By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, June 24, 2015
"The hardest thing for Roger to do is beat two of the Big Four in back-to-back rounds," says Brad Gilbert.
Photo credit: ESPN
Brad Gilbert puts as much effort into multi-tasking during a brief lunch break as some players put into packing their racquet bags before stepping out on court.
The high-energy former world No. 4 talk tennis while simultaneously checking ATP scores on his cell phone, asking a colleague for help setting up his iPad for wi-fi, shoveling down gulps of what appeared be spinach salad and ransacking his battered black Nike gym bag shuffling through bottles of vitamins and hand sanitizer.
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Even when he's unplugged, a frenetic Gilbert is determined to stay plugged in.
We caught up with the ESPN analyst and Winning Ugly author during a short lunch break from a commercial campaign he was shooting in a Broadway studio in New York City for this Wimbledon preview interview.
Tennis Now: Brad, what impact will Novak Djokovic's French Open final loss have at Wimbledon? Could there be a hangover effect or will that loss motivate Novak even more to defend Wimbledon?
Brad Gilbert: It's a great "what if" question. There's no doubt he has absolutely dominated the Masters Series events. He's not dominating the majors the way he has the other events. The way Novak's playing at the moment, there's just no way he's coming to Wimbledon thinking about coming in second.
Until the French Open final was over, even when Stan was serving for the match, I still was thinking: Djoker's gonna break him here and turn this match around. And he had a break point in that last game. I've got to be honest: I was shocked just like everybody else. I think the turning point in that match was early in the second set. He had a set and a break point and when Stan saved that break point it was the first time he yelled "Allez!" and from that point on, he seemed to relax a lot more. I didn't feel as much that Djoker lost it as much as Stan won the match. You have to credit Stan. He played great. Stan deserved to win. It's not like Novak had match points or got routed or lost to a guy who isn't a champion.
TN: The guy hit 60 winners in that final.
Brad Gilbert: It was a perfect storm. You're up 17-3 head-to-head against a guy who was absolutely playing lights-out tennis and you were still there to beat him. I promise you, I was thinking at 3-4, 0-40 in the fourth set he is breaking for sure and we're headed to five. And Stan came up with some shots there that were like "Are you kidding me, Stan?" and then he breaks him the next game. Every time that I thought Novak was making the push, Stan had an answer. Sometimes, you just have to say full credit to the opponent and move on.
TN: What do you see for Roger Federer at Wimbledon? Can he win another Grand Slam and is Wimbledon the most likely place?
Brad Gilbert: He's almost 34. He's playing amazing tennis. Arguably, he's probably playing a little better in ATP events because it's a little less taxing in best-of-three-sets. I don't know which major Fed has the best opportunity of winning. A lot of times it depends on the draw. If you had asked me this question last year I would have said the U.S. Open was his best chance because he probably did not have to face a Djokovic or a Nadal to win it.
TN: When he got through the Monfils match it seemed he had some momentum.
Brad Gilbert: He had never lost a match to the guy (Marin Cilic). I think the hardest thing for Roger to do is beat two of the Big Four in back-to-back rounds, whether it's quarters and semis or semis and finals. I mean, it's just a tough ask. Even if he had beaten Stan in Paris, he matches up well with Tsonga, but it's still trying to beat a French guy in France and then he's gotta beat Djoker. To me, it's a tough ask.
TN: After Serena won her 20th Grand Slam title in Paris, she conceded she was already thinking about Wimbledon. Will Serena's problem-solving skills be bigger than the burdens of playing for history?
Brad Gilbert: What's amazing is two years ago, she was the oldest No. 1. Last year, Serena was the oldest No. 1. This year, for the third straight year, Serena will be the oldest No. 1 in history three times in a row. At almost 34 even though by her standards she doesn't feel near her best level, she can somehow still find a way to win. The one thing Serena does now better than ever: She knows her opponents. With her coach, Patrick (Mouratoglou), they're doing a lot more game-planning, she's studying tapes, she's figuring out ways. Whereas before it was just about Serena's natural ability and not worrying too much about the opponent.
