Mr. "Winning Ugly" turns 60: Congratulations Brad Gilbert!
Brad Gilbert didn't invent tennis - but he showed how to get the most out of limited resources.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Aug 09, 2021, 07:59 pm
"Gilbert, you don't deserve to be in the same place with me," scolded John McEnroe. "You are the worst. The ... worst!"
McEnroe was experiencing his personal nightmare, back then, in Madison Square Garden, at the Masters in 1985. McEnroe, the tennis genius, lost to the trickster 7: 5, 4: 6 and 1: 6, as a result he put in a longer one Take a break from tennis.
To McEnroe's reassurance: He won the 13 remaining games against Brad Gilbert. But Brad Gilbert likes to tell about this one victory, also in his legacy, the book Winning Ugly , one of, if not the most famous tennis book in the world.
Because Brad Gilbert wasn't blessed with the serve of a Boris Becker or the forehand of an Ivan Lendl, let alone the feel of the ball of a John McEnroe. But Gilbert had a head, he observed his opponents even before the match, at a time when the term "scout" did not even exist. He wrote the information in a small black booklet. And annoyed his opponents in the following match with the knowledge he had gathered.
Andre Agassi on Brad Gilbert: "As cast"
The American made it up to 4th place in the world, he has won 20 titles and beaten them all, the really big ones - with the exception of Lendl. "Ivan the Terrible" won all 16 of the two games.
At the end of his active career, Gilbert published his book, which Andre Agassi also got wind of - and hired Gilbert as a coach. These scenes at the first meeting of the two, which Agassi described in his own book Open , are glorious.
“I had completely forgotten how distinctive it looks. He has dark hair and an angular face, but not in the classic sense. His features don't look chiseled, more like cast, ”writes Agassi. The most beautiful sentence: "I can't help the impression that Brad looks like a prehistoric man, as if he had just jumped out of a time machine, still completely overwhelmed by the fact that he has just discovered fire." Agassi was particularly impressed by Gilbert's body hair . “His eyebrows alone are impressive. I think: I could make a pretty toupee out of his left brow. "
Gilbert's “job interview”, which Agassi sums up on the following pages, is completely absurd and consists of Gilbert's sports metaphors and the comparison of a Grand Slam tournament with Black Jack, after all, you need 21 (sentences) in tennis to get a Grand Slam -Titles to win. “BG” can only drink “Bud Ice”, is afraid of Manny Moskito and, in addition to his views on tennis, gives unsolicited tutoring on how to order a chicken leg with mozzarella. After enjoying the five pages, one actually wonders if Gilbert is slightly crazy, out of this world, or just the coolest guy in the universe.
Gilbert, the Twitter expert
After working with Agassi, Gilbert also brought Andy Roddick to number 1 in the world, the collaboration with Andy Murray allegedly also failed because Gilbert spoke without a point and comma. Which fits his current job as a TV expert for ESPN.
The "Man in Black" also entertains mere mortals via Twitter on @bgtennisnation (based on his tennis shop "Brad Gilbert Tennis Nation" in his hometown of San Rafael), especially his nicknames for tennis stars have cult status here. Roger Federer is a "FedFan", Bernard Tomic calls him "Weekend at Bernies", Genie Bouchard is "Genie in a Bottle". And Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? "Scrabble".
Today the big sports fan celebrated his 60th birthday - and if there is one thing to regret, it is that we in this country no longer notice him. Because even if he sometimes talks (too) a lot: his knowledge and his ability to observe - they are almost unmatched in tennis.
Happy Birthday, Brad!