8
Watching Junior Tennis With Brian Gottfried
8 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
At the recent Winter Nationals held at Lake Nona at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, I spotted old friend Brian Gottfried watching one of his young charges in action in doubles. While observing the match in the early evening from the corner behind the baseline, Gottfried, the former world no. 3 and Roland Garros finalist, agreed to answer a few of my questions.
Question: Have any players here impressed you and shown possible top 50 potential?
Brian Gottfried: “Do I have some time to think about it [smiles]? … [Long pause]…There are so many good players. So many variables. It’s really hard to watch these kids. Because technically, they all hit the balls so well. So big. You really have to watch them. I don’t watch them enough. I’m not at that many tournaments. So I don’t see a lot of them for an extended period of time. Because that’s when I think you can really tell. You gotta see how he plays, how he thinks, what he does under pressure, what he does when he’s losing. How he fights. Lots of different things. I’m sort of giving you the press conference answer [smiles]. My mouth is moving and I’m not saying anything. I’m not giving you any names.”
Question: Which young pros stand out for you?
Brian Gottfried: “The obvious ones are the ones that are playing a lot, the Americans, Tiafoe, he’s the second or third highest American. He has a great feel for the game. Technically, he’s not as good as some of the others but he has a great feel for the game. Great speed. So that counts a lot. Besides that… there are so many young ones that I haven’t seen. Not Americans, the guy from Greece (Tsitsipas), had a great fall, Khachanov, the Russian. I’m at no pro events at all.”
Question: But you have Tennis Channel?
Brian Gottfried: “To me, it’s really hard to see on TV. To make a real good assessment on TV. You gotta see the ball and hear it. Stand behind them. That’s why I stand behind – I can see the court better. I can see what both players are doing. How accurate he is with the serve. What was he actually trying to do. When you’re on the side it’s like watching a movie, it’s not 3D.”
I also spoke with Brian about Facing Guillermo Vilas for a future project/feature. Brian is currently based out of Jacksonville where he operates an Academy and still regularly hits with the juniors, using a Wilson Blade and not the new line of Snauewert racquets which are available for purchase from an American distributor in Colorado. Gottfried used Snauewert racquets during his career.
Dan Markowitz · February 9, 2019 at 10:55 am
Great little snippet, Scoop. I’ve always like and admired how I’ve seen you go up to different tennis legends whether you know them or not and engage them in some type of tennis discussion. It’s like apart from being a tennis reporter, you just love getting insights from the tennis intellectuals and kicking the tires about everything tennis.
I like Gottfried’s comment about watching a match from behind the baseline and how it becomes more of a 3D visual. I tried that yesterday watching my son play, but there wasn’t much room behind the baseline.
Scoop Malinowski · February 9, 2019 at 4:22 pm
Thanks Dan. Gottfried is a guru and he has a lot of wisdom to offer. People forget he was 3 in the world and a major finalist. Totally forgotten player but he was only a few match wins from no. 1, maybe he would have been no. 1 had he beat Vilas in that Roland Garros final. Players on that level are a different animal, different mind. So much to offer. I wish I had more time to chat with BG. He was one of the best parts of my Facing McEnroe book.
Wayne Bradford · February 10, 2019 at 1:47 am
Dan, you make a good point. Scoop probably goes up to these people and treats them normally rather than bring up coo-coo conspiracies and public lynching. One can’t imagine him going up to Stefan Edberg and telling a Swede his theories on lynching!
I am just kidding around. As if Scoop would threaten me to a duel, frontier justice style!
Scoop Malinowski · February 10, 2019 at 7:39 am
Wayne knows there’s never been a conspiracy ever in the history of mankind. It never happens by people in positions of power. The CIA created the term conspiracy theory as a weaponized term to mock and discredit anybody who questions or investigates an official narrative.
Wayne Bradford · February 10, 2019 at 7:37 pm
Scoop, you know what, you are probably right. You should run your ideas past some tennis legends like Gottfried, McEnroe, Becker and Chang and write a book about their thoughts on your theories.
I promise you I will buy a bunch of copies of that one.
Scoop Malinowski · February 10, 2019 at 7:56 pm
Wayne we have decided to not inject politics into this site. Your attempts at provoking trouble are noted and if you continue to do so you will be dismissed. Hope you understand and decide to stop instigating.
Wayne Bradford · February 10, 2019 at 7:57 pm
Gottfried really had no insight. He said he hasn’t watched any of these players play as pros. And he admitted he was moving his mouth and not saying anything.
I see a lot of “Unscoops” and little Scoops. Perhaps a different interviewing technique would yield more useful results.
Scoop Malinowski · February 10, 2019 at 8:07 pm
Wayne do you have the guts to tell us who you really are, your real identity? No reason to hide behind a fake name. Be proud of who you are. tell us about yourself and your accomplishments in life. You talk a big game with a mask, how about taking off the mask now?