Young gun Gambill could be the future of tennis

By Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Staff

With Pete Sampras turning 29 in August, Andre Agassi 30 years
old, Michael Chang 28, and Jim Courier recently retired, some
people say American men’s tennis is in trouble.

Those people probably haven’t seen Jan-Michael Gambill play.

The 23-year-old from Spokane, Wash., currently ranked 31st in
the world, has all the tools necessary to pick up the torch from
the previous U.S. generation.

He’s got a cannon for a serve, hits two-handed from both sides
and has the burning desire to reach the pinnacle of his sport – to
be No. 1 in the world.

“You’re looking at the future of American tennis,”
Sampras told Asapsports.com in an interview after he edged out
Gambill 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in this year’s Wimbledon quarterfinals.
“I think he’s a stand-out as far as he’s a young guy with a
lot of potential.”

“Whenever you look at a young guy coming up, you look at a
weapon,” Sampras added in the interview. “He’s got it.
He’s got a big serve. Really has a big game, a good
future.”

But does Gambill have the ability to be one of tennis’ elite? A
perennial top-10 player?

“There is no way I’m going to settle to be No. 31 in the
world,” Gambill said in a conference call from Spain, where
he competed for the U.S. in the Davis Cup.

“I won’t settle until I’m finished with tennis. Becoming
No. 1 is always the goal.”

Gambill burst onto the national scene in March of 1998 at the
Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells. Ranked No. 126 going into
the tournament, the 6-foot-3-inch right-hander beat No. 14 Mark
Philippousis, No. 46 Courier and No. 40 Agassi before losing in the
semifinals to No. 7 Marcelo Rios, 6-7 (3), 3-6.

His play in the tournament impressed Agassi so much that he
called him the best young American player on the ATP Tour.

“Absolutely. No question about it,” Agassi told
Asapsports.com. “He’s much better than just saying
that. He’s a good player.”

Though Gambill did follow up the impressive showing with a
semifinal finish at the Tokyo Outdoor in April of 1998 and a
quarterfinal finish at the Stuttgart Indoor tournament in October
of 1998, he has been inconsistent.

While he does have victories over top-20 players like Agassi,
Tim Henman, Alex Corretja, Norman Magnus, Chang and Sampras on his
resume, he has won just one ATP Tour tournament ““ Scottsdale
in March of 1999.

“Everybody has to learn out on the Tour,” Gambill
said. “I had a few injuries, and I think people started
adapting to my game.”

Not only is he a threat, but it appears that recently Gambill
has overcome his inconsistency and is ready to grab the mantle of
America’s tennis future.

He has put together two consecutive strong showings in his last
two tournaments. He was a semifinalist at the Nottingham tournament
in June and a quarterfinalist in tennis’ largest arena
““ Wimbledon ““ in July.

His finish in Wimbledon was a career best in a Grand Slam.
Gambill used his powerful serve to defeat No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt in
the first round of the tournament.

“I really had very little chances, particularly on his
serve in the first two sets,” Hewitt told Asapsports.com in
an interview after the match.

“He just served bombs the whole time. It wasn’t until his
third service game in the second set where I actually got my
chance.”

“He served a lot of aces,” he added in the
interview. “There’s not a lot you can do about it when
you’re in that situation.”

Gambill then took out Fabrice Santoro and United State’s
Paul Goldstein in the second and third rounds, respectively.

After beating No. 12 Thomas Enqvist, he was stopped by Sampras
in the quarterfinals.

“I definitely had a good tournament there,” Gambill
said about Wimbledon.

“The grass fits my game. I know I can play with the big
boys now.”

Because of his strong play of late, U.S. Davis Cup Captain John
McEnroe selected him for the four-man American team.

In an interview with Asapsports.com, McEnroe commented on
Gambill’s impressive play at Wimbledon, and said that he sees
Gambill as heading in the right direction.

McEnroe plans on using Gambill as a singles and doubles player
in the U.S. semifinal match against Spain, which will be played on
clay, from July 21-23.

He’ll have little time to make the switch from clay to
hardcourt as the Mercedes Benz Cup is scheduled to start on July
24.

“I always love playing in LA,” Gambill said.
“I think the transition will be okay for me. I think
it’s easier to make the transition from clay to hardcourt
than from hardcourt to clay.”

Instead of backing down from leading American men’s tennis
in the new millennium, Gambill has embraced the idea.

“For people to say, “˜You could be the next
guy,’ is a huge honor,” Gambill said. “It’s
great. It’s a definite compliment. It’s not a burden at
all.”

“To go out and just have a good time with it, that’s
how I’ve always played my best tennis, is to have fun on the
court.”