JAN-MICHAEL IN THE MIDDLE

Gambill battles against being just another pretty face

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

You see him shirtless and posing for Men's Journal and remember his distinction of being the first player outside of the top 30 to be named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World and you wonder whether the guys ever razz him the locker room. Do they say, "Hey, Hollywood, way to tighten up those abs for the cameras." Or, "Hey, Jag, how many times did you have to shower to get that mound of mousse out of your hair after that magazine gig?"

Jan-Michael Gambill emphatically denies that the macho locker room gang of the ATP harasses him or calls him a pretty boy and, in fact, thoroughly respects his decision to model during his off-hours. "They better not say anything," Gambill told tennisreporters.net. "I can be a pretty fiery guy. You don't want to get me fired up about that. I can be pretty intense."

Later, Gambill queries a reporter on his thoughts about lifestyle magazine pieces on tennis players. "Do remember the People article?" he asks. "Not really." the reporter says. "Wasn't it a short puff piece? That's what they generally are."

"No," says Gambill. "It was the worst thing that has ever been written about me. It was completely false. I gave the reporter five hours of my time and then I came out looking like an idiot. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't me at all."

A CLAY PIGEON
Gambill is completely himself sitting eagerly on a wooden bench at Roland Garros 2001, about an hour after he suffered a debilitating first round loss to Denmark rookie Kristian Pless.

One reporter approaches him to talk about his fitness regime, to which he obliges. Another insists on making an appointment for a long conversation about his new doubles partner Andy Roddick, which he accedes to despite obviously being uncomfortable about focusing on another young American's potential. Another wants him to quickly put aside the Pless embarrassment so he can talk about the possibility of his winning Wimbledon and whether this somewhat innocent Washingtonian can become a top-10 player in mid-career. He's okay with that, but not before he expresses his disgust with his play on clay.

"It might be my movement or my flat strokes, but I just can't get good results on clay," said Gambill, who came into a Grand Slam seeded for the first time, at No. 15. "I've never liked playing on clay and probably never will. I play my five tournaments a year on clay, but I don't expect ever to do more than that. "

Gambill is reminded that power baseliner Andre Agassi has won Roland Garros and there is no reason that a super-fit player with healthy groundies such as himself shouldn't be able to hit through a lot of players on dirt. He disagrees. "Agassi has won, but he's a much better mover – my movement doesn't hold a candle to Andre's on clay. I get stuck in the corner, I don't slide very well."

WIMBLEDON WONDER
Last year, Gambill did adjust to clay's sworn enemy, grass. He came into Wimbledon 2000 with hopes but without a strong resume on the turf. Poof! For four matches, he became Bjorn Borg with a two-handed forehand.

"My game doesn't have to adapt to grass," said the hard-court-bred Gambill, who hits with two hands off both wings. "I serve and volley, I return flat. My volleys have improved lot. I always knew I would evolve into a serve and volleyer. That was my wish, that was the type of player I looked up to. It just took a lot of effort. I've had my right hand off the racket when I volley since the 12s, and took the left hand off on the backhand volley in the 14s. I feel pretty damn good at the net. In the past I'd miss a few volleys and then stay back because it bothered me to get passed. Now I just keep coming in and play the percentages. My first serve is so big that I get a lot of balls floating back. I should be volleying them."

Down went seeds Lleyton Hewitt and Thomas Enqvist and in the quarters, he nearly stopped Sampras' seventh title run, falling in four spectacular sets to King Pete. "I did surprise myself," Gambill said. "At that point I was an underdog. I don't think that this year I will be. It was important mentally to know I can beat those kind of guys at a big tournament."

But Jan-Mike doesn't always close out elite players at Slams – much less week in, week out on the tour. He has beaten a host of legends, but has also fallen to legions of Jude the Obscures. He wins Delray Beach, upsets Guga Kuerten at Indian Wells to reach the quarters, reaches the final at the Ericsson before losing to Agassi and then goes into a dirtball tailspin, going 1-7 and losing to the likes of Christian Ruud and Guillermo Coria. At age 23 and in his sixth year as a pro, it is no longer proper to talk about Gambill's potential. It's step up time this summer and he knows it.

