Mylan World TeamTennis celebrates its 40th birthday this year. For more on WTT, including this season's schedule, click here.
At the turn of the millennium, Jan-Michael Gambill was a player on the rise. The tall American played an unorthodox game -- hitting with two hands on both sides -- and made his ATP breakthrough in 1998 when he reached the semifinals of Indian Wells. In the next three years, Gambill made runs to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the final of Miami.
Peaking just inside the Top 15 in 2001, he made his Mylan World TeamTennis debut that summer for the New York Hamptons. It wasn’t long, however, before injuries slowly took their toll, ultimately taking Gambill out of the game.
Sidelined from a sport he loved, Mylan World TeamTennis and its flexible format provided the American with a necessary refuge.
“I got hurt on Tour, and so I didn’t really choose to stop playing,” Gambill told wtt.com. “So anytime I can get back on the court and play some tennis, I love doing it.”
Gambill enjoyed back-to-back seasons with the Houston Wranglers before finding a home in Boston, playing four years with the Lobsters and making many memories along the way.
“I’ve created some lasting friendships here with Coco Vandeweghe, who I met in Team Tennis and later coached her for two years. We’re still the best of friends, and Irina Falconi, who is playing for me this year, has become one of my really good friends.”
The Lobsters were looking for new blood after a disastrous 2014 season saw them finish with just one win in fourteen matches. It turned out new blood had a familiar face, and Gambill became a Mylan WTT coach for the first time in his career. Looking to revamp the line-up ahead of the professional team tennis league’s 40th season, the three-time ATP World Tour titlist preferred to see last year’s results as a blessing rather than a curse.