TENNIS / LOS ANGELES TOURNAMENT : Gilbert Loses to Stolle, Not at Loss for Words

All in all, it was hardly a gold-medal day for Brad Gilbert, itinerant tennis player who lost a lead, lost a match and lost his temper, then found something that really bothered him--the Olympics.

Gilbert blew a 5-2 lead in the second set and was beaten Wednesday in the second round of the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament by 22-year-old Sandon Stolle of Australia, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

What was it?

“A donation,” said Gilbert, who spiked his racket in disgust at one point. “I was routining the guy.”

And if losing wasn’t bad enough, then just think about what’s happening in Barcelona, which is really steaming up Gilbert’s sunglasses. Actually, Gilbert has one small problem with the Olympics: gymnasts.

“The gymnasts are weird,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many 4-foot-6 people in my life. They’re all 4-foot-6 and weigh 65 pounds. I’ve got a niece who is 4-foot-3 and weighs 65 pounds and she’s 5 years old.”

As an Olympic critic, Gilbert is qualified. He won a bronze medal in tennis in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, so his interest in the Summer Games is slightly more than casual.

Pro tennis players have been singled out in the media for early losses, but Gilbert said poor performances clearly have not been restricted to the tennis court.

Take the judges, for instance.

“The scoring just (stinks),” Gilbert said. “They cheat in gymnastics, they cheat in boxing, they cheat the U.S. I was there in ‘88, I think it’s like the world vs. the U.S. I think it’s a little ridiculous.

“If (Jim) Courier and (Pete) Sampras lose, they know they’ll be in Cincinnati and the U.S. Open two weeks later. They don’t lose the same as a kayaker losing. Kayaking is not a major event. (NBC) isn’t putting up $400 million for kayaking, wrestling and water polo. Corporate sponsors want the Dream Team.

“As far as track and field (goes), those guys are (deceiving) themselves if they think they’re amateurs. They’re amateurs about as much as we are.”

Other than that, Gilbert says the Olympics are as clean as the water of the Mediterranean splashing on the docks of Barcelona. What really put him in such a bad mood was how he played against Stolle, son of former star Fred Stolle, who is in his second year as a pro.

Said Gilbert: “I should have won that match in my sleep.”

Maybe Gilbert would have done better had he borrowed a paddle from a kayaker to play Stolle, who double-faulted three times in one game to give Gilbert two break points for 5-1 in the second set.

But Stolle saved both and finished the game with an ace. Stolle’s explanation was simple: “I was playing some top-level tennis and I was playing some hopeless tennis.”

Gilbert’s assessment of Stolle was brief and caustic: “Obviously he can get better.”

Good thing he wasn’t a gymnast, or Gilbert might really have laid into him.

Tennis Notes

Canadian Chris Pridham, who beat Bjorn Borg in the first round and faces Jimmy Connors tonight, wears a vest filled with ice cubes during changeovers to guard against heat exhaustion. The vest was designed by Pridham’s father, a chemical engineer. . . . Count Richey Reneberg among those who doesn’t fault the poor showing of the big names in tennis at the Olympic Games. “I guarantee you all those guys are thinking about the U.S. Open,” he said. “If I went to the Olympics, I’d have a tough time, too. In tennis, it’s a question of winning Grand Slam tournaments, not the Olympics. It’s not even a question.” Reneberg defeated fifth-seeded Derrick Rostagno, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2). . . . Rune Borg is accompanying his son, Bjorn, this week.