US OPEN

August 31, 1997

Justin Gimelstob

Q. How would you describe the experience?

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: It was a great experience. Hopefully I can learn a lot from that. He's a great player. You know, I think that's exactly what I need to learn from that kind of experience. How to deal with situations like that. He played too well.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Yeah, it was great. I mean, it was great. I mean, everyone was so supportive. I really appreciated it. It was, you know, an electric atmosphere. It's phenomenal. Can't wait to come back next year. That's the most disappointing part of it, you don't get to experience that for another year.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: More disappointed. I'm disappointed for sure. I mean, I think I could take some positives out of the tournament, but as a whole, I'm disappointed.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Yeah, I was. I was having fun. That's one of the major reasons I play tennis, is I have fun. I was doing it out there till he started giving me a beating there at the end of the match. That wasn't too fun. But I was having fun. I think that's what it's meant to be out there.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Yeah. I didn't make too many first serves. He made some great shots. He didn't make any errors, you know. He didn't make any errors. First point I hit -- I missed the location on the second serve. He had a good return. I just missed a half volley. I don't even remember after that. He played a great game. That's why he's, you know, a successful pro. Didn't give me any free points. I didn't serve any aces or service winners. I didn't make as many first serves as I needed to. Before I knew it, the game was over. I rebounded and played a great game at 5-4 on his serve. Just missed breaking him.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: No. I mean, I think I lost some momentum. He started picking up his game. He just ran with it.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I don't know. I mean, maybe I got a little more tired towards the end of the match. He was putting a lot of balls in play and was running me all over the place for a while. Maybe I got a little tired. I was happy with the way I served. I served some great; I served some bad; I served some in between. Overall, I was happy with the way I served. He just played better than I did.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Yeah, possibly. I mean, hopefully. Hopefully I'll stay healthy and continue improving and have success. I think I have the kind of personality that people might gravitate towards, because I do like having a good time out there, entertain a little bit more. But, yeah, I think if my game follows, my results follow, I think the entertaining part will take care of itself.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Consistency. I mean, obviously consistency. I played some great tennis and I played some average tennis. So consistency. His game stayed very similar throughout the four sets. I had a lot of peaks and valleys. I think that's maturing. I have to mature.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I don't know. I mean, sometimes it helps, I think, and sometimes it hurts. Sometimes I'm too exuberant and sometimes I'm too negative. I've got to find a happy balance.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I think it's important for me to be myself, but I also think it's important for me to, you know, learn and adapt. I think maybe it's a combination of me making sure that I'm not stifling my own personality, but also that I'm maintaining a strong degree of focus and concentration. I think I just have to learn how to do that.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Not really, no. My groin started bothering me towards the end, but that was just from him running me around like a yo-yo. I didn't even want to say that because I don't want that in the paper to contribute to anything. He just played better than I did.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Just the support from the crowd, just the support. Just having that kind of energy behind me and having that kind of experience behind me, something I can learn from and hopefully build on.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: How many I knew?

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I got 50 tickets. I'm sure many more people I was familiar with. A lot. A plethora, my word for the day.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Not really. I won a couple matches. I beat a couple good players. Not really. I mean, I think maybe some more people will get to know me because it was in a bigger setting. I mean, I think that hopefully my status grew and my confidence grew from the experience. I still think I have a ways to go.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: It was pretty tough because the level of competition is so much stronger, the traveling, the life-style you have to get used to. It's a pretty big adjustment. It was a pretty big adjustment, took me a good three or four months to get used to it, then things started clicking a little bit more.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: No. My little brother went to Cornell. Didn't really affect it at all. I think he's doing well there. He's got some classes going. Said he's got some good-looking girls in his dorm. I wasn't too concerned about him.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I never went to class, so I couldn't be a class clown. I think a lot of people in my family and my friends all kind of like me, sarcastic, just kind of fun loving. I mean, I wasn't the guy in the back taking notes 24-7, that's for sure. I was probably one of the more entertaining kids in class. You would have loved having me in class, that's for sure.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Am I self-deprecating?

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Pretty big word there.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Can you define it so I can answer it?

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I make fun of myself so people stop thinking I'm so arrogant, so I kind of do it to be a happy medium.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I balance out my extremely arrogant comments.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Yeah, sure, I love the sport. My dad never played tennis in my life. There was no pressure on me to play tennis as a youngster. All there was pressure on me to do was to behave and do my schoolwork, compete hard. For the most part, I competed hard and did all my schoolwork. The behavior part was suspect. There was really no pressure on me. A lot of the pressure is self-imposed. I'm very competitive and I want to do as well as I can; I want to win; I want to keep improving. The most pressure I feel is from myself. When you go to bed at night, you realize you're all alone, you better be doing the stuff do you for yourself. That's what I do. When I close my eyes tonight, I'm going to be the one that's bumming that I just lost tonight. That's what I have to deal with. Most of the pressure I feel is from myself.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Yeah. My mom is Catholic, actually. I don't know if you guys knew that.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Well, I mean, I don't know technically.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: I was brought up, sometimes going to church, sometimes go to synagogue. I guess I could milk the Jewish part when it favors to. I don't really think of it either way, from a religious standpoint, doesn't really go through my mind. I think it's nice being -- I pretty much consider myself not half and half, like this half Jewish, this half Catholic. Doesn't go through my mind. It's not really relative. I just try and live by a certain standard, morals. I don't really think about the religious part of it too much. Religion never really phases into it.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Tremendous amount. I was part of the USTA player development program, I was on the national team all the way through. Now I'm on the rookie pro team. I live down in Key Biscayne so I practice there all the time. The USTA has had a tremendous and positive influence on my development.

JUSTIN GIMELSTOB: Can't say enough good things about those guys. Knew Nick since I was ten. Helped me tremendously with me game. Known Jay for the last three years. Great influence on me. Great kid, great guy.