The headlines about Isner coach Justin Gimelstob are currently dominated by an accusation of bodily injury. No reason for tennis ace John Isner to turn his back on his coach.
Isner coach Justin Gimelstob may find the upcoming Christmas season unpleasant.
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.
Despite the beating affair, John Isner remains at his coach’s side and there seems to be no sign of separation. “Of course Justin is a good friend of mine, of course because he’s my coach. I will stand by him and support him as long as his guilt is not proven,” explained Isner at ESPN.
Gimelstob is a member of the ATP board among others, some voices from outside now demand the association to act. For example, Lleyton Hewitt intervened via Twitter and explained that ATP was under pressure to take action and should not tolerate something like this as a good example.
Isner sees the independent withdrawal of his coach as too early and attacks ex-colleague Hewitt: “I don’t think Justin should resign right away. We and Hewitt don’t know the fakes yet. Hewitt himself has been involved in an affair with James Blake and has not been told to resign his official work with Tennis Australia. He’s arrogant!”
On 12 December, a court in the USA is to decide on the further course of the trial with Gimelstob.