Former American player Justin Gimelstob has made his mark in the tennis world as one of the most personable, entertaining and forthright players, on or off the court.
Before retiring from the ATP tour in 2007 due to chronic back injuries, he had great success in doubles, winning mixed doubles titles at the 1998 Australian Open and French Open with partner Venus Williams. He was ranked as high as No. 18 in the world in doubles, and captured 13 career doubles titles.
But it was his quick wit and larger than life personality that landed him a new career as a tennis commentator. I recently had a candid conversation with Justin about life after tennis, his personal and professional learning curves, and his thoughts on the women’s tour.
“There’s no blueprint to life after tennis,” says Justin. As daunting as it was to think about the next chapter of his life, Justin always knew that his post-tennis career would have to involve something that would keep him close the game that he loves. These days, he is very content with his life off the court, after trading in his tennis racquet for a microphone.
“I loved my life playing, but it was never particularly easy for me. I was always dealing with a lot of injuries and tennis was very competitive,” says Justin. “I love my life now because I still get to be around tennis and play tennis. I missed it a lot during Wimbledon and the US Open, but for the most part, I really enjoy my life. I’ve been able to do some incredible things during in my first year outside of professional tennis. How many guys get to be on the Tonight Show?”
Since 2007, Justin has worked as a tennis commentator for NBC, ABC, TV Guide Channel, Extra! Fox Sports Net, Tennis.com, The Tennis Channel and more recently, Fox Sports Radio.
But like anything new, there is a learning curve, and Justin turned to the best in the business to learn the tricks of the trade. “I tried to get around people that had been in the business for a long time and just tried to pick their brain, whether it was Dick Enberg or Ted Robinson or Patrick McEnroe. I’ve worked really hard to learn the business,” he says.
Justin credits Dick Enberg for giving him a valuable piece of advice about avoiding some of the pitfalls of fame. Justin had been reading his autobiography, Dick Enberg, Oh, My! on a flight back from Australia, when ironically, they ended up sitting together. ‘Never read your critics,’ said Enberg. “I wish I had stuck to his advice more than I did.”
After getting into hot water for making flippant remarks about Anna Kournikova on a radio talk show this summer, Justin found himself being thrust into a different kind of spotlight—one that he didn’t see coming. The backlash from his comments created a storm of media criticism (both online and in print). The USTA took notice, as well as the WTA. Another learning curve in the making.
While he took full responsibility for his actions, Justin paid a price, both personally and professionally.
“It was a very painful time of my life. To see people who don’t know you or don’t understand all the information publicly malign you is a very hurtful process. Those sound bites [from the radio talk show] aren’t representative of the person that I am, and the people who know me, know that. Players that rushed to my defense (Andy Roddick and Lindsay Davenport among others) weren’t given the opportunity or the voice to be heard,” said Justin. “It was a better story to tell it the other way.”
“What hurt me the most are the people in the media who I generally have such a good relationship with because I give so much. But the second I took it too far, those same people who would call me for the sound bite, destroyed me.”
As with any career, some doors will open, while other doors close. One door in particular that slammed shut on Justin involved this year’s US Open Series ads. Justin would have been front and center as the host of these ads, but they were pulled as a result of his inappropriate comments. “There was just too much negative press around the situation,” said Justin.
In a surprising move, the USTA ended up using John McEnroe in a few of the same ads. Surprising, given “bad-boy” McEnroe’s history of volatility and inappropriate behavior.
Unfortunately, what Justin took the most pride in were those US Open Series ads. “It’s a shame, because everybody lost out–the ads lost out, I lost out and the game lost out. They [the ads] would have shown the players in a very funny, different, non-tennis light. I was the brunt of all the jokes – I was the fall guy in all of them, which I was fine with.”
But as one door closes, another one opens. The CBS Early Show came calling on Justin soon after. The original US Open Series ads can be seen online at Vimeo.com (type in Justin Gimelstob’s name).
Despite his painful experience, Justin came away with some important life lessons.
“Sometimes I give too much information. Sometimes I’m too accessible. Sometimes I should use my filter more. Sometimes I have to understand that context or sarcasm doesn’t always translate on paper like it does when people are just talking. There’s a certain place for being conditioned on a locker-room mentality that is hurtful and doesn’t belong in a public way.”
