Jimmy Connors vs Brad Gilbert | US Open 1987 Quarterfinal
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- čas přidán 6. 01. 2021
- 35-year-old Jimmy Connors takes on fellow American Brad Gilbert in the quarterfinals of the US Open 1987.
Gilbert booked his place in the quarterfinals with a stunning four-hour, five-set marathon victory over Boris Becker in Round 4. While No. 6 seed Connors, the highest-seeded American in the field, overcame No. 11 seed Henri Leconte.
Can Connors reach the semifinals for the 13th time in 18 years? Or will Gilbert continue his remarkable run?
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Jimmy's ability to close the net is simply devastating!
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Connors‘ flat style requires so much precision to hit the ball!
And opponent pace. One way to beat Connors is to not give him much pace, force him to make his own. Ashe, and Lendl did that perfectly against Connors
@@kidpagronprimsank05 that didn’t work here.
@@kidpagronprimsank05 I dunno about Ashe but Lendl definitely didn’t take pace off that ball
@@kidpagronprimsank05 Lendl beat a much older Connors and he is known as the start of men's power tennis
Yes, and he didn't miss much either, which makes it even more impressive.
I blame Gilbert for making me think I could be a pro 😂
lol.....me 2
Ooooooh Dem Dar some ugly strokes
Hahaha
As an amateur I play like Gilbert 95% of the match. The other 5% I'd pretend I were Federer.
Not a nice guy.
There is a reason why Gilbert was such a great coach.
Is.
He wasn't a great coach. He hooked up with Andre Agassi who was already an accomplished player and Grand Slam winner. If he was such a good coach where are all the other players that have won Grand Slams under his watch? Brad Gilbert talks a good game but beyond that he isn't the great coach that people thinks he is. Andrew Murray got rid of him because he talked to much. Non-stop. That approach might work with the lesser player who has a very low ceiling but not with the elite guys.
@@capricornmagic63 did work well for one elite player though
@@capricornmagic63Dead wrong buddy. Agassi had no strategy before Gilbert coached him. Agassi acknowledges his victories because of Gilbert.
"a reason" or multiple reasons?
You sound like a Bible Thumper who tries to sound distinguished by saying "everything happens for a reason" which is completely vacuous and meaningless.
Every club player aspires to be Brad Gilbert. Athletic enough to be a tennis player but it stops there. What separates Brad from his opponents was not his serve, forehand or backhand, but his brain and strategy.
He was such a smart player he could have been like Federer if he had improve his stroke production and serve. He knew how to strategize against any player. Hes way better than a club player. He was a top player. Id put him ahead of players like John Millman or Andreas Seppi who only work on their fitness. No game at all.
@@RobertHurleyJr I thought Andres Gomez had that balance.
@@RobertHurleyJr Are you seriously saying that John Millman has no game at all?
@@RobertHurleyJr he never bet Lendl
hello thanck you
This is like the peak of compelling tennis to me. Both styles are strange, but excellent. Gilbert has a bigger serve than you’d expect for a “pusher”, and those passing shots are terrifying. Connors net game is incredible…with a two hand volley.
Really? so you'd pay to go to the US Open and watch this for 3 hours? Tennis sucked back then and its ok to admit it. In a given year we have so many classic matches now that could fill a decade's worth of highlights back then.
@@ashb001 yes? I also like it now, but the number of weird styles that could work back then was great
Connors gets away with an awkward swing on both sides I think, because of phenomenal footwork to compensate - his balance is superb, it allows him to push maximum depth out of all of his shots. Even desperate stab volleys are pushed for depth decisively. Yes I would watch this for three hours, especially compared to the present day = this tennis you can really see the players moving their pieces around the board, having the time to consider all of their limitations and strengths in each point, and make calculated decisions with each shot. Intelligent stuff. A bygone era I'm afraid.
Connors showing here that he too could be a thinking player. The antidote to being messed around with from the baseline is to get into the net and that's exactly what Connors did.
