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TALES FROM THE TRANSPO DESK: PART 6

YOU HAVE CALLED ME AN IDIOT FOUR TIMES DURING THIS CONVERSATION

I briefly had Justin Gimleslob in the car for a quick ride from the qualies courts to the tournament site. What makes this even worth a mention is that Justin was on the phone the entire time, having a very loud shouting match with someone named Adam from the ATP.

I presume (with the help of omess) this Adam to be Mr. Adam Helfant, the outgoing CEO of the ATP. Why were they arguing?

The point of contention seemed to be the planned blue clay courts for Madrid with Adam accusing Justin of trying to sway Fed’s opinion by whispering to him during an ATP Board meeting. Justin was on the defensive the entire time and one point shouted into the phone, “you have called me an idiot four times during this conversation”.

I think I came a little every time Adam called Justin an idiot.

I’m glad to know we’re not the only ones to hold this opinion of Justin and even more glad that people within the tennis establishment have no problem saying it to Justin’s face. Frankly, none of the folks involved with the tournament, whether the PR staff or the ATP officials had anything nice to say about Justin.

In Justin’s defense I will say that even through he was in the midst of this verbal assault, he whispered a “thank you” not once, but twice as he left the car. And as he walked away, I thought to myself, “You’re welcome, you IDIOT”!


FALLA LA LA LA, LA LA LA

Everyone has to have a favorite scrub, and no doubt mine is Alejandro Falla and his uber nice coach Marcos Gorriz. Falla is also on the shy side but opens up nicely once he gets to know you and by midweek kept calling me his buddy. The transpo desk easily voted Gorriz nicest coach and I kidded with him that if Falla won the tournament, we would also vote him best coach. All three of us are lefties, so that was another fun tennis related trait we shared, though I actually play right-handed.

Both were surprised that I knew of the politics (thanks to a link on TAT provided by manolo) surrounding Falla and Giraldo (also coached by Gorritz) wanting Gorritz as their Davis Cup captain while the Columbian federation wanting some political crony to get the job. Since they are both from a small country, not known for its tennis, they modestly assume most people wouldn’t know anything about them so are genuinely surprised and willing to engage once anyone shows an interest in them. Really fun, nice, descent people.


BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS

On the flipside, both Baghdatis (who is supposedly getting married next year) and Gonzo displayed less than stellar behavior by hitting on a married tournament worker. The former was quite vulgar about it while the latter was a bit smoother but neither showed much moral compass – the fact that she was married and told them so was an irrelevant matter to them. I mention the above not because it was a rumor making the rounds but because their target told me about it first-hand. Sorry to disappoint you, Gonzo and Bags fans. Needless to say, the driver was not assigned to either of them for the remainder of their stay in LA.

Also, for no particular reason Bags shaved his head off in the middle of the tournament, though for days leading up to the haircut he kept asking for salon recommendations. He is also now fitter than ever and completely dedicated to a new nutrition regiment, as we routinely had to take him to Whole Foods supermarket to buy soy milk, sushi, and other healthy foods. So far the newfound dedication doesn’t seem to have improved his tennis. However Miles Machlachan (every bit the classic English gentleman) is his new coach now that he and Kohlschriber have split up. Bags also mentioned that he has given up on Davis Cup since Cyprus just doesn’t have a credible #2 for the team.

One curious bit that offers some insight into the mental state of Baghdatis. The first time I drove him, I mentioned that last year he made a funny quip about his mind not always cooperating with this desire to win. His odd response to this was, “why, you don’t think I try?” His response made no sense to me in the moment. After all, who was I to question whether he tries or not and more importantly, why would he care? Later of course I find out that it was his former coach who left him, rather than Baghdatis dumping him for Miles Machlachan. It was also a telling insight into his insecurity and that his rap has gotten to him.

Gonzo withdrew from doubles because he decided he was done for the week after he lost in the first round of singles. Poor Massu, who showed up for qualies for singles and was probably hoping to recoup some expenses by playing doubles, was left hanging by his countryman. Other players openly mocked Gonzo for his decision and let it be known it wasn’t the first time Gonzo acted only in his self-interest. Klassy, isn’t he?