But the fact is, no one goes through life without making any mistakes. The most you can hope for is to learn from them and try to make fewer mistakes than anyone else. But don’t expect Justin to count every word that comes out of his mouth from now on. “At the end of the day, I am who I am,” says Justin. “I think there is value in that and I’m proud of that. What I’m trying to achieve is to do positive things.”
Positive is right. Earlier this summer, Justin was chosen to serve on the ATP Board of Directors as a Player Representative, and is excited about being involved in the governing of the game at such a pivotal time in men’s tennis.
In addition, Justin’s philanthropic endeavors have helped raise over 500,000 dollars for charity. He hosts the annual Justin Gimelstob Children’s Fund charity event to benefit children with cancer and blood diseases.
Justin Gimelstob on…
The state of women’s tennis
“I think that all things go through ebbs and flows. It’s great that Venus and Serena have reasserted themselves. I think they’re two huge superstars. Ana Ivanovic –you couldn’t find a better ambassador for the sport, in terms of a combination of style and substance. There are some challenges, though. With women’s tennis (on the American side) there’s a big void there, after Venus, Serena and Lindsay and that’s a concern. Maria Sharapova’s health–I mean she’s a huge, worldwide superstar. Hopefully she can be healthy and have a big year next year. Justine Henin retiring at age 25 at No. 1 in the world was [a] big blow.”
Coaching Lindsay
Lindsay Davenport was struggling with her game this summer, and turned to her old friend for guidance.
“Lindsay called me a couple of days before the US Open and asked if I could take a look at her game and try and help her out,” says Justin. “Coaching is a strong word. We’d practice and I’d watch her matches. She’s an incredible talent. She just needed a fresh pair of eyes.”
The player(s) with the best shot at being No. 1 at the end of the year
“I think Serena & Venus, when prepared and healthy, are the dominant players in the world.”
Paula Vergara is an experienced tennis journalist, who has worked as a regular contributor to On the Baseline Tennis News, USTA New England Magazine, and New England Sports Magazine. To view her work, visit her blog at www.paula-vergara.blogspot.com.
I find it interesting that he mentioned Ana Ivanovic. Unfortunately, it has been easy to accidentally overlook her results recently, especially as she has struggled since winning the French Open. Still, Ivanovic has the skills to win several more Grand Slams, especially at Roland Garros.
This was an excellent interview, Paula, and a pleasure to hear Justin’s response to the “learning curves” he has experienced lately. As a recent player, he brings a great perspective to tennis commentary and certainly knows how to keep his listeners entertained.
Thank you for sharing the interviews with tennis folks. They are fun to read and informative too. Thank you too for taking the high road and not repeating his verbal blunders…
Gimelstob, like his fans, begs the media to pay attention to context. I, too, frequently beg people to pay attention to context–so many things people say and write are pulled out of their contextual frameworks and perversely twisted, giving them ridiculous new “meanings.”
But in Gimelstob’s case, this is a false argument. I have been reading and listening to him for years, and he has a long and consistent history of saying both sexist and misogynistic things. The Kournikova thing was just the icing on the cake, and not at all an isolated incident. And anyway, there is no context in which it would have been appropriate. I and many others think he got off way too easy.
Actually, I disagree with you about Justin getting off too easy – his reputation was damaged, and that’s not an easy thing to repair when you are in the public eye. I’m not saying his behavior was acceptable in this case, but let’s put this one in perspective. He messed up, but didn’t physically harm anyone, and didn’t break any laws, and clearly has remorse for what he has said. If you were to compare his verbal blunder to, say, Don Imus’s rant last year about the Rutger’s Women’s basketball team, I think the Imus comments are far worse. Don Imus, in my opinion, should not be anywhere near a microphone. Justin is a smart guy, and I think he’s learned (the hard way)about when he needs to bite his tongue.
I’ll step off my soapbox for now.
Where we differ, Paula, is that I have no reason whatsoever to believe that Gimelstob has remorse. I suspect he does not, and I know many others who feel the same way. He has been saying things like this for years. And I guess we also differ in that I consider what Gimelstob said to be every bit as offensive as what Imus said. It’s all bigotry.