|
Jan-Michael Gambill Website |
|
Jan-Michael Index
|
Other Archives - 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 7 October 2001 - Vienna return for Jan-Michael After some weeks away from the ATP Tour, Jan-Michael will return to action this week in the Austrian capital, Vienna where he has been given a tough draw. He will play Roger Federer in the first round - two members of the New Balls Squad - should provide for fireworks! 22 August 2001 - Injury strikes again After a few days rest, Jan-Michael decided to take his place in the singles draw at Long Island - probably partly because he was one of the top draw cards! However, pain was still present and although he won the first set of his match against Albert Martin, when JM lost the second set on a tie break he decided to forfeit the match and concentrate on rest and getting himself right for the US Open which starts in a few days time. The draw for the final Slam of 2001 has now been announced and JM was given the 20th seeding position, but all that did was ensure he would not draw any of the top 16 players in the first round. The draw that has actually occurred is pretty horrible but there is one good point - the dreaded Chris Woodruff is nowhere to be found anywhere near JM in the early rounds. Jan-Michael's path to success is blocked by many tough opponents in the early rounds including Cedric Pioline in the first round. JM will probably have to play Pete Sampras in the third round and other stars like Rafter and Agassi come thick and fast afterwards. All I can say is that if he gets as far as the semi finals (post Pat, Andre and the like) he will certainly deserve to be there! 17 August 2001 - JM Washington Bound After stops in Los Angeles, Quebec and Ohio, Jan-Michael's next stop on his whistle-stop tour of North America was Washington DC, the head of the US government and the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Following a bye in the first round, Jan-Michael easily won his opening match against Felix Mantilla. However, this is where injury struck. When teaming up with brother Torrey in the doubles (they lost their first match), Jan-Michael found he had pain in his shoulders and this niggling pain forced him to pull out of his third round match against Sjeng Schalken. The Dutchman went on to beat Agassi on the way to the final where he lost to Jan's mate Andy Roddick and the US youngster continued his phenomonal rise up the rankings inside the Top 20. It is something to note that Roddick is still in his first full year on the professional circuit and has already won three ATP events in the 2001 season. This time last year, Andy was preparing to play in the US Open Juniors - what a year! 13 August 2001 - Tennis Masters Update Montreal is the only Canadian stop on the ATP Tour but the Canadians are lucky because they have one of the Super 9 of Tennis Masters events. After two straight sets victories, Jan-Michael faced Spanish sensation Juan Carlos Ferrero. After winning the first set easily, JM could not stop the Spaniard counter-attacking and eventually Ferrero came through to complete a three set victory. Cincinnati, Ohio was the 7th stop for the Tennis Masters series and for the first time in 5 months, Jan-Michael was not seeded. Having let his ranking slip outside the Top 16 on the Entry system for the first time since March, JM had to play 17th seed Hrbaty in the first round and raced through with the loss of only 4 games. The second round match was slightly harder against Jiri Novak and a tiebreak had to settle things in the first set but after winning the breaker 7-2, Jan-Michael raced through the second set 6-2 and was through to his second consecutive third round in the TMS. Guillermo Canas was victim number three and this was particularly good for JM because the Argentinean had halted the challenge of the current US Open Champion, Marat Safin earlier in the tournament. Jan-Michael had his powerful serve back operating again and raced through the contest 6-3, 6-4 and this put him into a Quarter Final against Briton Tim Henman. This was quite good news for JM because he had an 100% winning record against Henman and when he took the first set of their night match quarter final, it looked as though he would extend this winning margin. However, Tim turned things around and after he raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set, Jan-Michael seemed to lose his heart for the battle. Tim had the momentum with him and JM lost his edge. Whatever he tried, JM could not get himself back into contention and eventually lost the match 6-4, 2-6, 2-6. 