Former professional Justin Gimelstob is on trial on 12 December for an alleged attack on an acquaintance. What the ATP board will do for him should be decided beforehand.
The ten members under the chairmanship of Novak Djokovic seem to be planning to hold such a meeting next week, reports the British Telegraph. Currently, Gimelstob has not yet resigned voluntarily. However, Gimelstob himself interrupted his work for the US-American Tennis Channel.
The 41-year-old was arrested on 21 November because he – disguised as a top gun pilot – allegedly attacked the investor Randall Kaplan in the presence of his wife and children. “Someone attacked me from behind, threw me on the floor and hit me in the face and on the head more than 50 times in front of witnesses. During the attack he screamed ‘I’ll fucking kill you’ several times,” the court papers say. Kaplan is apparently a friend of Gimelstob’s wife, with whom he also fights in court. Gimelstob is currently at large thanks to a deposit of 50,000 US dollars.
Gimelstob already caused headlines in earlier times with homophobic and misogynistic comments. The WTA players would live in a bizarre world, women’s events would soon look like volleyball tournaments, “only with G-strings and bikinis,” he predicted years ago. He recommended to his fellow players, who look like “stranded whales”, to better leave their clothes on.
He called Tatiana Golovin a “sex bomb”, Alize Cornet a “little sex bomb” and Anna Kournikova a “slut”. “Hate is a hard word. I loathe her up to the maximum level, a level under hate,” he said about the Russian. Before a show match, he threatened her with an impact on the body and said, “If she doesn’t cry as soon as she leaves, I haven’t done my job.” Gimelstob is also said to have attracted attention at a paddle tennis tournament in 2017.
Gimelstob made it to 63rd place in the world in the singles during his active time and won two Grand Slam mixed tournaments alongside Venus Williams. Currently he is coach of compatriot John Isner.