by Charles Bricker
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 18, 2024

WIMBLEDON, England - (KRT) - Justin Gimelstob, the outspoken big server from Delray Beach, was boiling, and it wasn't difficult to see his point.

"Rafael Nadal is an incredibly selfish person," Gimelstob said, sailing into the talented and injured Spanish teenager, the day after Gimelstob was beaten in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying, effectively keeping him out of the main draw.

What happened to Gimelstob here has happened to countless players over the years and, ultimately, falls into the category of tough luck.

Here's his dilemma: He was two ranking spots away from being one of the 104 players given direct acceptance into Wimbledon (there also are eight wild cards and 16 qualifiers for the total of 128), and if any two of the four players who withdrew with injuries this week had withdrawn before qualifying began on Monday, Gimelstob would have been into his sixth Wimbledon.

But all four - Andre Agassi with a hip, Nicolas Escude with a shoulder, James Blake with a neck and Nadal with a foot - waited until after qualifying began to inform tournament referee Alan Mills they wouldn't be able to play.

That meant that their four spots would be given to four lucky losers in qualifying - the highest ranked four players to lose in the final qualifying round, instead of to the next four highest-ranked players that missed direct acceptance.

Gimelstob lost in the final round of qualifying in four sets to Ramon Delgado of Paraguay on Thursday. On Friday, he let loose at Nadal, who has been injured since April. He found no fault with Agassi, who announced his withdrawal on Monday, the first day of qualifying.

"I'm sure Andre doesn't even know the rules about that," said Gimelstob.

He wasn't happy about Blake waiting so long, but he wasn't going to criticize another American. So he vented on Nadal, the 18-year old who could be out several more weeks before returning to the ATP Tour.

ATP officials were sympathetic with Gimelstob's plight, but they pointed out that Nadal had a consultation with his doctor on Thursday and wanted to keep his Wimbledon options open if the doctor cleared him to play.

Would Nadal have played even with clearance? It's hard to say. He would be badly off form from the long layoff, and grass is a particularly difficult surface on which to adjust your play. It also seemed the longest of long shots that Blake could have gotten ready to play on such short notice.

Gimelstob still was in position to make the tournament by beating Delgado. But he went to pieces after dominating the opening set and lost in four.

Gimelstob will play doubles here with Scott Humphries, an American doubles specialist who is working here with Jennifer Capriati.