28 July 2001 - JM returns to Los Angeles After the disappointment of losing early at Wimbledon, JM took a break from tennis to recharge the batteries ahead of the heavy US hardcourt schedule in the lead up to the US Open. After Jan-Michael's fantastic results at Indian Wells and Miami, he had hoped to return to Los Angeles (where he was the finalist last year) and repeat things if not go one better. However, this was never going to be easy because of the long list of top players in attendance. The first couple of rounds were incredibly easy and the only downside as far as Jan-Michael was concerned was that he had to beat fellow Americans Michael Joyce and Paul Goldstein to progress. He was on a roll up to the quarter final stage only losing 9 games in total and nowhere near a set. However, at the quarter final, JM met his Waterloo in the face of Andre Agassi. Although the first set was over quickly, JM rallied hard in the second and that set could have gone either way but in the end it was settled in Agassi's favour after a couple of dodgy line calls which really got to Jan-Mike. Andre won 6-2, 7-5 and at least JM must have been happy because he got to the doubles final with partner Andy Roddick where they played another couple of US compatriots Mike and Bob Bryan. At the end of the week, JM was on the losing side of the doubles final too but the final was very entertaining and all four players enjoyed themselves. The plane that took Jan-Michael onto the next ATP Tour stop in Montreal also contained Agassi, Sampras and Roddick - so a superstar set! 23 June 2001 - Scheduling News The order of play for Monday has come out and Jan-Michael will be playing the first match on Court 18. Play on the outside courts starts at 12 noon - so if you are going to come and watch him - be there early. Seating is unreserved on a first come first served basis. Let's hope that it is JM's turn to win this time! 20 June 2001 - Jan-Mike defeated in tight match Jan-Michael was beaten in the first round by Greg Rusedski in Nottingham. Both players had their chances and it was a very even contest which had to be settled by tie breaks. Unfortunately, Greg's greater experience of grass and the home fans probably helped him to complete a 7-6, 7-6 victory. However, I do not think JM was too down. He had fought well and can now concentrate on hitting his grass court peak next week where he has been drawn to play Chris Woodruff, a fellow American in the first round. He will also be teaming up with close friend and rival Andy Roddick in the doubles. 18 June 2001 - Wimbledon Seeding News Jan-Michael has been granted a seeding position of 12 at the Wimbledon Championships which start next Monday. The seeding position roughly equals what his entry system ranking is now that several higher ranked players have withdrawn. The full seeding list is:- 1. Pete Sampras, 2. Andre Agassi, 3. Patrick Rafter, 4. Marat Safin, 5. Lleyton Hewitt, 6. Tim, 7. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 8. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 9. Sebastien Grosjean, 10. Thomas Enqvist, 11. Thomas Johansson, 12. Jan-Michael Gambill, 13. Arnaud Clement, 14. Wayne Ferreira, 15. Roger Federer, 16. Vladamir Voltchokov, 17. Tommy Haas, 18. Magnus Norman, 19. Nicolas Kiefer, 20. Fabrice Santoro, 21. Carlos Moya, 22. Dominik Hrbaty, 23. Todd Martin, 24. Nicolas Escude, 25. Albert Portas, 26. Sjeng Schalken, 27. Hicham Arazi, 28. Franco Squillari, 29. Guillermo Coria, 30. Nicolas Lapentti, 31. Albert Martin, 32. Gaston Gaudio. Onto other news, Jan-Michael was elevated to the number one seeding position shortly before the draw took place at the Samsung Open in Nottingham. However, he has been given the draw from hell - a first round match against Britain's number two, Greg Rusedski. They are scheduled to play tomorrow so more news when it is available. 15 June 2001 - Jan-Mike battles all the way with Sampras In a hard fought serving contest Jan-Michael showed he is just as much a "heavy-weight" as Wimbledon Champion Pete Sampras. This was the first time that Jan-Michael had reached the quarter finals at Queens Club but he gave everything he had against the man who is reputed to the very best in the world on grass. There were no breaks of serve in the first set which had to be settled by a tie break and the same pattern started to emerge in the second. It was not until the very latter stages that there was anything to pick between the players. As Jan-Michael served at 5-5 in the second, Pete upped the pressure that little bit more and Jan-Michael cracked. The final score was 7-6, 7-5 in favour of the more experienced American but Jan-Mike can take a lot away from this match; he knows his grass court preparations are on target and he will definitely have in the back of his mind that the winner of Queens does not necessarily do that well at Wimbledon. Just look what happened last year! Jan-Michael beat Lleyton Hewitt (the Queens Champion) in the first round at SW19. After giving his best in singles, Jan-Michael struggled when playing his latest doubles match with Goran Ivanisevic. They lost to the second seeds Palmer and Johnson in straight sets 5-7, 4-6 and it is now onto Nottingham for Jan-Mike as he makes his final preparations ahead of the Wimbledon Championships which start in just 10 days' time. He should be seeded 2 in Nottingham and I will update draw information as soon as it is available. 