Brad Gilbert

Infobox Tennis player
playername = Brad Gilbert


nickname =
country = USA
residence = San Rafael, CA, USA
datebirth = birth date and age|1961|8|9
placebirth = Oakland, CA, USA
height = height|m=1.85
weight = convert|79.3|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro = 1982
retired = 1995
plays = Right-handed
careerprizemoney = $5,509,060
singlesrecord = 519–288
singlestitles = 20
highestsinglesranking = No. 4 (January 1, 1990)
AustralianOpenresult = 4r (1984)
FrenchOpenresult = 3r (1993)
Wimbledonresult = QF (1990)
USOpenresult = QF (1987)
doublesrecord = 101–127
doublestitles = 3
highestdoublesranking = No. 18 (September 29, 1986)
updated = April 4, 2008

Brad Gilbert (born August 9 1961, in Oakland, California) is an American tennis coach, a television tennis commentator, and former professional tennis player. He is the current coach of Britain's 2nd highest ranked tennis player, Alex Bogdanovic, as part of his contract with the English Lawn Tennis Association.

As a player, 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, and Andy Murray.

Career

Gilbert played tennis for Foothill College, a junior college in Los Altos, California, from 1980-82. During this time, he won the California Junior College Singles Championship and the U.S. Amateur Hardcourt Championship. In 1981, Gilbert was 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 Agustin 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(2), 6–7(1), 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, and Edberg 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) in Cincinnati in 1989.

tyle of play

Unlike many other professional players of his era, Gilbert did not have a powerful serve, a dangerous forehand or backhand, a flashy volley, or a lightning smash. His best asset was his ability to keep the ball in play. He hit the ball most often at a deliberately slow pace but with accuracy. He 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 would force the other player 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, then Gilbert would attack decisively, often at the net. Although he was easy to get along with outside the court, Gilbert could be (deliberately or not) annoying during a match, often challenging calls or complaining about trivial things. Both his style of play and his mental approach were deliberately contentious.

Davis Cup

Gilbert compiled a 10–5 record in Davis Cup play from 1986–93, with a 7–1 record on hard courts and carpet. [http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?player=10000519 Davis Cup]

Olympics

Gilbert won a bronze medal in the men's singles at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

Maccabiah Games

In 1981, Gilbert played for the U.S. Maccabiah Games team, and won the doubles title in Israel with partner Jon Levine.

Halls of Fame

Gilbert is a member of the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame. [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:6MqTXQtFd5EJ:www.norcal.usta.com/aboutus/custom.sps%3FiType%3D1942%26icustompageid%3D4431+%22brad+gilbert%22+hall+of+fame&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us 403 Forbidden ] ]

He is also a 1999 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame. [ [http://pepperdinesports.cstv.com/hallfame/pepp-hallfame.html CSTV.com: #1 in College Sports ] ]

Gilbert was inducted in 2001 into the ITA Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. [http://www.itatennis.com/Hall/hall_of_fame_men.htm]

Gilbert was a 2001 inductee into the Marblehead Boosters Hall of Fame. [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:A_a4dFu9XKoJ:marblehead.com/boosters/halloffame-past.htm+%22brad+gilbert%22+hall+of+fame&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us 403 Forbidden ] ]

Coaching career

Gilbert retired as a player in 1994. Since then, he has been highly successful as a tennis coach. This success has often been associated with the extraordinary tactical abilities exhibited during his own matches.

Andre Agassi

Gilbert was coach to Andre Agassi for eight years, from 1994 to 2002. During that period, Agassi won six Grand Slam singles titles, making it the joint-most successful coach-player partnership in the Open era (alongside Tony Roche's period as coach of Ivan Lendl). Agassi described Gilbert as "the greatest coach of all time."

Andy Roddick

Gilbert went on to coach Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 US Open under Gilbert's guidance, but they parted ways at the end of 2004. Roddick's form took a noticeable downturn after the break-up,fact|date=June 2008 and many believe this is testament to Gilbert's competence as a tennis coach.fact|date=June 2008

Andy Murray

On July 26, 2006, Gilbert was announced as taking over the coaching duties of British talent Andy Murray. As well as coaching Murray, Gilbert took part, pursuant to a 3-year deal, in other British Lawn Tennis Association programmes, including tennis camps at under-12 and under-14 levels. [ [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2006-08-03-gilbert_x.htm USATODAY.com - Gilbert coaching teen Murray, over firing by Roddick ] ] He also worked with the LTA's network of coaches and its high-performance clubs and academies. On 14 November, 2007, after 16 months working together, Gilbert and Murray parted company. By then, Murray had reached a career high of No. 8.

Alex Bogdanovic

In November 2007 it was announced that Gilbert will work for 20 weeks in 2008 for Britain's Lawn Tennis Association, concentrating mostly on coaching Britain's No. 2, Alex Bogdanovic, and others in his age group. Bogdanovic said he was “unbelievably excited” at the chance of spending time with Gilbert. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article2903825.ece Brad Gilbert gives Alex Bogdanovic rallying call to reach potential - Times Online ] ] Roger Draper, the LTA's chief executive, said: "We have set Brad a new challenge of getting Alex into the top 100 and also 'upskilling' our coaches and inspiring the next generation to follow in Andy's footsteps." [ [http://sport.independent.co.uk/tennis/article3174417.ece After Murray, Gilbert moves on to coach Bogdanovic, the world No 161 - Tennis, Sport - The Independent ] ]

Tennis commentator and writer

Gilbert now serves occasionally as an analyst for ESPN.

He is also the author of the very popular book "Winning Ugly," [cite book |author=Jamison, Steve; Brad Gilbert |title=Winning Ugly : Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master |publisher=Fireside |location=New York |year=1994 |pages= |isbn=0-671-88400-X |oclc= |doi=] which gives tips on how an average player can defeat a more skilled opponent. His second book, co-authored by James Kaplan and entitled "I've Got Your Back," [cite book |author=Andre Agassi; Brad Gilbert; Kaplan, James |title=I've Got Your Back : Coaching Top Performers from Center Court to the Corner Office |publisher=Portfolio Trade |location= |year=2005 |pages= |isbn=1-59184-095-3 |oclc= |doi=] was published in 2005.

Personal information

Gilbert resides with his wife and three children in San Rafael, California.

ATP Results

ingles wins (20)

Runner-ups (20)

References

External links

* [http://www.bradgilberttennis.com/ The Official Brad Gilbert Site]
*ATP|id=G016
*ITF male profile|number=10000519
*DavisCupplayerlink|id=10000519
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=365 Jews in Sports bio]
* [http://informationtennis.moonfruit.com/#/gplayercoaches/4529731404 Brad Gilbert] profile on [http://www.informationtennis.com Information Tennis]