Family Circle Cup.

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Jennifer Capriati reached the Wimbledon semifinals twice

Jennifer Capriati during her induction into the International Hall of Fame

Jennifer Capriati won 38 out of 49 matches at Wimbledon, reaching the semifinals on two occasions. After her first appearance in the final four in 1991, the American had to wait ten years to repeat the run.

Capriati was seeded fourth at Wimbledon 2001 and she reached the semifinals with wins over Maria Vento, Francesca Schiavone, Tatiana Panova, Sandrine Testud, and Serena Williams. She was beaten 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the last four by eventual runner-up Justine Henin.

After 2001, Capriati exited in the quarterfinals at each of the next three editions at Wimbledon. Her last appearance at the grass-court Major came in 2004 when she was seeded seventh. The American reached the last eight before losing 6-1, 6-1 to eventual runner-up Serena Williams.