"I'm not going to sneak up on people anymore," he said. "I have to like being one of the favorites. Just winning a few matches is not a good result anymore. It's not going to get me anywhere. I expect to get further at the Grand Slams. I still have a chance at finishing the year with a top-10 ranking. That's the goal. It's a little unfortunate to lose in the first round at Australian and French, but that's the way it goes."

Gambill knows that if he doesn't step up big at a Slam some day, analysts will never consider him to be a truly elite player. As well as he has played at times this year, he is in danger of becoming Jan-Michael in the Middle – sandwiched firmly in between still productive elder legends like Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras and the seemingly unlimited potential of Roddick.

"Frankly, I don't even care about what people think of that," he said. "I care about my career, but I don't care what people write. I care about Andy, he's my good friend, and when I'm not playing them, I like to see Pete and Andre win. But what counts is what happens on court when I'm playing. [But] I have not achieved what I wanted to achieve. You couldn't find one player that doesn't want to win a Grand Slam or be one of the top players in the world."

HALF THE RIVER
River He may not be a yellowball legend yet, but Gambill is the man in Spokane. When he speaks of his hometown, he almost gets teary-eyed – born there, lives there, will die there. He is currently constructing a new multi-million dollar, 10,000-plus square foot log cabin on the banks of Little Spokane River. Last year, he bought the last two plots on the river (15.9 acres), drew up a design of what kind of home he wanted on a napkin with a buddy, found a builder that had nearly an identical design as its premier home and plunked down some serious dough.

Not only will Gambill's home have the requisite rec room, home theater, game room, tennis court – but he actually owns the ground underneath half the river. "I feel like I'm very lucky at 23 to be able to build my own dream house," he said. "It's something I always wanted to do. I'm also looking to future. I don't ever want to leave Spokane so I have to think of designing it for someday having a wife and kids. To think like that is hard. I can't see ever moving out of there. It what I've always wanted. It's the best of all worlds."

Gambill, who has a collection of Jaguars (hence the nickname, "Jag"), added that he's moved past a Hot Wheels mentality. "Buying cars is not an adult thing, it's for kids," he said. "Building a home is the most grown up thing I've ever done – besides traveling the world as a pro."

Many young adults and many young players like to cut the roots from under them and set out on their own away from the watchful eyes of their parents. But not Jan-Mike, who is building his home five minutes away from his father Chuck (his lifelong coach) and his mother, Diane (his sometimes manager).

Gambill never rebelled and has a hard time relating to kids who did. "Family is too important," he said "Why is it so hard? [Rebellion] is the dumbest thing in the world. I know it happens to a lot of kids. I think, 'Jeez, the people who care most about their kids are their parents.' Sometimes tennis parents get a little overzealous and crazy, but they're the people who care the most. I never had a rebellious stage. I felt taken care of, and it also helps that I had success in tennis pretty quickly."

Chuck Gambill is a burly, ultra-serious sort who rarely smiles in public and was once seen by this reporter punching a tree after Jan-Michael lost a match at a NorCal Satellite at Blackhawk. Chuck swore and muttered under his breath through much of that match and by all appearances, he had the look of a quintessential bad tennis dad. Jan-Mike says that is a complete misconception "He's a very intense guy and I have his intensity. I'm a littler more focused. He didn't need to focus as much as a football player and wrestler. He's there for me. I'm also a little open like my mom, but she can be pretty fiery too."

Few dads coach their sons full-time on tour. In fact, Vince Spadea (who's now essentially off the tour) and Jan-Michael are the only two notable American singles players who currently have their dads calling the shots on the sidelines (although the fathers of Taylor Dent and the Bryan Bros. have much to say about their careers.) However, Phil Dent and Wayne Bryan both played pro tennis – Chuck Gambill did not. Jan-Mike says that doesn't matter a lick. "He has the right mentality. There aren't very many people who know as much about tennis as he does. There's not a coach out there who knows more. Not many people understand what it takes to become a pro and whether he's disappointed in my losses or not, my dad has been the most important person in the world to me. There have been times when I didn't want to practice or even when I was dead tired, when he convinced me to keep going. He knows how far he can push me. It's simply irrelevant whether a coach has played the tour – the only advantage that gives you is how to deal with the travel and the tour. Tennis is pretty simple – you can study it. My dad is v ery smart, he knows sports very well. I wouldn't change it for anything."