14 June 2001 - Jan-Michael reaches the Quarters Jan-Michael was pushed for the first time this week when he took on Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer but he came through. Having won the first set 6-4, Jan-Mike proceeded to lose the second set by the same score. However, with the match level he took control in the final set to wrap up victory 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and progresses to the quarter finals where he will be expecting to play Sampras. Pete's match against Jan Siemerink was held over by a rain delay with Pete leading 2-1 on serve. 13 June 2001 - Jan-Mike makes progress on grass Jan-Michael has finished shaking the clay off his shoes for another year and now can look forward to making progress on grass. With a seeding of 6, Jan-Michael avoided the awkward first round matches that all but the top 8 players had to face early in the week and did not start his singles campaign at Queens Club until early evening tonight. However, he had very little trouble in progressing. Up against fellow Davis Cup rival, Justin Gimelstob, Jan-Michael played really well win in straight sets and next faces a qualifier, Elseneer, for a place in the quarter finals on Friday. Jan-Michael also beat Gimelstob in the doubles earlier this week when together with partner Goran Ivanisevic, they beat Justin Gimelstob and Jan-Michael's old doubles partner Scott Humphries in the first round of the doubles event. 3 June 2001 - Happy Birthday Jan-Michael After completing his commitments in Paris, Jan-Michael attended the Player's Party on Friday night and now turns his focus to the grass in London. The Stella Artois Championship at Queens Club starts next Monday and Jan-Mike will be hoping he can build on his Quarter Final run at Wimbledon last year and rise further up the rankings list. Have a good Birthday Jan-Michael. See you at Queens next week! 28 May 2001 - Danish Pless spoils the Party Jan-Michael knows that clay is not his favourite surface - and is still working to win on it. Having had a promising run in Hamburg, he felt that he had a good chance of doing well in Paris. However, it was not meant to be. After taking the first set 6-4, Jan-Michael struggled in the next two sets and the Danish qualifier got himself back in contention. The fourth set was much closer on serve but after saving 2 match points, Jan-Michael had to concede defeat on this occasion. Now he can turn his focus to grass - but before that he is partnering fellow American rival, Andy Roddick in the doubles. 27 May 2001 - Jan-Mike vs Pless in first round at Roland Garros Jan-Michael has been seeded 15 for this year's French Open and was drawn against a Qualifier in the first round. He will be playing against Danish youngster Kristian Pless in the first round - probably tomorrow (Monday). However, first off Jan-Michael will be making his final preparations today by playing an exhibition match against Roger Federer later today at the French Federation's Charity Day. 24 May 2001 - Dusseldorf Summary I apologise for the lack of updates this week but work (as in my paid job) has kept me busy. Also the news from the World Team Cup has not exactly been spontaneous! Jan-Michael was in action in the United States team along with Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick and Scott Humphries. Together they managed to win two of their three ties. The beat Argentina and France in the deciding doubles rubber, but lost to Russia who had their two top guns available Safin and Kafelnikov. Jan-Michael's singles matches were not exactly spectacular but he certainly got a lot of experience ahead of the French Open. At the start of the week he lost to Puerta 7-6, 6-3 (but Puerta is bought up on the stuff). In his second singles match of the week, JM lost to Kafelnikov but he did take the second set and today he was defeated by Arnaud Clement but the first set was very close, losing it in a tie break 7-6, 6-3. However there was some success in doubles. Partnered by Andy Roddick, they won the doubles rubbers against Argentina and France. JM will be moving onto Paris shortly to start the French Open before heading to England where he will be in action at Queens and Nottingham ahead of Wimbledon. 