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Jan-Michael Gambill

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Jan-Michael Gambill
Full nameJan-Michael Charles Gambill
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceHawaii
Born (1977-06-03) June 3, 1977 (age 47)
Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro1996
Retired2010 (inactive in singles since)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed both sides, occasionally one-handed forehand)
Prize money$3,612,179
Singles
Career record201–196 (ATP Tour and Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 14 (June 18, 2001)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2003, 2004)
French Open2R (1998, 2000)
WimbledonQF (2000)
US Open4R (2002)
Doubles
Career record119–125 (ATP Tour and Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 23 (November 4, 2002)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2000)
French Open2R (2002)
Wimbledon3R (2002)
US Open2R (1999, 2000)
Mixed doubles
Career record3–2
Career titles0
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US OpenQF (2000)
Team competitions
Davis CupSF (1998, 2000)
Hopman CupF (2001, 2002)

Jan-Michael Charles Gambill (born June 3, 1977) is an American former professional tennis player who made his professional debut in 1996. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 14, which he achieved on June 18, 2001. Best known for his unusual double-handed forehand,[1] Gambill reached the quarterfinals of the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, the final of the 2001 Miami Masters, and won three singles titles.

Early life

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Gambill spent the early years of his life in the countryside of Spokane, Washington. He currently resides in both Los Angeles and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii with his partner, architect and developer Malek Alqadi. While Jan-Michael has been sponsored by car manufacturer Jaguar, he also supports real-life Jaguars and tigers through Cat Tales Zoological Park, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of big cats. Gambill has also raised money for his long-time friend Sir Elton John's charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Gambill's high-profile career as a professional athlete has evolved into coaching world-class tennis players as well as being an international analyst for BeIn sports. Gambill was also sponsored by Prince for both his racquets and apparel.

Tennis career

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1996–2005

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Gambill began playing tennis at the age of five, looking up to multiple Grand Slam singles titlists Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. He has defeated, amongst other top players, former World No. 1s, Roger Federer, Carlos Moyá, Lleyton Hewitt, Gustavo Kuerten, Marcelo Ríos, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi, as well as Grand Slam champions Michael Chang, Thomas Johansson, Sergi Bruguera, and Gastón Gaudio. His best performances at Grand Slams have been reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2000 and the fourth round of the US Open in 2002. His run at Wimbledon in 2000 saw him beat Lleyton Hewitt, Fabrice Santoro, Paul Goldstein and Thomas Enqvist before losing to eventual champion Pete Sampras. His run to the final of the 2001 Miami Masters included wins over Hewitt, Gaudio, and Thomas Enqvist. He was coached by his father Chuck Gambill (1947–2020), who coached Jan-Michael's younger brother Torrey, who was also a professional tennis player.[2]

Throughout his career, Gambill was hampered by numerous injuries. Most prominently, while still in the world's top 40, he suffered a recurring shin condition, which severely limited him on the ATP Tour after 2004.[3] He also started serving harder to try and compensate for lack of movement, which resulted in a shoulder injury.[4][5]

Post–2005

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Gambill played for the Boston Lobsters in the World Team Tennis league from 2008 onwards,[6] alongside other successful American players such as Andre Agassi, John Isner, and Robby Ginepri.[4]

In September 2009, Gambill reached the semifinals of the USA F23 Futures tournament (losing to second seed Michael McClune) in his first pro match of the year.

He competed in three Challenger events in 2010, and reached the quarterfinals of the USA F25 Futures in Irvine, California. Since October 2010, Gambill has not competed on the pro tour.

Since July 2011, he has coached top 10 player CoCo Vandeweghe, his former Boston Lobsters teammate, on the WTA Tour. In 2017, he coached top 50 player Jared Donaldson on the ATP Tour.[7] As of 2020, he is currently in broadcasting and television as a Sports Analyst on the Tennis Channel.

Personal life

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Gambill is gay and in a relationship with architectural designer and developer Malek Alqadi.[8][9][10]

ATP Tour finals

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Singles (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–1)
ATP Tour (3–3)
Result W-L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 1999 Scottsdale, United States Hard Australia Lleyton Hewitt 7–6(7–2), 4–6, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Jul 2000 Los Angeles, United States Hard United States Michael Chang 7–6(7–2), 3–6, retired
Win 2–1 Mar 2001 Delray Beach, United States Hard Belgium Xavier Malisse 7–5, 6–4
Loss 2–2 Apr 2001 Miami, United States Hard United States Andre Agassi 6–7(4–7), 1–6, 0–6
Loss 2–3 Jul 2002 Los Angeles, United States Hard United States Andre Agassi 2–6, 4–6
Loss 2–4 Jan 2003 Doha, Qatar Hard Austria Stefan Koubek 4–6, 4–6
Win 3–4 Mar 2003 Delray Beach, United States (2) Hard United States Mardy Fish 6–0, 7–6(7–5)

Performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Australian Open A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R A A A A A
French Open A 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R A A A A A A
Wimbledon Q1 2R 2R QF 1R 2R 2R 3R Q3 A A A A A
US Open 1R 3R 2R 3R 2R 4R 2R 2R 1R A A A A A
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A SF 2R 1R QF 3R 1R 2R 1R A 1R A A A
Miami Masters A 1R 2R QF F 3R 2R 1R A A A A A A
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A 1R A A A A A A A A
Rome Masters A A 1R A 1R A 1R A A A A A A A
Hamburg Masters A A 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R A A A A A A A
Canada Masters A 2R 2R A 3R A A A A A 1R A A A
Cincinnati Masters A 3R 2R A QF 2R 1R 1R A A A A A A
Madrid Masters (Stuttgart) A QF A 1R 1R 2R 3R A A A A A A A
Paris Masters A A A 3R A 1R A A A A A A A A
ATP Tournaments Won 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Year End Ranking 186 38 58 33 21 42 51 95 191 687 1107 1147 891 1051

References

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  1. ^ Smith, David W. (2004). Tennis Mastery, p. 207. Manahawkin Printing, USA. ISBN 0974902608.
  2. ^ "Torrey Gambill | Overview".
  3. ^ "Gambill Quits Match to Miss Wimbledon", The Spokesman Review, June 17, 2005.
  4. ^ a b "Gambill is Still Competing", Globe Correspondent, July 19, 2011.
  5. ^ "Jan Michael Gambill Speaks About WTT & Injuries", YouTube interview, March 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "Coach's Corner: Jan-Michael Gambill Talks Lobsters". Tennis.com. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "Donaldson Opelka Sarasota 2017 feature | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  8. ^ Hernandez, Greg (June 3, 2017). "Retired tennis hunk celebrates special anniversary on trip to Paris". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Watson, Pimmy (May 7, 2020). "Gay Tennis Players: Professional and College Level". Famewatcher. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  10. ^ "Openly gay tennis player: 4 rare names in the history". International LGBT Football. March 30, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
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