Jan-Mike does occasionally take in a different perspective and talks frequently with USTA coach Nick Saviano and Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, but Chuck remains the maestro. Jan-Mike says the two rarely have a problem separating the role of father-son and coach-pupil. "It's easy to separate that at home," he said. "We don't talk much about tennis. We relax there. We don't really follow events that much. At tournaments it's a little tougher. We're there to play and we have to go over things. But it's not bad."

And by the way – Chuck does not do interviews. "I don't think he's ever done an interview in his life," Jan-Michael said. "He's not the type to talk to the press. He's not like me. He'd rather I do a little less. I think he's waiting for me to win a Grand Slam – then he'll be happy to do interviews."

JUST THAT COURT
As far back as he can remember, Gambill has always wanted to be an elite player. He had good but not eye-popping results in the juniors and turned pro the day after he retired due to cramps in the '95 18s Nationals final in Kalamazoo. Instead of taking the college route like most of his top peers, he went straight into the grinding life of a satellite player. Unlike most U.S. players who choose the route, he came out of a two-and-a-half-year stint in the minors relatively unscathed and with more confidence. Gambill is the only U.S. player in recent memory to spend that much time in the minors and actually make it into the top 20, a credit to his unquenchable thirst for stardom and yeoman's work ethic.

"The Satellites are never easy matches," he said. "I love playing tennis , but I also love playing in front of big crowds. Going from Kalamazoo to playing in front of no one on some back court in small towns was tough. I could have gone to college for a year or two, but I was really scared of going to college. I didn't want to leave home and be away from my parents. I was still too much of a momma's boy. I still am. College wasn't right for me. All my life I wanted to be a pro player. In college, you don't get the same kind of matches day in and day out that you get in the Satellites."

It wasn't until nearly three years later that Gambill really broke through, when he upset Mark Philippoussis, Jim Courier and Agassi and reached the Indian Wells semis. "After I beat Andre, that's when I really knew I could play with these guys," he said.

Gambill finished '98 ranked No. 38, but was a non-factor at the Slams, losing a painful and winnable five-setter to Carlos Moya in the third round of U.S. Open. In ç99, he won his first title in Scottsdale with wins over Sampras, Agassi and Hewitt, but when it came time to shine at the U.S. Open on his beloved hard courts, he embarrassed himself, retiring with cramps against Fabrice Santoro in the fifth set and ending the match by screaming at the top of his lungs to the umpire, "Give it to the fâ-ing Frenchman."

"That was my hardest loss," Gambill said. "He was cramping, too, but I was the one who couldn't finish it. A bad time. I learned a lot from that loss ."

After reaching the Mercedes-Benz Cup final in L.A. last year, it was thought that Gambill would finally make a name for himself in Flushing. He upset Mark Philippoussis in the second round but was then counterpunched to death by Thomas Johansson in the third round. So when he looks back at his career, it is through green-colored glasses.

"My priorities have shifted a tad," he said. " All my life I wanted to win the U.S. Open first, but now its second. Wimbledon is just so special. After playing on Centre Court twice, I realized what makes it the best Grand Slam. It's not how they take care of the players or the facility, it's just the court. The U.S. Open is the most grand of all the Slams, but Wimbledon Centre Court is amazing. You have to play on it to understand. You can feel the magic [of history]. All the things that they do there – I even adapted to turning my chair sideways like they do on Centre Court, everywhere I play. Even bowing before royalty has its charm. Its unique."

Gambill may enjoy his thespian's role on Center Court, but what he would really relish is a chance to chat with the Duchess of Kent on the final Sunday. He won't dismiss his chances in ç01. "I think I can win it," he said. "It's a possibility."

This article also appears in the July issue of Inside Tennis magazine. For subsciption info, call (510) 530-2200.