That's what he always did.
@@fundhund62sometimes a lot more than others
Everybody: Brad please just hit the ball like you mean it please!
Brad: No i dont think i will
I never saw Gilbert play a match before but this is the first thing I thought of when he played. It's amazing how calm & collected he plays. Him being a coach is probably the perfect job for him.
Brad Gilbert,greatest pusher in the history of tennis.Not everybody’s thing but can’t knock the results...Love it!!
what results? he was a decent coach i’d still say darren cahill and nick bolleteri we’re far better coaches and wasn’t much of a player to be honest. his game style was outdated even for his own era
@@mohi3846 everyone called him the pusher obviously. He did somehow manage to get up to #4 in the world. Beat McEnroe, Edberg, Sampras, courier. They all hated playing him.
And he beat Becker as well when he was in his peak @@tdane5017
He hit slower than the women except his serve and passing shots.
Mats Wilander could be a great pusher.
Loved watching Jimmy set up points and finish at net
hell yeah. BG is a good counterpuncher and JC waited for an opportunity and came in to net. at first he was getting passed but JC started to hit deeper approach shots which set up a nice volley or overhead finish. great champs always find a way!
I learned that from watching Jimmy........... I did that in club matches. Jimmy was awesome, as were his rivals.
I'm with yeah on that one! Gilbert has great hands & just pushed everything back until you came to the net. Connors got smarter about how he came in. How the heck Gilbert got to #4 is baffling....no weapons other than his brain.
Brain is no small weapon in this sport 😉
Everyone says Gilbert had bad strokes, and he says so himself. But they look great to me. I’d love to move and hit like this.
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People are dullards. They parrot narratives pretending they are their own. They heard he has no strokes… he himself brags about it, and wrote his infamous book about it… but yes, you’re more astute so you notice it isn’t really true.
Gilbert could hit the ball hard when he chose to.
He compares his shots to his adversaries…. The best players in the world at his time. Only then, his assessment is correct.
His book has so many ideas about how to strategize and win I had a headache after just 1/3 of the way through...it's a great resource.
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Excellent quality, can you guys please post mecir vs wilander, it was a great match
I'm not at all into the nostalgia thing. But that was really interesting and entertaining tennis too, wasn't it ?
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@@jimmyconnors5685 Thanks for your kind (and unexpected) reply. Dates back to the late seventies, I remember the energy when you played Borg at the US Open in 78. You were special, in a special era.
@@cyrilbrocard Thanks for the love and words of encouragement I must say that I have enormous respect for you considering the manner in which I have made contact with you,Your comment gave me goosebumps and I decided to honor you.I’m very glad you’re fan of mine for that I would love to have a private conversation with you if that’s okay with you reach out to me privately via email
Brad Gilbert was more than just a counterpuncher. He could hit his winners and passing shots when it mattered.
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Gene
Nope
Brad was incredibly fast and didn't miss. Plus as you said he could hit great passing shots under pressure. Becker said it best, brad could play so bad one would wonder how he qualified for the tournament, but he would drag you down to his level and suddenly raise his game. 😅. That being said as Becker's rally tolerance improved as he matured he figured Brad out. I believe their h2h was 6-4 when their careers ended though Becker was 1-4 at one point
Gilbert has smooth strokes ! A lot smoother than Connors. But Connors had incredible accuracy !
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That year was born greatest playes of all time😎
It's amazing how much the game has evolved since '87. The power and pace now are insane compared to almost 40 years ago.
I’m pretty sure Brad Gilbert’s game was reduced pace which took away his opponent’s ability to counterpunch.
Racquets. Strings. Slower courts.
It's racket technology and the strings they're using now that, by the way, came out in the 80s but they were banned because lessor players were beating top stars. And the rackets today are what does most of the work with the strings that is the difference.
I actually like Gilbert’s style of play…without much power and much effort yet consistent and risk-free from injury. Others could overpower him but there’s smoothness in his strokes that caught my attention. I guess that’s just my preference.
