Thank God for Andre Agassi. He knew I wanted to be a coach before I did.
I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I certainly never planned to become a coach to two of the greatest players of our time. Agassi and then later Andy Roddick. ( More on Andy in upcoming articles).
After all, I'd made a few million dollars in prize money during my playing career. And a few million more from endorsements. I could've hung it up and walked away-raised my family, managed my investments, and done all right.
But in March of I994, my life turned one of those corners that life sometimes turns. I was playing at the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida, just up the road from Miami. I was thirty-two years old, and I was still hitting a pretty decent ball, good enough to be ranked number 28 in the world.
Then, one afternoon when I went out to warm up for my match, I ran into Andre on the practice court. We knew each other pretty well from the tour, and even though he was almost ten years younger than me, we were fairly close buddies. I liked the guy. A lot of other players weren't crazy about his flamboyant style. The Wild Hair. (He used to have hair.) The ear rings.
Brad Gilbert is widely recognized as one of the top coaching minds, as well as one of the most direct and insightful television commentators in tennis. As a coach Brad has worked with numerous elite pro players including Grand Slam champions Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray. Ranked in the world top 5 in his playing career, Brad had wins over legendary champions including Boris Becker and John McEnroe and won 20 ATP titles. Brad is also the owner of Tennis Nation, one of the top tennis pro shops in the country for the true enthusiast, located in San Rafael, California.
Brad Gilbert: Winning Ugly
Brad Gilbert, now working with Coco Gough, has previously guided Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to Grand Slam titles. He did it with his unique style that can teach the rest of us about giving the extra mile.
Brad Gilbert's Winning Ugly is one of the most highly regarded and valuable tennis books ever written. Covering the strategic and mental realities of competitive play from the tour to the club level, Winning Ugly is packed with Brad's original insights about how matches are really won, and strategies any player can apply to dramatically improve their match results. A classic, must read for all tennis players, Winning Ugly is now available as an ebook, an audio book, as well as in the second print edition with a new forward by Andy Murray.