17 May 2001 - Jan-Mike's singles run comes to an end in Hamburg Although he won the opening set, Jan-Michael's challenge in Hamburg ended at the hands of Swedish star Thomas Johansoon earlier today when he lost in the third round of this week's Tennis Masters Series event 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and will now prepare for the French Open in Dusseldorf next week where he will be representing the United States (with Pete Sampras) in the World Team Cup. As a result of rain the doubles matches are very behind. Jan-Michael and Scott Humphries were fortunate in their first match when the Czech pair of Novak and Rikl had to retire in the first set of their match and so they are back in action again on Friday. 16 May 2001 - Rios sent packing Jan-Michael and Rios spent the afternoon running from the showers earlier today when he made short work of beating the Chilean on clay. The first set was over 6-3 before the players ran for cover and it was over two hours before they were able to get back down to business. One set up, Jan-Michael took confidence from his lead and eventually forced Rios into error - one too many - and he celebrated a straight sets victory 6-3, 6-4. He now plays Thomas Johansoon who beat Guga Kuerten's conqueror, Max Mirnyi, in the third round matches which are planned - weather permitting - for tomorrow. 15 May 2001 - JM on winning run Jan-Michael scored his first clay court victory for 2001 when he beat German wild card Axel Pretsch in the first round of the Tennis Masters Series in Hamburg. Not only did he win, he won in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 and has set up a second round match against ex-Chilean No.1 Marcelo Rios - who was the latest player to be in the gossip columns after spending a night in the slammer in Rome! 13 May 2001 - Hamburg Draw News Jan-Mike is in Hamburg this week where he has again been seeded 14 in the current Tennis Masters Series event. He plays German Axel Pretsch in the first round. Jan-Michael will be the third American on the Centre Court tomorrow (5th match in actual fact) after Sampras and Agassi and it remains to be seen if any of them will be more successful than last week when they all lost in one day at Rome! In doubles, JM is again partnering Scott Humphries and they will be playing third seeds Novak and Rikl in the first round. 10 May 2001 - JM still to win on Clay As expected, Jan-Michael lost his first round singles match against Coria in Rome. Coria came to Rome on the back of some superb performances on clay recently - not least a final appearance in Mallorca the previous week. Although Jan-Michael pushed him to the limit in the first set (and had to come from a break down), Coria managed to get the decisive break to take it 7-5. With the first set behind him, the young Argentine star just went from strength to strength and soon had the second set tied up too. Jan-Michael lost 5-7, 4-6 but it was a better performance than his form in Houston had indicated. With the singles out of the way, Jan-Michael turned his mind to the doubles tournament where he was back with regular partner Scott Humphries. However they were unlucky to draw the number one seeds, Nestor and Stolle in the first round and lost in straight sets 3-6, 2-6. Jan-Michael now heads to Hamburg and Dusseldorf for his final preparation for the French Open later this month. 5 May 2001 - Rome Draw News After a first round loss in his first clay court match of the year, Jan-Michael heads to Rome for the Tennis Masters Series event which starts on Monday. Seeded 14, he has been drawn against in-form Argentine, Guillermo Coria in the first round and will certainly have a battle on his hands after Coria has been doing so well on clay lately. He made the semi finals in Monte Carlo before losing to Gustavo Kuerten. Jan-Michael will now be in Europe up to and including the French Open and will be hoping to get a few victories under his belt before he arrives in Roland Garros later this month. 