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What a pusher is Gilbert :))) love it
Brad Gilbert: the ATP version of Most Exhausting Player.
That what I was thinking!
ㅖㅔㅖㅖㅔ
You nailed it, but at least Brad had decent form...but exasperating to play.
I just thought about this now lol. MEP FTW 🙌🏽 Connors just eats it right up.
I see possible subs of Essential Tennis showing up here lol.
I've played a few Brad Gilberts over the years
There are 90% of Gilberts in any amateur tournament 😉
Gilbert helped out Agassi as his personal coach. Damn good selection of a coach on the part of Agassi.
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Another good approach shot and closing volley
never seen a two handed backhand volley this good
And you never will.
This Brad Gilbert beat Boris Becker a few rounds earlier in the same tournament
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Full match please!!
Beautiful approach another nice volley
Awesome match thanks
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I still practice with guys who played against Gilbert in high school. They said he was' 'scrawny' at the time, but he was a tough kid, with a slight 'chip'. He'd often be seen hawking tickets to Warriors games.
A huge chip on his shoulders! He wasn't above hooking his opponent at the opportune time to get the edge.
That Jimmy covers the down the line and leaves the Cross Court open it's a nice throat shot down the line does his check step and then just makes a block fall into the opposite corner that is beautiful huh how you set the point up
love it!!!! tennis 100%
Brad Gilbert "Losing Ugly" in this match!
Tbf he was playing someone several orders of magnitude better than himself
Love the game
Brad Gilbert made losing ugly an art form.....
@ Fearless 1 😂😂😂
@@farid1406 Of course but the ironic thing is I think Gilbert would have given Lendl more trouble in the semis than Lendl wound up doing had he somehow won. Connors just tried to outhit and outsteady Lendl from the baseliner which he was never going to do at this stage of his career (although past his absolute prime and 33). Gilbert would have thrown the kitchen sink and all the junk imaginable at Lendl, mixing net forays and anything he could. He would still lose, but I could see him annoying Lendl more than Connors was able to do.
Connors was all over the Gilbert backhand. Countless times Connors approached to Gilbert's back hand, with almost no answer coming from Brad. Both are smart players. Gilbert probably had nightmares about this match.
Brad was a good player. He really comes across as a guy who played with strategy and tactics.
Yeah Connor's strategy seems to be hitting opposing corners it's deep to one corner then deep to the other corner then deep to the other corner and keeps the opponent on the move constantly
In 1992, Gilbert beat Sampras in straight sets. And Courier in straights 2 years later. As much as I don't like the guy's style, he had a lot of dudes figured out and there is no arguing he was a legit top-shelf pro. These are just facts.
What's wrong with his style?
@@fundhund62 A lot of people called him a "pusher," which is simply a lazy moniker when a player doesn't hit the cover off of the ball. Obviously, "pushing" can work just fine when combined with strong tactics, creativity, and fitness!
Agreed
I really hate how so many back in the day referred to Brad's game as "dirty" tennis or "junk" tennis, just because his style didn't take on the character of the "power" game that was becoming the thing. Brad was a wonderful controlled and disciplined player who had an excellent sense of the court, of timing, what type of shot to hit. I loved watching him, and tried to emulate some of what he did. Unfortunately, i didn't have the discipline to play out a point and ended up going for too big a shot ! Thanks for posting !
He was a pusher. It's ugly tennis
One can acknowledge the difficulty of playing Gilbert's style while also acknowledging that his game was ugly and boring.
Brad ranked as high as 4, have to give him credit to be so successful by being a counter puncher, he beat Becker a couple of times
The other side to that coin is I believe he's the only player to have been ranked 4 that never reached a GS semifinal. I've never looked that up but I think it's accurate.
James Blake was a world number 4 who never made it to a grand slam semi.
@@MrBdiddypop good call!
Djokovic is a counterpuncher... Brad is pusher. big difference. Brad's a genius though
He use to give Edberg trouble.
