Gimelstob Takes the Long Road Back

WIMBLEDON, England — Tennis players are accompanied to Wimbledon news conferences by a member of the All England Club. Or, as they like to call them here, minders.

Wednesday’s “minder” got a little restless during Justin Gimelstob’s wide-ranging and often amusing postmatch session, telling reporters that it was time for the “last question.” Uh, not quite.

“We’re good here,” said Gimelstob, who defeated Nicolas Massu of Chile, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (0), in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

“This is my moment. You don’t understand where I’ve been.”

Yuba City, Calif., anyone?

It has been a long-and-winding journey from the Yuba City challenger in May to the third round of Wimbledon. That was Gimelstob’s last event before traveling here for Wimbledon qualifying. And he didn’t win there, nor did he do so at the tournament before that, in South Korea.

“Hopefully with this, maybe I’ll get back in the top 100. This will probably be my third time of coming from oblivion to back in the top 100,” Gimelstob, 28, said. “It’s tough. Not like I’m a martyr. But I only have to look to my left to my good friend Corina Morariu to see what a real comeback is like.

” ... You wouldn’t believe the places I’ve been to try to get my ranking back. This is my third continent in four weeks.”

Numerous injuries slowed and sidelined him, causing the drop in ranking. He needed foot surgery, and then had persistent back problems. Gimelstob estimated he has had about 13 or 14 cortisone shots, including one June 14.

Gimelstob’s back went out during the second round of Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton and he somehow won. He played one game against George Bastl in the third round of qualifying and retired from the match. But enough players withdrew from the main draw of Wimbledon and Gimelstob got in as a “lucky loser.”

Getting the cortisone shot itself turned out to be an adventure, and Gimelstob was asked if he was concerned whether the drug had any prohibited anabolic steroids.

“I don’t know if you guys have seen my body, there’s no anabolic-ness speed there,” he said, causing laughter. “This is as natural as it gets. You know, this is part Jewish, part Christian, part upper-class upbringing, working-as-hard-as-you-can genetics.”

Gimelstob, who attended UCLA but did not graduate, has been spending time in Southern California and said he recently bought a house in Santa Monica. An inspiration in his life has been his relationship with Morariu. She was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2001, went into remission and returned to the tour in 2002.

How much has she influenced him?

“A ton,” Gimelstob said. “To see someone that has been through what she has and carries herself the way she does and really gets the important things in life -- that’s always been a weakness of mine. It’s always been so consumed with tennis and the result.

“She epitomizes the opposite of that. All I have to do is look at her to see how to do it right.”

Gimelstob will play former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the third round. Also reaching the third round was Taylor Dent of Newport Beach, who defeated Kevin Kim of Newport Beach, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

“My serve was a little hot and cold today,” said Dent, who will play Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the third round. “I’d get myself into trouble, but then surprisingly, I’d serve my way out of trouble.”

The women’s side has been featuring new players coming to the forefront. One of them, Sania Mirza of India, has been responsible for a massive surge of interest in her country. Mirza became the first Indian woman to reach the third round at the Australian Open in January.

She pushed fifth-seeded and U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia to the brink before losing on Centre Court in the second round. Kuznetsova won, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4, saving a break point in the final game with a terrific stab volley.

In a news conference, Mirza wore a pink shirt with the saying: “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” This was the first Wimbledon for the 18-year-old.

Then there’s the influence of Venus and Serena Williams, also responsible in part for the changing dynamic on the tour. There are four African American players left in the women’s draw, including Venus and Serena. The two lesser-known players are 20-year-old Shenay Perry and Mashona Washington, 29.

Perry defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 7-6 (1), 6-2, and Washington defeated Selima Sfar of Tunisia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. A third African American, qualifier Jamea Jackson, lost to top-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the second round, 6-0, 6-3.

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Wimbledon: Day 3

Highlights at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club:

* Top men’s seeded winners: No. 1 Roger Federer, No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 5 Marat Safin, No. 9 Sebastien Grosjean, No. 10 Mario Ancic, No. 11 Joachim Johansson.

* Top men’s seeded losers: No. 22 Dominik Hrbaty, No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 29 Nicolas Massu.

* Top women’s seeded winners: No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 6 Elena Dementieva, No. 9 Anastasia Myskina, No. 13 Elena Likhovtseva, No. 15 Kim Clijsters.

* Women’s seeded losers: None.

FEATURED MATCHES

* Mara Santangelo, Italy, vs. Serena Williams (4)

* Daniele Bracciali, Italy, vs. Andy Roddick (2)

* Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgaria, vs. Maria Sharapova (2), Russia

* Tim Henman (6), Britain, vs. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia

* Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, vs. Rafael Nadal (4), Spain