4 April 2001 - A Month to Remember! Jan-Michael has had the sort of month that dreams are made of. And it started as soon as he returned to the United States after Davis Cup duty in Switzerland. JM must like flying because he certainly has clocked up a few zillion air miles during the past 6 weeks - criss crossing America in search for success and he most definitely deserves everything that has come his way. The travelling took him from Memphis (East Coast - ish) to San Jose, California (West Coast); then he went back to Florida to Delray Beach (East Coast again!) where success ensured he played 6 matches in less than 72 hours - but more of this later. After Delray Beach it was back on the plane again as he flew back to California to play in the Tennis Masters Series event at Indian Wells (West Coast) and finally back to Miami (East Coast) for the Ericsson Open. After all this, JM could be forgiven for letting slip. However, this period co-incided with his best run of form in his career so far. Out of the 22 singles matches he played in 5 tournaments, he won 18 of them and with it the singles (and doubles) title in Delray Beach as well as recording a well deserved victory over Guga Kuerten in Indian Wells and reaching his first Tennis Masters Series final in Miami. I was just happy to be able to congratulate him personally for this success. This run of form means that he is perhaps the most consistent player (with the exception of Agassi) on the ATP Tour this year and with it came a place within the Top 20 of the Entry System (now 16th) and 3rd Position in the Champions Race for 2001 - so far. If he keeps this sort of form up during the clay court season, he will be granted his first seeding position at the forthcoming Grand Slams at Roland Garros and Wimbledon! Enough of that. Here come the facts and figures! Memphis & San Jose At both the tournaments in Memphis and San Jose, Jan-Michael put together a solid performances. And on both occasions when he lost he lost to the eventual runner up. In Memphis he had two straight sets victories over Malisse and Balcells before he lost to Tommy Haas; In San Jose, tight victories over Andre Sa and Andy Roddick put him up against Balcells again and the Spanish Davis Cup winner only got 2 games as JM ran him over to set up a semi final match with Agassi. In the event, Andre won in straight sets but JM did not disgrace himself. (AA went on to lose to Greg Rusedski in the final!) Delray Beach Delray Beach will certainly have a special place in Jan-Michael's calendar from now on. He had double success - in that he was the all -conquering hero, winning the singles and doubles (with fellow Davis Cup rival, young Andy Roddick). It was Andy's first experience of winning on the ATP and at 18 years old I think we are going to see a lot more from him in the future! The only let up for Jan-Michael came in the second round where he received a walk-over when Greg Rusedski was forced to pull out with a suspected injury. And then came the stamina test. JM had to play the quarters, semis and final matches in both singles and doubles over the last three days of the tournament (that is 6 matches in less than 72 hours). And it wasn't 6 easy matches either. Jan-Michael had to come from match points down in both the quarter final and semi final in the singles event. In total he had to save 6 match points (6 must be his lucky number now!) against Woodruff (quarter finals 5-7, 7-6, 6-4) and Arthurs (semi finals 6-3, 6-7, 7-6) before he played a controlled match against Xavier Malisse in the final. After two such tough matches, it was obviously destiny to triumph in the final and he did just that, winning 7-5, 6-4. The icing on the cake came with the doubles victory (6-3, 6-4) with Andy Roddick. "It's unbelievable. I thought 'How did I do that?' said JM after his semi final victory. "It's because I kept focused on the match points. That's what makes a champion. It's very exciting." And after the final..... "What I have accomplished this week doesn't happen very often. It is a great feeling to me to come out and play great singles and then play great doubles. It just shows how important doubles can be to a player." Indian Wells With such a hectic schedule there was no time to rest and Jan-Michael somehow had to stay focused during his opening match in Indian Wells. As he commented to me later, he did not know how he managed to play because he was so tired. Facing a tricky opponent in Dominik Hrbaty, Jan-Michael was forced to be aggressive (rather than wait for his opponent to make mistakes) and luckily came through his first two matches in straight sets against Hrbaty and Spain's Fernando Vicente. Then came the big one - the chance to topple the top seed Gustavo Kuerten. The Brazilian was, at the time, the only player on the ATP Tour who had won 2 titles in 2001. However both of these had come on his "beloved" clay and as it turned out, he did not have the staying power to beat a "Gambill on the Rampage"! The temperatures in California that day were extremely extreme (ie very very hot) - even I had to get some shade at the start of the match. The match-up was eagerly