On Saturday, tennis legend Brad Gilbert was inducted into the Foothill College Hall of Fame. This was the first year Foothill had a Hall of Fame ceremony, so it was really neat for Gilbert to be a part of the school's first ever Hall of Fame class. As a fellow Foothill alum (Spring 2012, Music) and sportswriter, I jumped at the chance to attend. It was fun for me to walk around a campus that I spent three years at. Foothill had a profound impact on me as it helped prepare me for my time at UC Berkeley, where I graduated with a degree in Philosophy (Fall 2014). Special shout out to Dr. Robert Hartwell, Brian Tapia, Brian Lewis, and the entire Foothill College Gospel Choir!
During his pre-recorded video presentation and subsequent live speech, Gilbert acknowledged the impact that his coach at Foothill Tom Chivington had on his career. Without the coaching he got from Chivington, Gilbert said he wouldn't have had the success he had both as a player and as a coach. Under Chivington's coaching, Gilbert won the California Junior College Singles Championship and the U.S. Amateur Hardcourt Championship before transferring to Pepperdine. Gilbert had a stellar career at Pepperdine as well, reaching the singles final of the 1982 NCAA championship, where he lost to Mike Leach of Michigan 5-7, 3-6.
"I landed at Foothill College on January 2nd, 1980 as a young eighteen year old not knowing a lot about the great institution of Foothill College or our coach Tom Chivington," Gilbert said in the video portion of his remarks. "It would only take me a few days to discover the magic of Foothill College. Go Owls! And the legendary coach Tom Chivington. I feel like in a very short period of time, my life became a lot clearer in what I was doing and where I was going. I'm forever grateful for the time that I had at Foothill College.
"Amazingly, in 60+ years, Foothill College has only had three tennis coaches from the legendary Dick Gould who started the program to Tom Chivington who was there for well over 30 years to Dixie Macias, who is there now and was my assistant coach in 1980 and '81. It is such a great place. I really feel like those two years that I was at Foothill paved the way for everything that I did in my tennis career and my coach Tom Chivington was there with me my entire time. I wish we were going in the Hall of Fame together, but I'm so grateful to the Foothill family for allowing me to be there for those couple of years and to all my friends who I text always, I always say 'Go Owls!'"
After his collegiate career, Gilbert had success on the ATP Tour, winning 20 career singles titles, the bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, and getting ranked as high as No. 4 in the world on January 1st, 1990. Gilbert reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1990 and the quarterfinals of the US Open in 1987. He didn't have as much success at the other two grand slams, reaching the 4th round of the Australian Open in 1984 and the 3rd round of the French Open in 1993. Gilbert did find success at the ATP Tour Finals, reaching the semifinals in 1987 and reaching the final of the Grand Slam Cup in 1990, which was a tournament that was similar in model to the ATP Tour Finals, inviting players who had performed the best in grand slams during the year.
What made Gilbert's playing career so impressive is the fact that he wasn't the most physically gifted player on tour. He had to work harder than others to achieve success and dive deeper into the mental side of the game, which is the theme of his famous book Winning Ugly. I always tried to employ some of his tactics in my own tennis matches in high school and on the Nike Junior Tennis Tour. A must read if you are into tennis!
After his playing days were over, Gilbert gained even more fame for coaching Andre Agassi, who won six of his eight grand slams with Gilbert as his coach. Gilbert also coached Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, and Coco Gauff. Known for his mastery of the mental side of the game, his coaching career has truly spanned multiple generations. In addition to being an amazing coach, Gilbert has also acclaimed fame for being one of the top analysts in tennis as a member of ESPN's star-studded lineup that also includes John McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Mary Joe Fernandez, Chris Evert, Pam Shriver, and Chris Fowler.
Going back to his Hall of Fame induction at Foothill College, it's always neat to see people give back to their roots and never forget where they got started. While Gilbert went onto achieve incredible success at the professional ranks as a player, coach, and analyst, he never forgot where it all started.
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