I've never seen so many volleys Connor seems to be really given a volley lesson tonight
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Nice volley practice for Connors
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Wow, just notice how much slower the game is back then.. I probably had seen this game. The racket and technique make so much differences.
Brad Gilbert: Proving once and for all that 4.0 tennis players can make it to the big stage!
Brad is brilliant but Jimmy is a Legend.
Jimmy was an absolute master!
"Brad Gilbert is a total badass" said no one, ever
But the scarf
Now I know who is the greatest pusher of all time...Brad Gilbert
what poison to play this Brad Gilbert. Especially against Connors who loves straight balls. But Gilbert was also able to play serve & volley, he is not only a "passive" baseliner.
Even winning ugly
@@mchammer74 he lost ugly here.
Yes, didn’t realize how slow the game was back then crazy how Gilbert got away with that
Never seen anything like Gilbert’s style at this level. At first thought he was trying not to mess up his hair. You can imagine players reaction once he was drawn against them. You sure had to get your head right for this game, but very clever at times on the counter.
Yet, i guess it was the racket technology, but everyone of his short slow balls would be smashed for a winner today, right?
@@puckpaul11 Yes, racket and string technology
Unless you were Lendl.
The French guy from the 90's did it with even less pace.
@@purple8289 Who's the French guy? is that the guy who slices all the time on the forehand side. Forgot his name.
Fantástic. Jimmy is a legend
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what A great example connor's is to all of us too never quit ,he played into his early 40,s it was only age that stopped him playing on the tour, and who could forget his memorable run to the U.S open semi's as A 39 year old eventually losing to courier.
Brad Gilbert was the thinking man’s player, and he was also pretty nifty at getting around the court, the man just gets everything back!!
I’m not surprised at all that Gilbert went on to become one of the Games most accomplished Coaches!!
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Pretty good tennis..................... this I can watch. I watched back then, too.
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Watching Brad Gilbert here reminds me of what McEnroe said about Gilbert in the mid 1980s. "Brad Gilbert doesn't hit the ball hard enough to break an egg, he just waves at it". BUT, he clearly did some things right.
Mac himself didn't break too many eggs! 😉
At 26:52 of the video the camera pans to Connors' box and I am pretty sure that is Aaron Krickstein to the right of the screen. Four years later, Connors and Krickstein would play one of the best U.S. Open matches of all time.
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It’s incredible especially over 30 years how the game of tennis has transformed , here it looks like slow motion with the wooden rackets, I remember going from my wooden Max Ply to the new Dunlop graphite which I still have and being able to serve bullets albeit the head was tiny. Now the fitness and consistency is almost beyond was is possible, what Roger, Rafa and now Djokovic have done over the last 15 plus years is insane . Apart from the odd fluke they have dominated the game by playing in another planet , no one has come close really. Great that Alcaraz, Zverev, Sinner etc are finally getting close despite everybody thinking Alcaraz is about to dominate which isn’t going to happen anytime as the past month has showed. Djokovic has other ideas that’s for sure which is great for the game and spectators.
The game is a drag now. Technology has ruined what was a beautiful sport to watch.
It's very surprising to watch elite tennis from four decades ago. The changes to equipment, fitness, and especially technique and biomechanics have changed the games immeasurably. In this match the ball is moving at a slower pace than in the WTA today. It's almost not the same sport.
Jimmy under his breath the whole match: “fucking pusher” 😂
Gilbert …pusher extraordinaire
Brad with the all time best fro-mullet!
I always liked Brad Gilbert. Not sure how he got ranked so high and won much. He didnt have one big strength but seemed pretty tenacious.
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I think it's smart that Brad's keeping the pace off the ball because Connor's feeds off your pace so what he's trying to do is move Connors around with a mid Pace shots putting junk on the ball trying to play dirty on them but Connor's is still seems to be playing good timing and tempo picking up these shots making good approaches in bali's office
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20:10 "that second serve is so weak!" lmao
lol. In his own book, Gilbert says that his first serve was OK and could get a few aces if he got it going, but that his 2nd serve was "the worst" lol. He knew how to manage it though, and make it harder to break him than it looks.
