Justin Gimelstob

Infobox Tennis player


playername= Justin Gimelstob
country= USA
residence= Morristown, New Jersey, United States
datebirth= birth date and age|1977|1|26
placebirth= Livingston, New Jersey, United States
height= height|ft=6|in=5
weight= convert|195|lb|kg st|abbr=on
turnedpro= 1996
retired=
plays= Right-handed; one-handed backhand
grip=
careerprizemoney= US$2,515,972
singlesrecord= 106–168
singlestitles= 0
highestsinglesranking= 63 (19 April 1999)
AustralianOpenresult= 2r (1999)
FrenchOpenresult= 1r (1999, 2000, 2003, 2006)
Wimbledonresult= 3r (2000, 2003, 2005)
USOpenresult= 3r (1997, 1999)
doublesrecord= 171–154
doublestitles= 13
highestdoublesranking= 18 (8 May 2000)
updated = August 26, 2007

Justin Gimelstob (b. 26 January 1977, in Livingston, New Jersey) is a retired American tennis player. He won the 1998 Australian Open and French Open mixed doubles titles with Venus Williams as his partner. In singles matches, he has defeated Andre Agassi [ [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Gimelstob%2C+Justin&player2=Andre+Agassi ATPtennis.com - Players - Head-to-Head ] ] , Petr Korda [ [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Gimelstob%2C+Justin&player2=Petr+Korda ATPtennis.com - Players - Head-to-Head ] ] , Alex Corretja [ [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Gimelstob%2C+Justin&player2=Alex+Corretja ATPtennis.com - Players - Head-to-Head ] ] , Patrick Rafter, [ [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Gimelstob%2C+Justin&player2=Patrick+Rafter ATPtennis.com - Players - Head-to-Head ] ] and Gustavo Kuerten [ [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Gimelstob%2C+Justin&player2=Kuerten ATPtennis.com - Players - Head-to-Head ] ] .

Gimelstob has been a resident of Morristown, New Jersey. [Robbins, Liz. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE3D61330F932A0575BC0A9679C8B63 "TENNIS: NOTEBOOK; Gimelstob Says Fine For Spitting Is Low"] , "The New York Times", August 31, 2001. Accessed June 1, 2008. "Gimelstob was so disturbed that he threatened to find Tabara in the locker room afterward. Yesterday, Gimelstob, from Morristown, N.J., was even more angry."]

Tennis career

Juniors

Gimelstob began to play tennis at age eight.

In 1991, he was ranked #1 in the USTA Boys' 14 age group.

Gimelstob achieved the #1 ranking again in the USTA Boys' 16 age group, winning the USTA championship, in 1993.

In 1995, he won the USTA National Boys' 18 Championships. [ [http://ustaboys.com/tournament/past_winners.php Past Winners: 18s Singles] , USTA Boys National Tennis Championships. Accessed September 3, 2007.]

Gimelstob grew up in the New Vernon section of Harding Township, New Jersey. [Staff. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E2DE1339F935A25756C0A960958260 " SPORTS PEOPLE: TENNIS;Gimelstob Takes Shot at the Pros"] , "The New York Times", May 16, 1996. Accessed September 3, 2007. "The first pro tournament for the 19-year-old U.C.L.A. sophomore from Harding Township, N.J., will be the Stella Artois Grass Court Championships in London in June."] He graduated from Newark Academy in Livingston, New Jersey, in 1995. [Seeges, Sandy. [http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/SPORTS/708280319/1002 "Last Open for Gimelstob: New Vernon tennis player has tough match in Roddick"] , "Daily Record (Morristown)", August 28, 2007. Accessed September 3, 2007. "The 30-year-old Gimelstob, a graduate of Newark Academy, has known for awhile that his career was coming to an end."] As a sophomore at Newark Academy, Gimelstob led the school's tennis team to a 26-0 record and won the state Tournament of Champions. [ [http://www.nj.com/hssports/ledger/index.ssf?/hssports/century/stories/btennistop10.html "Best Boys Tennis Team of the Century"] , "The Star-Ledger". Accessed December 12, 2007.]

College and pro careers

In January 1995, Gimelstob enrolled at UCLA, where he completed his first semester with a 4.0 GPA.

Known to many as "The Most Quotable Guy on the ATP Tour", he earned the title with many interesting interviews. After reaching the U.S. Open as a wild-card in 1995, he said, "I'm only seven matches away from my first Grand Slam title."

In September 1995, he defeated No. 65 David Prinosil in the first round of the U.S. Open. It was Gimelstob's first Grand Slam event, and he was ranked #1,154. Gimelstob was featured in Sports Illustrated, whose the September 11, 1995, issue asked, "Eighteen-year old UCLA frosh, with 4.0 GPA in first term, aces U.S. Open debut. Could he be tennis' Tiger Woods?"

