Gimelstob Makes Himself at Home and Upsets Rafter

Justin Gimelstob didn’t have one victory celebration on Friday night.

He had two.

Gimelstob, 21, thought he had pulled off the biggest victory of his young career when he smashed an overhead past top-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia on his second match point. The excitable Gimelstob, who played his collegiate tennis at UCLA, started jumping around in jubilation.

One problem. The shot was wide.

So Gimelstob kept at it and finally knocked off the reigning U.S. Open champion on his fifth match point, defeating Rafter, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA.

“This is my house,” said Gimelstob, on the court.

Rafter thought he always could get back in the match. At times, he got close but could never make that next push to get any breathing room.

Still, the loss to the 98th-ranked Gimelstob did not shock Rafter.

“Do you expect me to be?” Rafter said. “He plays very well. You guys are making this out like I’m going to go home and cry about it. It’s just another loss. Life goes on.”

Gimelstob will play Andre Agassi today in the semifinals, and Gimelstob defeated him here last year in the first round.

“It’s going to be a big one,” Gimelstob said. “[Agassi] is playing the best he has ever played. I know he wants a piece of me.”

Certainly, the reverse is true after Gimelstob learned Agassi said earlier that he had potential to be in the top 30 in the world and that Jan-Michael Gambill showed more promise. He frowned and looked irritated.

“He’s definitely shown me disrespect consistently,” Gimelstob said. “Not disrespect. He’s an opinionated guy, that’s the way him and Brad Gilbert are. Andre has treated me very well on occasion.

“It’s not the first time he has made comments like that. I’m surprised he even said top 30. A couple of weeks ago he said I had no game. He’s made it very apparent he thinks Jan-Michael Gambill is a better talent than I am and has more potential than I do. That I don’t possess, in his opinion, the talent to be one of the great players in the world.

“As long as he doesn’t determine that, it shouldn’t really stress me out. It would be nice if he did feel that way--being a fellow American--to be a little more supportive or silent about his opinions. It makes me want to play my butt off tomorrow, which I would do anyway.”

Agassi found himself in another conflict earlier in the day, as it came out that the United States will have to try to reach the Davis Cup final without him, barring a major change of heart.

Agassi, who played against Russia and Belgium in the first two rounds of Davis Cup in 1998, said Friday that he will not play against Italy in the semifinals at Milwaukee, Sept. 25-27. The match conflicts with a dinner in Las Vegas for the Andre Agassi Foundation.

“I can tell you right now, me and [Jim] Courier would have rather played in Southern California,” Agassi said. “What about what the players think? I was hoping it would be down there [in San Diego] or we could pull it off in Vegas. I could have played in San Diego, but now I can’t play in Milwaukee. I can’t do it. I’ve got a commitment that’s too important.

“There was no discussion. I’m sure [captain] Tom [Gullikson] will go talk to Pete [Sampras] and try to get Pete to come through and try to survive another round.”

Sampras appears unlikely to change his mind regarding Davis Cup, and the task against the Italians will be much more difficult without Agassi.

And Agassi has undergone something of career revival this year. He won at Washington on Sunday and is on a nine-match winning streak on the ATP tour, reaching the semifinals here with a 7-6 [7-2], 6-2 victory against Australian Sandon Stolle.

In other quarterfinal matches, Guillaume Raoux of France defeated qualifier Michael Joyce of Brentwood, 6-7 (9-7), 6-4, 7-5, in 2 hours 44 minutes. For Raoux, a semifinalist here last year, it was yet another hard-fought match. He defeated Kenneth Carlsen in the second round in 2 hours 47 minutes.

Second-seeded Tim Henman of Britain defeated seventh-seeded Byron Black of Zimbabwe, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

“A win is a win,” Henman said. “I’m pleased to come through two tough matches, in the second [round] and the quarters, but I think I can still get better.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Today’s Featured Matches

STADIUM COURT, 1 P.M.

* Andre Agassi (5) vs. Justin Gimelstob.

*

STADIUM COURT, 7:30 P.M.

* Tim Henman, Britain (2) vs. Guillaume Raoux, France.