He was a “junk baller”. He’d deliberately throw in real garbage
I'm surprised to hear Mary Carillo call Brad out like that! They both do tennis commentary now; I wonder if he ever found out that she said that, and if so, if it's now a joke between them!
Primera ves que veo jugar a brad gilbert y no me sorprede que casi no hayan registro del que tenis mas pacivo casi sin anvicion como si estuviera en una clase de tenis y jimmi connors con unos de los tenis mas rudimentario de esos tiempos pero que asia tan ganador el dese ganador y ariesgar todo en cada punto luchador inagotable eso lo llevo a la altura de leyenda del deporte blanco
Good match.
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Gilbert🔥 and Connors🔥.
Ils avaient battu Leconte et Becker en huitième...
20:10 “that second serve is so weak” 😂
It’s funny how people so quickly dismiss Jimmy’s game in today’s power topspin age. I’ve got this to say about that. Maybe, but only maybe they’re right. Let’s give Jimmy the updated current racket technology. Let’s give him his aggression and quick nature around the court. And oh yeah, let’s give him back that aggressive “hitting the ball on the rise” and ripping it back flat so that the ball comes screaming back faster and lower instead of these current high looping long lasting heavy top spinning marathon points that go on for hours and hours. ZZZZZZ. J.C. might still surprise us with his prowess! He is one of a kind!
Connors is one of the all time greats, no question. That ungainly style was built on some of the best footwork ever seen on a tennis court. The physics of the game and its equipment at the time meant that the professional skill set was not as homogenous as it is now; many pros had somewhat unorthodox solutions to tennis problem solving. The game was still able to tolerate some variation. Even McEnroe was technically an unusual player, although again the fundamentals were still being done right. Just as an aside, there is a CZcams video of Connors hitting on a club court in the present - he is 70 or thereabouts at the time - still looks an impeccable skill set, a treat to watch. Exactly the same, just a little less power.
Connors is one of the best ever.But he played the most beautiful tennis !!!
They match up wel though for an entertaining match. Jimmy having a great game.
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That was a nice volley by Brad just snuck in there
Brad Gilbert's shots look so non-powering (maybe in comparison) but at the same time he's so consistent.
Gilbert a very underrated player really, a pusher but not in the classic sense - he actually has good orthodox passing shots off both wings. And scary smart -it must have felt like playing a python.
Can’t blame Brad for being mad on that line call, that was obviously deep. It’s amazing the line judge and chair didn’t call that
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Connors played well most of this year. As opposed to 1986. Jimmy played well most of this tournament as well, and really excelled in this match when it came down to the big points.
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Keeps coming up constantly constantly putting the pressure on Brad to make the passing shot it's interesting for a guy they don't say much about the volley and he stays back hell he hasn't stayed back very much lately even against Mack and always coming up more than mcenroe he comes up constantly gets Brad
Wow that first point
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The world A.I. has made some upgrades.
Gilbert may look weak but he is very solid and hits the ball deep. Gilbert also uses his opponents pace rather than adding with the risk of over hitting which is smart. Conners has always ended the point with no chance for his opponent to recover. Connors also hit the ball low so that to limit his opponents shot ability, he would have dominated tennis today because the western grip is not a great grip for hitting low balls. Tennis was truly Tennis then!
It's like they're playing in slow motion compared to today's ATP game.
Bring back the short shorts
I never like how Gilbert choked up on his forehand grip. He leaves what looks like one+ inches of room from his pinky to the end of the butt cap.
I just realize how Andre Agassi has changed tennis game then !