Patrick has helped bring modern technology to Serena's game and I think the biggest thing is that only once in her career and maybe ever had she dropped a first set three times and come back to win and that was at the '99 U.S. Open. I think that's the biggest thing about Serena: She's finding a way. I still think at almost 34 years of age, she's still probably the best athlete on the women's tour and in the top two movement wise, which is absolutely outrageous given her age and her longevity. The thing is now she's had two years in a row that she hasn't played that well at Wimbledon. I think she's thinking about Steffi (Graf), Margaret (Court) and like so many great champions, Serena is a perfectionist. I don't think she thought about records before, or if she did, then she didn't tell us. I think she's thinking about records now.
TN: Boris Becker was quoted as saying Djokovic and Federer don't really like each other. He later said he was misquoted. Do you think we blow up controversial comments more than they deserve or do you think that kind of intense professional rivalry — like Connors versus McEnroe, Agassi versus Becker — is just part of the sport at the elite level between driven athletes bound to clash?
Brad Gilbert: Becker probably wants more animosity between the top players because they're all great guys and they don't have issues. There's not maybe that off-court jabbing that maybe he would like to see. Maybe he thinks that (animosity) would be good for Djoker.
I've got to be honest: I think it's all about finding your balance. You can't just make up something to fire yourself up. Serena probably shows more emotion than most whereas you don't see Fed show too much emotion so it's different for different players. The thing is now everything is instantaneous with Twitter. I don't think it's because the guys aren't talking bad about each other in the press room means that they can't be intense when they're competing. Becker's only trying to do what he can do to make his player become better. Sometimes, you can read a quote and you don't know exactly the connotation because you don't know the full context or how it was said, so I can't give you a definitive answer on that.
TN: In recent months we've seen two of the greatest champions in history — Serena and Rafa — admit to being tight and nervous. Serena said "I choked" after the French Open final. Everyone chokes. As a coach, how do you help a player combat choking?
Brad Gilbert: All you can do is learn what happened and try to figure out the process of what you did to get ahead, what you didn't do to stay ahead. Normally, if it's a recurring situation, okay now then there's something really going on here. Everybody in every sport will do something to get tight. It happens in every sport to every player.
TN: Did you ever use a sport psychologist when you were coaching?
Brad Gilbert: No, never. And I never said: "If we win these three sets today, we won the Open." I think about the player, the opponent, the Xs and Os, what you're trying to do in this match. Every other day, you've got to find a way to win three sets in a Grand Slam. Keep it simple, focus on that match and that execution. Don't get ahead of yourself, focus on this match and that's how you can relax and avoid the added pressure that can lead to choking.
TN: We've discussed the shot clock in the past. What rule changes do you support to help the sport?
Brad Gilbert: It's an absolute given the shot clock has to be on court. I study when some of these guys give Rafa a time violation. I see numerous times he's gone longer. Sometimes out of nowhere they give it to him serving out a match or a set. For me, it's bullshit. If you're going to call it then call it on the first point of the match. Simple solution: There's a shot clock. If it's a 20-ball rally, you don't start the shot clock until you call the score so that gives you a little bit of a buffer. That's what people don't realize: It's not 20 seconds if it's a 30-ball rally because the crowd doesn't settle down immediately. You wait until the crowd settles, then turn on the shot clock.
Secondly, we've got to have (on-court) coaching. We should have it at the tournaments, at the Slams, on the ATP. I think it's great for TV. In the NBA, they mic up the ref, we've got to make the event better for the crowd at home on TV. We've got to try some different things and I think it's good for sport.
TN: When you look at the young guys like Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov. If you had to bet on one of those three to break through and win a Grand Slam title in the next two years, who do you bet on?
Brad Gilbert: To me they're all there with a shot. The problem is these guys at the top are so consistent. I start to wonder if (the next young Grand Slam champion) is going to go to Kyrgios, Kokkinakis, Coric, Rublev, one of the younger guys.
TN: You mean jump a generation?
Brad Gilbert: Yes. Are one of those guys, when they're 21, gonna be the next Federer or Nadal? I don't know.
TN: During Roland Garros, you told a great anecdote. You're in the gym working out at the player hotel, Thomaz Bellucci walks in and starts lifting some really heavy weight. You think he's training on his day off and you find out later that's actually his pre-match work out. Which player have you seen train so hard in the gym where you think: That guy is really hard-core?
Brad Gilbert: I'll tell you what: David Ferrer is an animal in the gym. On match day, that dude is in the gym working out like a beast. David Ferrer is an absolute animal in the gym.