awaited by the crowd who had been treated to Rafter vs Corretja as the warm up and although the match was tight, it was over in straight sets as Jan-Michael proceeded to win his 12th match in 11 days - 7-6, 6-4. The cheers echoed round the complex as the news spread. However, things came to a standstill in the quarter finals as Jan-Michael ran out of steam against Russian Olympic gold medalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semi finals as JM bowed out in straight sets. However, looking on the bright side - at least it gave him a few days of well earned R&R before he had to get back on court in Miami at the Ericsson Open. Miami - Ericsson Open Exactly 8 days after beating Guga, Jan-Michael was on court again at Key Biscayne and surprise, surprise, he was back "on the ropes" in his first match. Having received a first round bye, JM was up against that unpredictable Aussie, Andrew Ilie and he soon realised that victory was going to be far from easy. Ilie is actually one of the hardest hitters on the ATP Tour (and just for the record had surprised Pete Sampras in Scottsdale with his power game) - if he was more consistent he would be Top 10, however consistency and Ilie just don't go together for long! Having lost the opening set, Jan-Michael was forced to save match points in the second set tie break but once he came through that little tussle, he used the energy and support of the crowd to triumph fairly easily in the final set. Buoyed up by success against Ilie, Jan-Michael did a player signing session as part of the New Balls Please publicity campaign on the middle Saturday and it was just luck that I heard about it. The photos are great and as soon as I get an opportunity I will be uploading them for all you fans to enjoy. I have put just one of the best ones on the front page. I took about 2 films and nearly all of them came out. All the facial expressions are different and they are a must for viewing. Keep checking back for more! There followed a double Swede sandwich as Jan-Michael faced Thomas Enqvist and Jonas Bjorkman in successive matches. Enqvist was the first victim and although JM was by far the stronger player out there, he seemed hell bent on going about victory the hard way. On another extremely hot afternoon, JM won the opening set but somehow contrived to lose the second set on a tie break, even though he had been a break up. The final set proved to be a walkover as Enqvist's challenge went up in smoke (poof!) and JM won 7-5, 6-7, 6-1. Bjorkman was just no competition for the rampant Gambill and Jan-Mike gave him just 3 games in a double quick victory 6-1, 6-2. Next came another hum-dinger against confident Argentinian Gaston Gaudio. Most people said Gaston who? but I knew a bit about the youngster from Buenos Aires. Anyone who can bagel Juan Carlos Ferrero and win a set off Kafelnikov 6-1 (both in proceeding rounds) must be on a run of form! I knew things might be difficult for Jan-Michael because Gaudio has the talent to move the ball around to all corners of the court and it was this tactic that proved Jan-Michael's undoing at the start. The rapidly improving Argentinian took the early advantage and when he took the first set easily 6-3, most people in the audience scratched their heads (metaphorically of course) - this was not the script at all. Support for both players was loud in the second set - well Miami is an extension of South America! and when Gaudio got an early break, it looked as though things might come crashing down for Jan-Michael's dream run. However, JM was energised by the crowd and got himself back into contention and after he saved yet another match point (in the second set), lady luck was with him. He won the second set 7-5 after breaking in the 11th game and the final set turned into a very ugly affair as both players felt aggrieved by appalling line calls, unnecessary shouting from the stands and confrontation from fans in the crowd. There was nothing much between them but eventually JM came through to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 and set up a semi final against fellow "New Ball" Lleyton Hewitt. Semi final success was just another chapter in the story. The Gambill bandwagon just kept rolling. Lleyton Hewitt was certainly of a high enough calibre to send Jan-Michael spinning away however, he just did not have the answers to Jan-Michael's winners. The first set was tightly fought but when things got to the nitty gritty it was Jan-Michael who prospered and Lleyton who floundered. With opening set under his belt (7-5), Jan-Michael just kept pushing and eventually Lleyton cracked - in fact he broke a string and cracked a racket as the match drew to