Gilbert Blooms Out of the Spotlight

The crowds and local media at the Easter Bowl Junior Tennis Championships were focused on Travis Rittenmaier, an 11-year-old phenom from Camarillo playing in the boys’ 14 division. Rittenmaier’s Jimmy Connors-like primal screams were so loud, they seemed to drown out the action on the adjacent court where Fullerton’s Joseph Gilbert was upsetting Miami’s Steve Weinstein in the boys’ 18s.

Between changeovers, Gilbert and Weinstein found themselves watching and discussing Rittenmaier’s antics and his play.

Gilbert is accustomed to being overshadowed and overlooked. He played with Kevin Kim, the boys’ 18s second-seeded player and a member of the U.S. Tennis Assn. national team, at Sunny Hills for two years.

On Tuesday, Gilbert was playing in his friend’s shadow again. Kim was playing and winning with ease on the court behind Gilbert. Meanwhile, the unseeded Gilbert was grinding out a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory over the nationally ranked Weinstein at the Riviera Resort and Racquet Club.

“Kevin’s a good player,” said Gilbert, a junior at Sunny Hills. “If I’m overshadowed by him, then I’m not doing too bad.”

But the low-key Gilbert admits he probably wouldn’t like the spotlight if it found him.

“I like being kind of quiet, with nobody looking at me,” he said.

But in high school and local tournament tennis, Gilbert isn’t able to sneak up on anyone.

“My role is different there,” he said. “I’m one of the top players and everybody is trying to knock me off. My role is different at national tournaments like this. I’m not supposed to win.

“(Tuesday) I wasn’t supposed to win, if you go by the seeds. But I tried to keep that out of my head and play my game. Anyone can be beat. I’ve beaten some college players and lost to some high school players.”

Though he didn’t have his biggest weapon--his serve--until the first-set tiebreaker, Gilbert used his experience and an improving net game to win.

“In the first set, I just had to find a way to win, because my first-serve percentage was something like 10%,” he said.

Today at 4 p.m., Gilbert plays Bob Bryan of Camarillo, an old-nemesis and a USTA national team member. Members of the national team are given free coaching and free travel to national and international tournaments.

“Personally, I don’t think I’d want to be on (the national team),” said Gilbert, who attends the Sunny Hills Tennis Academy at Sunny Hills Racquet Club and is coached privately by Mark Walpole. “Some players, that’s their goal. Everybody’s got as much talent as someone else. It’s just a matter of who’s better mentally that day.

“The national team is built up too much. Just let the kids play. The national team separates the kids. It puts them on a pedestal.”

And though he’s only 5 feet 10, 155 pounds, Gilbert would never want to be put on a pedestal.

“I’m not one of the biggest, strongest or most athletic players, but I put in a lot of time and I’ve got a lot of experience,” he said. “I’m kind of an all-court player. I don’t go out there and smack four serves, and walk off the court. I work the ball around and get to the net and kind of grind it out.”

Easter Bowl notes

Joseph Gilbert, Kevin Kim and Ryan Moore of Fullerton are the only county players left in the championship draw. Moore, a freshman at Servite, defeated Alex Hur of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-1, 6-3, and will play top-seeded Rodolfo Rake, today in the boys’ 16 round of 16. Villa Park’s Faye DeVera lost in the girls’ 16s and Taylor Dent of Newport Beach lost in three sets to Michael Robertson of Milwaukee in the boys’ 14s.