Athelete of the Week

Gabe Goldstein Height: 6'1" Backhand: Two-handed Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif. Major: Probably history or economics Started playing at age: Seven Mentor: Matias Polonsky, friend and coach Best Yale ../sports moment: "The win against Princeton." Hardcourt vs. Clay: Hardcourt Favorite Tennis Players: Andre Agassi and Jim Courier Favorite Music: "Rap, but I'm open to everything." Favorite Food: Italian Favorite Sport: Pro football (the Dolphins) and pro basketball (the Lakers)

"Aw geez!" That's the expression a spectator at a Yale men's tennis match might hear from Gabe Goldstein, DC '02, if things aren't going his way. On Fri., Apr. 9, however, the Los Angeles native had little need for his famous utterance. The Bulldogs and the Princeton Tigers were deadlocked at three matches apiece when Goldstein clinched the Yale victory with a dramatic triumph in the sixth singles slot. Goldstein took the match in two sets, 7-6, 6-2.

With the support of his teammates and coach at courtside, Goldstein pulled off the win, which he considers the best moment of his Yale tennis career. "There were definitely some nerves," Goldstein said, "but tons of adrenaline. I was really pumped up that I ended up winning that first set. Tons of people cheering just got me going."

The Elis' unity has made the squad a perfect environment for Goldstein, an avid fan of team ../sports. With his father's encouragement, he started playing tennis at age seven, and at age 12 decided to give up other ballgames—soccer, basketball, and baseball—to focus more attention on his forehands and backhands.

The choice to focus solely on tennis was a wise one. In his first appearance in the 18 and over division, Goldstein placed 120th in theUnited States and ranked ninth in Southern California.

Yale tennis offers him the best of both athletic worlds. "You want to do well individually, but there are teammates to cheer you up when you lose, or you might lose and the team will win," he said. "Your match is individual, but the whole result is always team oriented. It's a great atmosphere and it's been really helpful to my game."

Team captain Reid Lerner, BR '99, pointed out that the other Bulldogs know Goldstein as a fun, sometimes quiet teammate and a great doubles partner. His opponents, however, see the more fearsome side of the player who has one of the best backhands on the squad. "Off the court he has a very easy-going personality, and he doesn't rub anybody the wrong way," head coach Alex Dorato said. "This is different than on the court: he hits very hard and plays a very aggressive baseline game." Goldstein is in the process of strengthening his net game to complement these fantastic groundstrokes, a combination which he improved on in the Princeton match.

At the net, at the baseline, or off the court, what has kept Goldstein involved in tennis is a lesson he learned when he was 13. Frustrated by a slump in his playing, Goldstein had the fortune of working with Matias Polonsky, who adjusted his attitude and game—and has remained his coach and friend since. "He stressed to me to focus more on my effort, and try to go out there and give 100 percent," Goldstein said. "He took the focus away from winning and made tennis fun for me at a time when it had lost its fun." With three years ahead of him to fine-tune his net game and play for the love of the sport, "aw geez" may well disappear from his vocabulary altogether.

Photo by Julia Tiernan.

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