Brad Gilbert

45
Brad Gilbert bigraphy, stories - Tennis player

Brad Gilbert : biography

August 9, 1961 –

{}

Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is an American tennis coach, a television tennis commentator, an author and former professional tennis player. He was born in Oakland, California and graduated from Piedmont High School (California).

Gilbert’s career-high singles ranking was world no. 4, which he reached in January 1990. Since retiring from the tour, he has coached several top players, including Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, and Kei Nishikori.

Playing career

Gilbert played tennis for Foothill College, a junior college in Los Altos Hills, California, from 1980–82, where he was coached by Tom Chivington. During this time, he won the California Junior College Singles Championship and the U.S. Amateur Hardcourt Championship. In 1981, Gilbert became a member of the American Junior Davis Cup team. In 1982, he transferred to Pepperdine University, playing for Allen Fox, where he became an All-American and reached the finals of the 1982 NCAA Championship.

Gilbert joined the professional tour in 1982 and won his first top-level singles title later that year in Taipei. His first doubles title came in 1985 in Tel Aviv.

Gilbert won a total of 20 top-level singles titles during his career, the biggest being the Cincinnati event in 1989. He was also runner-up in a further 20 singles events, including Cincinnati in 1990 (where he lost to future International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Stefan Edberg) and the Paris Indoors in 1987 and 1988.

Gilbert’s most successful year on the tour was 1989, during which he won five singles titles, including Cincinnati, where he beat four future Hall of Famers to claim the title: Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Boris Becker, and Stefan Edberg, as well as Agustín Moreno and Jason Stoltenberg.

Gilbert’s best performances at Grand Slam tournaments were at the 1987 US Open and 1990 Wimbledon, where he reached the quarterfinals. He was also runner-up at the inaugural Grand Slam Cup in 1990.

Gilbert was ranked among the top 10 players in the U.S. for 9 of his first 10 years on the professional tour. His career win-loss record in singles play was 519–288. His career prize-money totalled US$5,509,060.

Among his upsets of players ranked in the world’s top 3 were his defeat of no. 2 Boris Becker, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, in Cincinnati in 1989, no. 2 Edberg, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4, in Los Angeles in 1991, no. 3 Sampras, 6–3, 6–4, in London in 1992, and no. 3 Jim Courier, 6–4, 6–4, at Memphis in 1994, Edberg, 6–4, 2–6, 7–6, in Cincinnati in 1989, and perhaps most significantly, no. 2 John McEnroe, 5–7, 6–4, 6–1, in the Masters in MSG New York in January 1986, which sent McEnroe into his first six-month break from tennis.

Style of play

Unlike many other professional players of his era, Gilbert did not have a major offensive weapon such as an overpowering serve or forehand. His best asset was his ability to keep the ball in play. He hit the ball most often at a slow but accurate pace and was sometimes called a pusher. In his 2002 autobiography, John McEnroe called Gilbert a pusher and claimed that Gilbert had the ability to bring talented players down to his type of game. In addition, McEnroe stated that Gilbert was the most negative person he had ever played tennis against, and he was riled by Gilbert’s alleged non-stop tirades against himself whilst playing.

Gilbert kept an open stance and did not make many turns when at the baseline. This enabled him to control the game through oversight and tempo, despite his defensive style. He built his game around destroying his opponent’s rhythm. He forced his opponent into long rallies by hitting the ball high over the net and deep into his opponent’s court. If an opponent employed a slow pace, Gilbert attacked decisively, often at the net. He was one of the sport’s top strategists as a player. Although he was easy to get along with outside the court, Gilbert was a fierce competitor with a sometimes annoying style of play, focusing on his opponent’s weaknesses. Both his style of play and his mental approach brought him wins over the world’s top players and kept him near the top 10 for six years.