his climax. Lleyton was broken in the 9th game and JM dutifully served out to win 7-5, 6-4. The look of total delight and disbelief on Jan-Michael's face told its own story. Jan-Michael was through to his first Tennis Masters Series (Super 9) final but he had the toughest of tough tasks ahead of him; he had to play Andre Agassi, now the undisputed leader of the Race for 2001. Throughout the first set Gambill gave as good as he got and he seemed to be in control of things. It was only when the set reached a climax in a tie break that Agassi was able to break through. After this, things snowballed dramatically quickly for Jan-Michael as the stress of playing so many matches in a short space of time finally got to him. He only managed to win one more game as Agassi went on the rampage to win 7-6, 6-1, 6-0 and effectively ruined Jan-Michael's chance of further elevation in the rankings. And that folks was March 2001. Hope you enjoyed my memories! Now that I am back in England (tethered to my job) you can expect regular news updates over the next few weeks. All I can say is CONGRATULATIONS JAN-MIKE. YOU HAD A WONDERFUL MONTH. I JUST HOPE I CAN WITNESS MORE OF YOUR SUCCESS FIRST HAND! YOUR FAMILY MUST BE SO PROUD OF YOU! HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING A WELL EARNED REST NOW IN SPOKANE. BUT ONCE YOU ARE BACK IN EUROPE - KEEP THE VICTORIES COMING! 23 February 2001 - Jan-Michael into Quarters Jan-Michael continued his form with a straight sets win over Juan Balcells yesterday. He won the first set 6-0 and although the second set was tougher, he scraped through 6-0, 7-5 and now plays Tommy Haas in the quarter finals later today. In doubles action, the Gambill brothers lost their first match to Goran and Gaudenzi 6-2, 6-2. The computer is still playing up but I hope to fix the contents page over the weekend - when I have some time to devote to it! 21 February 2001 - Memphis Update Jan-Michael started his campaign in Memphis in style last night. He beat Belgium star Xavier Malisse in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 and now plays Balcells or Stoilarov (sp?) in the next round. Good preparation will be the doubles event in which he is joined by "baby" brother Torrey. Together the Gambills are wild card entries in the tournament and play Ivanisevic and Gaudenzi later this afternoon on the third court. Should be fun. Jan Michael was busy off court earlier this week when he joined ATP officials at the launch of the new Kids First Initiative. He is taking over as Charities Chairman from Tim Henman involved in this ATP initiative and hopes to broaden his charity work and bring tennis to many kids programmes during his year in office. Jan-Mike will also be donating himself. He plans to give $5,000 for every ace he serves during the year; this sum will be matched by the ATP Tour and his sponsors Adidas are also involved financially and will be providing undisclosed eqiupment. Good luck to him. Also - sorry about the blip on the index page. Was trying to change round the message board and in the process seemed to send the contents buttons awol! The links are still working honest! - its just the flashy buttons aren't working! 10 February 2001 - Davis Cup News The Davis Cup tie between the United States and Switzerland got underway yesterday in Basel with Todd Martin and Jan-Michael representing America in the first round of singles matches. Todd Martin took on Roger Federer but lost in 4 sets. Unfortunately he also injured his back and this will put out of the reverse singles rubbers on Sunday. This meant that Jan-Michael just had to go out and win which he did. He was playing the second Swiss singles player Michel Kratochvil and thankfully came through with a fairly comfortable straight sets victory 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. This meant the US team went into the doubles rubber 1-1. Doubles Day: Jan-Michael knew from new Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe that he would be playing a key role during the tie and would be called upon to play all three days, singles and doubles and so it was J-M and Justin Gimelstob who took the court against Federer and his team mate Lorenzo Manta for the crucial doubles rubber that would decide who would be leading at the start of the final day of action. In the end the match was short and sweet, Federer and Manta took the first two sets easily 6-4, 6-2. The third set was much more of a battle but still the Swiss pair were just too good. They won 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 to the delight of the Swiss crowd. Now Jan-Michael and whoever gets called upon to play the final rubber (either Justin Gimelstob or Andy Roddick) will have to win or America will have to play the lottery of the Play-Off Round in September. But most of the pressure will be on Jan-Michael who has the awesome task of taking on Roger Federer first in a must win match - incidently he lost to Roger the last time they played. Then if (and only if) Jan-Michael manages to win, the tie will come down to Justin or Andy - who will cope with the pressure best? To find out, check back for updates tomorrow! 