Status: No. 5 seed at the U.S. Open will play Argentine Juan Monaco in the first round.
Ht: 6-1 Wt: 170
DOB: Dec. 28, 1979 In: Yonkers, N.Y.
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| Embarrassing Tennis Memory: "... When I threw up in front of 10,000 people in Louie Armstrong." (Getty Images) |
Nicknames: "Junior. JB. Squirt Gun -- luckily that was short-lived. On the Harvard team, most of the guys had nicknames. One guy gave most of the guys their nicknames. And my brother (Thomas) was Tommy Gun. So the first time I came up for a visit -- I was 5-4, a little kid -- and so they called me Squirt Gun."
Hobbies/Interests: "Play golf -- I'm not that good, but it's a lot of fun. Play some basketball. Poker."
Favorite Movies: "Braveheart, Good Will Hunting."
Musical Tastes: "R&B, rap, classic rock, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Master P, Snoop Doggy Dogg, John Mayer, Brandy, R. Kelly."
Early Tennis Memory: "Hmmm, let's see. Winning my first New England Open when I was 11, at Brown University in Rhode Island. I was really happy. At the time it seemed so important."
Childhood Dream: "Being at the U.S. Open, Wimbledon or the French Open. Things I dreamed about. I'd go to the U.S. Open every year as a kid. One or two years I might have even snuck in!
First Job: "Paperboy for the Bridgeport Post (age 10). I did it for five years. That was a lot of fun. My brother and I shared the route."
First Car: "Hand-me-down from my brother, which was already bought used: a 1987 crimson Toyota Celica with dents all over it. The stereo barely worked. Put a sticker on it and called it The Harvard Mobile."
Funny Tennis Memory: "The first time Thomas and I played doubles together was at the U.S. Open in qualies ('97). We didn't think we were gonna get a wild card. So we were actually out on the first tee, ready to tee off, in Trumbull, Conn. And I didn't even think to call down to see if we got a wild card. And we were playing with my coach and another Harvard teammate. And they said, 'You might as well just call before we go out.'"
So I call down and go back and tell them I think we might only get in nine holes because we have to be down in New York in an hour and a half. They thought I was kidding. So we have to run to the car, run home and change into our clothes. We flew down here. We ended up getting down and the match was delayed. We didn't even think we were gonna play. We ended up playing a great match -- we lost 7-6 in the third to Davide Sanguinetti and another player, I forget his name. And it was a lot of fun."
Pre-Match Feeling: "Try to get a game plan pretty early. Before I go out to a match, I think about how I'm going to play and think about the feeling of winning it. I always want to think about that feeling. So it's never a surprise. I don't want to be surprised to win."
Favorite Meal: "Just pizza."
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: "Golden Grahams."
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Double fudge brownie."
Greatest Sports Moment: "Was probably my first Davis Cup victory. I was really proud of that because I had always dreamed of being a part of a Davis Cup team. And when you're playing for your country it's a really different feeling when you know it's not just for yourself, your family or your bank account or whatever. It's for something more important. And that was exciting for me to beat Leander Paes in 2001 -- especially a couple of months after 9/11. So that was probably my greatest moment."
Most Painful Moment: "It might've been losing that match in 2001 to Lleyton Hewitt at the U.S. Open. More physically painful because I was throwing up and cramping on the court. And I really felt like that was when I was playing some good tennis and could've maybe gone further when no one really knew much about me at that point. And I was just breaking on to the tennis scene and it would have been nice to have that win."
Favorite Athletes to Watch: "Americans in tennis -- Sampras, Agassi, Roddick, Todd Martin -- he was always kind of a favorite of mine. Randy Moss. Shaq -- incredible. The Mets. Tiger Woods. I love seeing everything he's gone through. Sometimes I feel bad for the things he has to deal with. But I also have to understand that's the way he chose and he brought it on himself by doing so well.
"Roy Jones Jr. Tyson back in the day. Just ran through people. Women's tennis? I can't say I follow it that much. But maybe I did like watching Steffi Graf. Seemed like a really great person and someone that was going to be nice no matter what happened. A great champion.
"Another great champion was Patrick Rafter. He's a class act, someone I admire a lot. I played him three or four years ago in (the third round at) Cincinnati (lost 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 after defeating Arnaud Clement and Julien Boutter). After the match, he was telling me, 'You could have beaten me today. You could beat me on any given day. It's just that maybe you didn't believe you could.' For him to say that to me ... he didn't need to. He could have just said he played horribly. He was worrying about playing the rest of the tournament, he had a million friends in the locker room, not like he needed one more. He was just helping out a kid that was struggling with his confidence. He really helped me a lot that day.
"Until then, I didn't feel that I belonged on the ATP Tour at all. After that, I started thinking, 'Maybe he's right, maybe I do belong out here. Now I realize I can play with those guys.' Patrick really made a difference in my career."
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: "Was probably that same match with Lleyton, when I threw up in front of 10,000 people in Louie Armstrong (Stadium). And then had my friends from college send me the links to where it was on the Internet, the picture of me throwing up on the court, so ... [smiles]. That was probably my most embarrassing time."
Closest Tennis Friends: "Mardy Fish is probably my best friend on the tour, he lives right around the corner from me. Then Robby (Ginepri) and Andy (Roddick) and the Bryan twins are all real good friends, too."
Funniest Players: "Mardy. He's a riot. He keeps me laughing all the time."
Toughest Competitor: "I'd say probably Andy Roddick is on my list of toughest competitors. Because he's a guy that has a huge serve. And a lot of guys like that kind of take it easy if they're holding (serve) easy. He never gives you free points. He works hard for everything. Never gives up. He's an unbelievable competitor."
Favorite Tournament: "U.S. Open is definitely my favorite. Being so close to home where I grew up. I've been a fan of this tournament since I can remember. Playing in the Pilot Pen (New Haven, Conn.) is fun just because I get to stay home. It's really exciting to have so many friends and family there, too. And otherwise, foreign tournaments -- I'd say the Australian Open, because the fans are great. The people there, the beaches are nice, everything about that place is pretty fun. And we stay in a casino so that helps, too [smiles]."
People Qualities Most Admired: "Honesty. Someone who's gonna be with you from beginning to end no matter what happens. Someone you can always count on."
| Scoop Malinowski is a CBS SportsLine contributor. He created The Biofile interview feature in 1992. You can read more Biofiles at www.thebiofile.com. |  |
