Sunday, August 04, 2002
Gambill returning to form
Injury dealt rising career a setback
By Neil Schmidt and Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — As turning points go, this tournament was one Jan-Michael Gambill wanted to forget. But the 25-year-old American is finally back to form after injuring his shoulder here in the Masters event last year.
“Coming back from that has been something of a struggle,” he said. “That was quite a downer. I was top-20 in the world and had a chance to go higher. When you have an injury like that, you feel like you're cheated a little bit.”
When he met Tim Henman here in the quarterfinals last year, Gambill was tied for 14th in the yearlong ATP Champions race. But he overexerted his right shoulder in a three-set loss, and tendinitis limited him to six matches the next four months.
Gambill, who finished 2001 ranked 21st and had finished each of the past four years in the top 60, saw his ranking slip to No.58 five weeks ago and needed a wild card to gain entry to this tournament. But he regained form in his last event, reaching the finals in Los Angeles a week ago before losing to Andre Agassi. He is currently ranked 46th.
TALBERT'S LEGACY: Tony Trabert and Bill Talbert were enshrined Saturday as the inaugural class of the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame. Trabert's accomplishments are perhaps better-known, as he totaled 10 Grand Slam titles, five each in singles and doubles.
But the impact of Talbert, who died in 1999 at age 80, went beyond his nine Grand Slam doubles titles. He was a diabetic, believed to be the first diabetic athlete and the longest-living user of insulin, which was introduced for diabetic treatment in 1921.
“When his story (about being a diabetic athlete) came out, it was a revelation,” said son Peter, who attended the induction banquet Saturday. “In some ways, it was a much bigger legacy than his tennis was.”
SENIORS: Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and Gene Mayer won the Western & Southern Final Group Seniors championship Saturday, defeating Jana Novotna and Tom Gullikson 6-3, 6-4, at the ATP Tennis Center.
In the third-place match, Gigi Fernandez and Owen Davidson defeated Kathy Renaldi and Brian Gottfried 7-6 (4).
The three-night tournament drew 18,095 fans.
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Gambill returning to form