In March 1996, at Scottsdale he beat world #31 Jonas Bjorkman 2–6, 7–5, 6–2.

In 1996, his second (and final) year at UCLA, Justin won the NCAA doubles championship and helped lead the Bruins to a runner-up finish in the team competition (they lost to Stanford).

After turning professional later in the year, Gimelstob began to steadily move up the world rankings.

At Wimbledon in June 1997 he upset world #12 Gustavo Kuerten, 6–3, 6–4, 4–6, 1–6, 6–4.quote box2 |width=48em | bgcolor= |align=right |halign=left|quote="I feel great to have a win like this on my home court in front of my family, my friends, and every girl who denied me my first two years of college."|source= — Gimelstob, following his win over AgassiIn July 1997, he defeated world #32 Andre Agassi at the ATP event in Los Angeles, 7–5, 6–2, played on the campus of UCLA.

Later that month, he defeated world #16 Petr Korda 6–4, 6–4 in Montreal. Gimelstob then reached the 3rd round at the 1997 US Open.

Gimelstob subsequently established himself chiefly as a doubles specialist, winning 12 titles. In 11 appearances at the US Open, he partnered 11 different players.

He won the 1998 Australian Open and French Open mixed doubles titles with Venus Williams as his partner.

In 1998 Gimelstob also won his second career ATP doubles title (his first was in 1997, and as of February 2001, he had 9 career doubles titles).

In June 1998 at Wimbledon he beat world #9 Alex Corretja 7–6(3), 6–2, 6–3. In July he upset world #5 Patrick Rafter 6–4, 6–3 in Los Angeles.

In 1999, he reached his highest world singles ranking in April (#63) and won an additional five doubles titles with four different partners (he has been ranked as high as #18 in the world in doubles). In March he beat world #22 Thomas Muster, 6–4, 7–5 in Scottsdale, and in August he upset world #7 Todd Martin, 6–4, 6–4 in Cincinnati.

In June 2000 he beat world #27 Fabrice Santoro in London, 4–6, 6–4, 6–0. In July he upset world #19 Mark Philippoussis 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 7–6 (7–3).

In 2001, he had the best Grand Slam performance of his career, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open with partner Scott Humphries. At the US Open, 5' 9" Michal Tabara spat at Gimelstob after Gimelstob defeated him in five sets after what Tabara felt were too many (3) of Gimelstob's injury timeouts for blisters in the 202 minute match that Gimelstob won 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 4–6, 6–2. "Unless he grows about another foot by the time I get back to the locker room", the 6' 5" Gimelstob said, "he's in trouble." [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:gQe3x7njQBQJ:findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040904/ai_n12807710+gimelstob+tabara&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us] Tabara was fined $1,000 for unsportsmanlike behavior. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30712F738540C728FDDA10894D9404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fG%2fGimelstob%2c%20Justin TENNIS: NOTEBOOK; Gimelstob Says Fine For Spitting Is Low - New York Times ] ]

At the 2002 U.S. Open, Gimelstob was eliminated in the first round of the singles competition by No. 6 seed Andre Agassi in straight sets, 6–0, 6–1, 6–0. In doubles, he and partner Jeff Tarango reached the 2nd round before losing to Brian MacPhee and Nenad Zimonjić, 7–5, 2–6, 6–7 (5–7).

In February, 2003 he upset world #13 Paradorn Srichaphan, 7–5 6–2, in San Jose.

At Wimbledon in 2003, he competed in both the singles and doubles events. He upset No. 15 seed Arnaud Clement of France in the 2nd round 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7 (2–7), 6–1. In the third round, Gimelstob lost to Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, 1–6, 3–6, 3–6.

In September 2003, he won the International Series Gold tournament in Tokyo with Nicolas Kiefer as his partner. They beat Scott Humphries and Mark Merklein 6–7, 6–3, 7–6.

At Wimbledon 2004, Gimelstob teamed up with his old friend Scott Humphries. The duo faced the dynamic Bryan brothers, ranked second, in the 2nd round. Gimelstob and his partner upset Bob and Mike Bryan 6–3, 3–6, 6–4. They lost to Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor in the quarterfinals, 3–6, 2–6.

Gimelstob won two singles titles in 2004. In July, took Forest Hills, New York, beating Dusan Vemic 7–6(7) 6–2 in the final. In September, he competed in a hard-court tournament in Beijing. He beat Florent Serra of France 6–2, 6–2 in the quarterfinals, and Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6–1, 6–3 in the final.

Gimelstob won both doubles titles as well at Forest Hills and Beijing in 2004. In China, he was paired with Graydon Oliver as they defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Taylor Dent 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 (8–6) in the final.

He won the Nashville hard court title in November 2004.

