Brad Gilbert

Brad Gilbert

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	San Rafael, CA, USA
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	1982
Retired	1995
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$5,509,060
Singles
Career record	519–288
Career titles	20
Highest ranking	No. 4 (January 1, 1990)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4r (1984)
French Open	3r (1993)
Wimbledon	QF (1990)
US Open	QF (1987)
Doubles
Career record	101–127
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 18 (September 29, 1986)
Last updated on: April 4, 2008.

Olympic medal record
Representing United States
Men's tennis
	1988 Seoul	Singles

Brad Gilbert

Medal record
Maccabiah Games
	1981 Israel	Men's Doubles

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 Bogdanović, 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.

Style 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.

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.

He is also a 1999 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.

Gilbert was inducted in 2001 into the ITA Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

Gilbert was a 2001 inductee into the Marblehead Boosters Hall of Fame.

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, and many believe this is testament to Gilbert's competence as a tennis coach.

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. 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 Bogdanović

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 Bogdanović, and others in his age group. Bogdanović said he was "unbelievably excited" at the chance of spending time with Gilbert. 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."

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, 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, was published in 2005.

Personal information

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

Bibliography

• Gilbert, Brad (1994). Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master. Fireside. ISBN 067188400X.

ATP Results

Singles wins (20)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1982	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Craig Wittus	6–1, 6–4
2.	1984	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Hank Pfister	6–3, 3–6, 6–3
3.	1984	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Wally Masur	6–3, 6–3
4.	1985	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Brian Teacher	7–6, 6–4
5.	1985	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Brad Drewett	6–3, 6–2
6.	1985	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Amos Mansdorf	6–3, 6–2
7.	1986	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Stefan Edberg	7–5, 7–6
8.	1986	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Mike Leach	6–2, 6–2
9.	1986	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Aaron Krickstein	7–5, 6–2
10.	1986	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Karel Nováček	3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–0
11.	1987	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	Eliot Teltscher	6–2, 6–2
12.	1988	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Aaron Krickstein	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
13.	1989	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Johan Kriek	6–2, 6–2, RET
14.	1989	Stratton Mountain, U.S.	Hard	Jim Pugh	7–5, 6–0
15.	1989	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Jason Stoltenberg	6–4, 6–4
16.	1989	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 2–6, 7–6
17.	1989	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Anders Järryd	7–5, 6–2
18.	1990	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet	Jonas Svensson	6–1, 6–3
19.	1990	Orlando, U.S.	Hard	Christo Van Rensburg	6–2, 6–1
20.	1990	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Aaron Krickstein	6–3, 6–1

Runner-ups (20)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1984	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	6–4, 6–4
2.	1985	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Ivan Lendl	6–4, 6–0
3.	1985	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Matt Anger	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
4.	1987	Washington D.C., U.S.	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6–1, 6–0
5.	1987	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hard	Amos Mansdorf	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
6.	1987	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet	Tim Mayotte	2–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–7, 6–3
7.	1987	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard (i)	Pat Cash	7–6, 4–6, 2–6, 6–0, 6–1
8.	1988	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet	Amos Mansdorf	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
9.	1989	Dallas WCT, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	6–3, 6–3, 7–6
10.	1989	Washington D.C., U.S.	Hard	Tim Mayotte	3–6, 6–4, 7–5
11.	1989	Orlando, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–2, 6–1
12.	1990	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Stefan Edberg	6–1, 6–1
13.	1990	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Carpet	Pete Sampras	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
14.	1991	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Darren Cahill	6–2, 3–6, 6–4
15.	1991	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Pete Sampras	6–2, 6–7, 6–3
16.	1991	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–2, 6–2, 6–2
17.	1992	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	Stefano Pescosolido	6–0, 1–6, 6–4
18.	1993	San Francisco, U.S.	Hard (i)	Andre Agassi	6–2, 6–7, 6–2
19.	1993	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Pete Sampras	6–2, 6–2, 6–2
20.	1994	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Todd Martin	6–4, 7–5

External links

• The Official Brad Gilbert Site
• Brad Gilbert at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Brad Gilbert at the Davis Cup
• Jews in Sports bio
• Brad Gilbert profile on Information Tennis