By Scoop Malinowski
Status: Former U.S. Olympian and ATP world no. 4. Winner of 20 ATP singles titles. Author of popular book “Winning Ugly.” ESPN tennis analyst.
Ht: 6-1 Wt: 175 pounds
DOB: August 9, 1961 in: San Rafael, CA.
Childhood Heroes: “You’d probably be a little surprised by this  Rick Barry. Because I was a huge Golden State Warriors fan. Number one all time  James Bond. And then one tennis player  Nastase.”
Hobbies/Interests: “Love all sports, I mean, normal guy. I like movies, I like politics. I think the older I get, instead of listening to music, now I listen to news talk radio [smiles].”
Nicknames: “A lot of people call me BG. But no profound nicknames.”
Favorite Movies: “Raging Bull, Marathon Man, Shawshank Redemption.”
Favorite TV Shows: “Sanford & Son, Hogan’s Heroes, oh, and I used to like the show when I was a kid – Mannix.”
Musical Tastes: “Big time old school rock. Petty’s my favorite of all time, without question. And my son’s trying to get me into some hip young bands from Green Day, Coldplay. He’s trying to branch me out to some young bands. No rap. I don’t understand it. That’s weak [smiles].”
First Job: “Working at a sporting goods store when I was 16 stringing racquets and selling shoes.”
First Car: “1970 green Chevy Caprice Classic, bought it for 500 bucks.”
Early Tennis Memory: “I started playing tennis when I was three. I had a sawed off Dunlop racquet. My dad wouldn’t let me go play in the court till I could make 50 in a row on this wall. So I was on the wall for like six months till I got to the main court. Man, I was ready to go.”
Favorite Meal: “Joe’s Stone Crabs in Miami is just off the hook.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Kinda like Baskin-Robbins, you got 31 flavors.”
Greatest Sports Moment: “Walking into the Olympic Stadium with the Olympic team in 1988. Seoul Olympics.”
Most Painful Moment: “Losing in the semifinals of the Olympics when gold was in sight. I just choked a little bit and got the big penny of bronze. Biggest disappointment for sure.”
Favorite Tournament: “Anywhere where I played well. Usually I played my best with winds. It would be like the worst tournament ever, usually it would be the best for me. Okay, everyone is in a bad mood here, it’ll be easy for me. But the U.S. Open is the tournament I dreamed of playing as a kid. Playing at the U.S. Open and being at the U.S. Open, for me, is the highlight of my tennis life playing-wise.”
Embarrassing Memory: “Yeah, every time I got beaten like a red-headed step-child by Ivan Lendl. (How many times?) 16. (Did you ever come close to beating him?) Yeah, the last time in Philadelphia I was 4-1 double break in the third and missed an easy volley to go up 5-1 in the third. He beats me like 7-5 in the third. And somehow during the match I broke my foot. And I had a bag of ice on my foot in the locker room. And (Lendl) goes, If I had a 100-degree temperature and I was on my deathbed I still wouldn’t lose to you. After that he started to go down a little bit and I never got a shot at him again.”
Funny Memory: “Playing doubles with Nastase, ’85 in Israel, and we actually won the tournament. The guy just cracked me up. Cause like he was one of my biggest idols as a kid. Just seeing how funny he was, that was a helluva fun time. We beat another Romanian player in the final and his partner. And Nastase was giving him so much grief, like, ‘You should be ballboying for me. You shouldn’t even be playing against me today.’ He rattled him so bad there was no way we were going to lose.”
Closest Tennis Friends: “Aaron Krickstein, Vince Van Patten, Brian Teacher, a lot of guys that I grew up with. I talk to everybody.”
Funniest Players Encountered: “Funniest player I ever saw in my life, bar none, the guy could tell the best locker room stories out of anybody I ever met in my whole life Vitas Gerulaitis.”
Toughest Competitors Encountered: “Lendl. Lendl without question.”
Favorite Players To Watch: “One of my favorites to watch is Nadal. I like to watch Federer. I like to watch…who else, those two…and I like to watch Murray.”
Favorite Vacation Spot: “Oooh, Lake Tahoe and Las Ventanas.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “Easy going, good sense of humor. Someone when you went into a bunker with, they got your back.”
Career Accomplishments: The winner of 20 ATP tournaments, Gilbert reached career-high ATP rank of No. 4 and coached former world #1 players Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. Currently the coach of Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Gilbert is the author of the classic tennis book “Winning Ugly.”
Brad Gilbert · ESPN · Ivan Lendl · Vitas Gerulaitis
dan markowitz · January 11, 2011 at 2:10 pm
A little constructive criticism, Scoop, on the scope of the Biofile. I know it is a stock format, but with a guy like Gilbert, or any subject I would think, you want to personalize it a bit.
For instance, this Biofile doesn’t really touch on Gilbert’s uber-competitiveness. The guy was crazy competitive. I would’ve liked a question like, “What developed your fierce competitive streak?” I once saw him play a match where he walked around the court just shouting to himself, like he was almost in a trance.
Scoop Malinowski · January 12, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Red; If I had known he was THAT intense I would have asked, being a formerly that intense of a competitor myself : ) Never had the pleasure to see BG play he was around before my tennis interest took hold in the early 90s. Wish the tennis channel would show some of BG’s classic matches, along with Rios too.
Dan Markowitz · January 13, 2011 at 4:01 am
Scoop, BG made you look like Kevin Kim in the competitive hierarchy.
Scoop Malinowski · January 13, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Some of my tennis friends read this site and they could tell you some stories about my fires and things that have happened lol. I don’t think I’d want some of my old rivals of the 90’s or hockey teammates to post though : 0 One tennis friend from the late 90’s who was a legendary beast himself dubbed me the animal, then later changed it to the ultimate animal. : ) I’m way more Nastase/Mac/Connors then Kevin Kim as far as on court intensity.