Brad makes a much better tennis commentator than a player
Yeah that Brad Gilbert definitely knows how to hit that down the line and that's the toughest shot in tennis because look it's a high part of the net you're never supposed to hit that shot cuz it's got low percentage yet he Brad continually makes that shot down the line over the highest part of the net
Brad Gilbert was like "everyday i'm shovelin'"
Well Brad did everything right on that one I mean he covered the down the line left the Cross Court open was in good position but Connor's just made a really good passing shot
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Takes the pace off Brad it's that short angle passing shot that's a beauty short angle pasta shot right after you just hit one down the line for a passing shot
Yeah amazing perfect backhand Cross Court it's really hitting through that ball there's not a lot of spin on it just deep and penetrating stays low too great depth on that shot but God that's a hard shot to make it's probably the toughest shot in Tennessee say to make that Cross Court passing return when a guy's at net but look how he makes it look easy
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Nice volleyball Brad there nice volley by Brad
Gilbert admired his shots like tiger woods admiring a drive in golf
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Probably keep sitting across Court approach shot because Brad's foot's injured see that way cuz he's Brad's having problem with mobility so what you do is you move the opponent and then you set up for a bali to the opposite corner that way you're really moving them to the maximum range
Yeah Connor's his playing smart because he's not going for winter he's just rallying with the guy waiting for the moment to make a good approach shot come up and then make a put away volley like he just did so he's not falling into the Brad trap that's been set which is try to hit a whole bunch of winners but just stay calm relaxed and wait for the opportunity to get a good approach to come in
It's amazing how everybody says okay only come up when you hit it down the line approach shot because if you hit Cross Court you leave way too much of the court open look at this Connor's just hit another Cross Court approach shot comes on in and hits a volley but you know the rule is if you can get the person on the run you can hit Cross Court
Yeah Connor's going to hit that low flat drive again and it is flat with hardly any spin on it he tracks that into the corners and it's a tough situation
It’s amazing how slow these guys look.
Brad was more than a decent player,he had good record against Jimbo,Becker,Sampras,Agassi,Chang Courier,beating all of them couple of times,though Lendl(0:16) and McEnroe(1:13) both were a nightmare for Brad.
Great career in generally,going as far as number 4 in the world.
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They could never imagine what a 110mph forehand would even look like... what a different game... today this would look like a 4.5 player on a good day
These guys are way better than 4.5s though. May look like it hitting wise but it’s not even close.
Take a look at CZcams videos of matches from the fifties sixties and seventies! I would probably get a set off John Newcombe - he had a terrible backhand. Watch Borg just kill him with topspin from a wooden racket - poor Newcombe had just never seen it before, had no answer. Rod Laver, most upper division lawn players today would beat him comfortably, I would imagine. Just how the game evolves
Both men would end up coaching Andy Roddick
And neither of them improved Roddick.
@@vladimirjeremic6536 He won his first and only GS under Gilbert, at the USO. He would go on to be 2nd best to Federer and make many GS final appearances under Connors. They definitely improved him
@@AtobeTanhausser01 wasn't Gilbert still coaching Agassi in '03? I thought he came later... Andy never played anything like Gilbert or Connors and his backhand remained below average for an elite level player. Also, I don't think Connors was a very good coach both to Sharapova and to Roddick... I don't actually remember him doing any improvement. Jimmy Connors is a tennis legend, but he always seemed like a jerk outside the court and not an easy guy to work with or be around.
@@vladimirjeremic6536 He started working with Roddick just before Wimbledon that year, and I checked to make sure, but he'd ended his coaching stint with Agassi toward the end of 2002. I will acquiesce on the point of improvement though in terms of Connors. In fact, it seemed like he actually played much tamer under Connors, but Gilbert definitely had him swinging freely off both wings, despite his backhand being subpar with the rest of his game. One thing for certain is that no coach, at least from what I noted, helped Roddick improve his net game or court awareness to make points easier to finish at the net.
It's been more then 15 years, so I forgot some things... I think Roddick lost at least one Wimbledon title due to his lack of ability to play at the net. Did he ever try to switch to single handed backhand? He is on a technical level the worst No1 that I can remember.
3:00 Big on David Cup? Mary Please.