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Young World
Ebullience and charm
LEKHA J.SHANKAR
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With his blue eyes, blond hair and strapping figure, Jan Michael Gambill is a hero on and off the sets. An exclusive interview...
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"There's nothing like seeing the glitter in a kid's eyes, when he discovers the passion for the game!"
His words flow as fast as his strokes and it's no wonder that Jan Michael Gambill is one of the most popular guys on the world tennis circuit. The top 20 player slipped to 42 last year thanks to a shin injury. But Gambill began the new year brilliantly by reaching the finals of the $ one million Qatar Open at Doha last week after defeating top seeds like Roger Federer and Mikhail Youzhny.
Ranked 42 in the world, the Washington-born youngster is a good friend of Thai tennis sensation Paradorn Srichapan, which was why he came to Thailand recently to play a series of Exhibition matches .
His fast game and scintillating strokes excited the packed stands at the Huamark Indoor stadium, which consisted mostly of youngsters, who cheered for the American almost as much as for their Thai hero! The friendly player responded by waving, bowing, throwing balls, wristband, even his shirt at them.
Noted for his ebullience and high spirits, the 25-year-old player was excited by the matches.
"These Exhibition matches are very important, to popularise the game among the youth," the player stated at the Dusit Thani Hotel "they were very popular about 15 years back when players like Connors went out and played so many Exhibitions. I'm glad they are being revived!" Jimmy Connors is Gambill's all-time favourite player, whom he discovered through his tennis-playing father Chuck for whom Connors was the role model. Like Paradorn, Gambill's coach is his father, whom he describes as the "best in the world". It was his father who inspired him to take up the game.
"My father was a wrestler who took up tennis when he was 30 years old," said Gambill. He reminisces of how he used to accompany his father to the courts everyday and soon became hooked to the game. " I started pestering him so much that he finally allowed me to play!"Gambill's biggest break was when he won the national Under 18 title at 17 years. He says that tennis is hugely competitive in America. "There are a lot of good players out there and there's no way you can be complacent. My strengths are that I have a big serve, I return well and I can hit all around the court. On a good day I can beat anyone in the world," he exclaimed. His weakness, he says with a smile, was that "I don't have as many `good ' days as I want to!" Gambill's `best ' match to date was the four-setter, which, he lost to Pete Sampras in the quarter finals of Wimbledon two years ago. "I had a chance to win it!" he said with regret.
Charm and action...
His `worst' match was the following year at Wimbledon when he lost in the very First Round to Chris Woodroffe.
"That was one of my most devastating matches, " said Gambill, "especially as I had been hyped up so much by the Press and the public." The youngster confessed that media hype was part of the "pressures" a professional player had to face. "It's good and bad but one has to deal with it," he said in his down-to-earth manner. As for his friend Paradorn, Gambill could not stop raving over the Thai player's meteoric rise.
"I've seen Paradorn's amazing evolvement" said Gambill, "a few years back no one knew him.
What was his exercise routine like? "I do drills in the morning for an hour, take the afternoon off, and play "sets" in the evening. My intensive training sessions were when I was young!" he said.
What were his interests outside the tennis court? "I love music — Matchbox 20 is my favourite group. I also enjoy movies and my very favourite is "Star Trek"." Gambill said he had a collection of all the memorabilia from "Star Trek" because, "It's one of the few science fiction films that does not show a dismal world but a positive future." This positivism was of utmost importance to the ebullient player, which was why he said he was good friends with Paradorn, "who's always smiling and positive." "I'm a casual person and wear surf-wear and billabongs most of the time," stated Gambill. But thanks to his good looks, he promoted the clothes-line of London designer Ted Baker. The player also loves animals and was involved with a unique cats' project that he said was his major charity programme. With his blue eyes, blond hair and strapping figure, the tennis player was selected by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 2000. Gambill confessed that he would love to do a movie role sometime. He says that Vijay Amritraj is a good friend What about the future? "I will play as long as I enjoy the game," he says.
Would he take to coaching youngsters after that? "Not in the regular manner of a coach, but yes, I'll be selective and train talented kids. In fact, I am already doing that." What has tennis taught him? "I learnt to become confident and look people in the eye. I was Mama's boy and could go nowhere on my own. But now I've become so versatile and am comfortable in any country and with any people."
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