Gimelstob had a good run in the hard court tournament in Tallahassee, during April 2005, losing in the finals.

Gimelstob faced 29th seed Nicolas Massu in the 2nd round of Wimbledon 2005 and upset the highly rated Chilean 6–3, 4–6, 7–6 (7–5), 7–6 (7–0). He was eliminated in the 3rd round by Lleyton Hewitt (seeded 3rd) 7–6 (7–5), 6–4, 7–5.

In 2006, Gimelstob reached his first ATP Tour Singles Final at The Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, losing to Mark Philippoussis.

In March 2006 he defeated world #39 Feliciano Lopez, 7–5. 6–3, in Indian Wells. In May he defeated world #32 Nicolas Massu, 2–6, 7–6 (7–3), 6–4, in the Portugal, and in July he defeated world #36 Andy Murray, 6–1, 7–6(4), in the semifinals at Newport, Rhode Island.

In September 2006 he had back surgery to remove two large disc fragments that were cutting off the nerves in his right leg. [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/justin_gimelstob/09/26/back.surgery/index.html SI.com - Writers - Justin Gimelstob: Career-threatening surgery gives me life perspective - Tuesday September 26, 2006 9:44AM ] ]

In June 2007, Gimelstob lost a contentious 6–4 vote of the ATP Players Council in his attempt to replace Andre Agassi's manager, Perry Rogers, on the men's tour's 3-man board of directors, and to become the first active player on the board. [ [http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/616859.html newsobserver.com | Stormy weekend for Gimelstob ] ]

Gimelstob retired from professional tennis in the fall of 2007 [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/justin_gimelstob/08/30/last.match/ SI.com - Writers - Justin Gimelstob: After 13 U.S. Open appearances, it's time to say goodbye - Thursday August 30, 2007 12:09PM ] ] . In his final singles major, he was defeated by Andy Roddick in the first round of the 2007 U.S. Open, 7–6, 6–3, 6–3. He also played doubles in the 2007 US open. After retirement, he will pursue a career in sports commentary.

In 2008 Gimelstob joined Washington DC's first pro tennis team the Washington Kastles.

Anna Kournikova Comments

On 25 June 2008 Gimelstob issued an apology for comments made on the radio show The Junkies, in which he insulted Anna Kournikova, in addition to threatening to physically injure her. [ [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2008/06/new_dc_athlete_has_a_kournikov.html New D.C. Athlete Has a Kournikova Feud - D.C. Sports Bog ] ] [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1029847/Women-tennis-players-sexpots-bitches--U-S-tour-director-launches-amazing-sexist-rant-Kournikova-Co.html Women tennis players are all sexpots and bitches... U.S. tour director launches amazing sexist rant at Kournikova and Co | Mail Online ] ] During the interview, Gimelstob, a regular guest on the show, said that that he intended to hurt Kournikova next month, when they are due to meet in an exhibition match in Washington. "I’m going to serve it right at the body, about 128, right into her midriff", he said. "If she's not crying by the time she comes off court then I did not do my job." Asked if that meant he hated the Russian, with whom he trained as a youth player, he replied: "Hate is a very strong word. I just despise her to the maximum level just below hate." He added that he would not like to sleep with Kournikova, "because she's such a douche". Instead, "I wouldn't mind my brother, who is kind of a stud, nail her and then reap the benefits." [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article4228384.ece Fault! Tennis star's sexist attack on Anna Kournikova was way over the line] , "The Times", June 27, 2008]

Davis Cup

Gimelstob played for the US Davis Cup team in 1998 and 2001. [ [http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?player=10010018 Davis Cup - Players ] ]

ingles Titles

Miscellaneous

*Gimelstob, who is Jewish (on his father's side), was inducted into the MetroWest Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. [ [http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/060806/mwHallOfFameInduction.html NJ Jewish News | Hall of Fame induction becomes a family affair ] ]

*Gimelstob is a blogger for "Sports Illustrated". [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/writers/justin_gimelstob/archive/index.html SI.com ] ]

*Gimelstob is a good friend of "The Junkies", a morning radio show in the Washington, D.C. market. Justin has been a guest on the show talking about his tennis career, his interactions with other tennis pros, including dalliances with such female players as Martina Hingis, and a variety of other topics. [ [http://www.wjfk.com/pages/1460207.php WJFK.com :: 106.7 WJFK :: Washington, DC - The Junkies (New) ] ]

References

External links

*
* [http://steveghelper.com/MatchResults.php?players=Gimels&weeks=20 Gimelstob Recent Match Results]
* [http://steveghelper.com/RankingHistory.php?player=Gimels Gimelstob World Ranking History]
*imdb name|1716594
* [http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?player=10010018 Davis Cup bio]
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=tennis&ID=11 Jews in Sports bio]
* [http://www.washingtonkastles.com Washington Kastles]