3 February 2001 - Milan Update and DC Preview First of all I have to apologise for the lack of any updates this week - sorry been really busy. Jan-Michael returned to competitive action this past week in Milan. (The Milan tournament takes over from the London tournament where JM and Scott Humphries made the doubles final last year). Jan had success in both singles and doubles action. In singles he reached the quarter finals after good victories over Sjeng Schalken (the 6th seed) in the first round 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 and Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 7-5 in Round 2 before coming up against another of the surging Frenchman Julian Boutter in the quarters. He lost to Boutter 4-6, 4-6 but can take some consolation because Boutter reached the final before losing to Roger Federer who won his first ATP title. In doubles Jan-Michael made up a scratch doubles partnership with Harel Levy and they won their opening match against another wild card partnership Kiefer and Safin (3-6, 6-4, 6-1) before losing to Marc Goellner and Andre Olhovsky in the next round (6-3, 3-6, 6-7). Jan-Michael has also been selected to play Davis Cup as part of the American team who take on the Swiss in the First Round of the World Group 2001 which starts next Friday 9th February. He will play alongside Todd Martin, Justin Gimelstob and Andy Roddick and should play in the singles berths along with Todd Martin. Good luck ! 16 January 2001 - First Round Heartache again for Jan-Michael Jan-Michael does not seem to have much luck at Melbourne does he? Having lost in the opening round to seeded opposition for the last two years, Jan-Michael managed to avoid any of the main seeds when the draw was made but a match against Chris Woodruff was never going to be easy. And it wasn't. Earlier today Jan-Michael went down in 5 tough sets against his Davis Cup team mate but he did not give up without a fight. Having lost the first set, Jan-Michael came back and won the second and third sets and looked good for victory in the fourth. However, Woodruff finally levelled the match winning that set 7-5 and had the momentum as the match reached its conclusion. At 5-3 down, Jan-Michael saved two match points against him but did not manage to save the third and Chris Woodruff won 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Jan-Michael is in the doubles draw playing with Jonathan Stark and will be up against Chris Woodruff again in the first round as Woodruff and his partner Paul Goldstein have been drawn to play JM and Jonathan in the first round. We have to wait until Thursday to see if the rumours of JM playing mixed doubles with Monica are true. 13 January 2001 - Jan-Michael bows out in the Quarter Finals in Auckland After a good win over Andreas Vinciguerra in Round 2, Jan-Michael finally came unstuck against Leftie Francisco Clavet in the quarter finals. However all in all it was a good week's preparation for the Aussie Open. Jan-Michael has drawn fellow American rival Chris Woodruff in the first round at Melbourne Park. This match promises to be one of the toughest first round encounters. 9 January 2001 - Auckland News Jan-Michael completes this preparations for the Aussie Open by taking part in the Heineken Open in Auckland this week. Seeded 3, he played Nicolas Massu in the first round this morning, and won 7-6, 6-4 and will play Andreas Vinciguerra in the second round later this week. Jan-Michael had his most successful year on tour to date during 2000 but did not have the best of starts last year so let's hope things can be even better this year. 7 January 2001 - Hopman Cup News Jan-Michael and Monicas Seles represented the USA in the Hopman Cup this week, and they did really well reaching the final, winning all their group matches against Slovak Republic and Belgium amongst other countries. In the Final they took on the team from Switzerland, which included Martina Hingis and Roger Federer, and came up second best when they both lost their singles. However, they did gain a certain amount of revenge by winning the final doubles rubber, and all in all, the tournament was great preparation for the Aussie Open which begins in a weeks time.
|
