french fans

By Charles Bricker

Did you read in Andre Agassi’s book about his greatest fear in the 1990 French Open final — that his wig would blow off in the middle of the match?

Andres Gomez quickly brushed off that question. “Hey, I had my own problems. I was 30 and playing a 20 year old guy who was talking all tournament about how he was going to take on everybody,” he explained.

You were tickled and I was tickled to read about Agassi’s wig and his fantasy horror that he might have to pick his hairpiece up off the red clay and how he had no idea how he would recover if the relentless French fans taunted and laughed at him the rest of the match.

But there was nothing in this precious Agassi vignette that amused Gomez. He was already an old man by tennis standards and certainly on someone’s list of the best players never to win a major.

He had had an excellent clay court season in 1990, having won Barcelona and Madrid. But he had been beaten earlier in the year by a couple of American prodigies — Pete Sampras in the final at Philadelphia and Agassi in the fourth round at Key Biscayne.

“Nervous? Yes, of course I was nervous,” Gomez relived the moments before the French final. “But I’m nervous before every match. It’s a way to get the adrenalin flowing. Once you step on the court, most of that goes away.”

Andres had whipped through Thomas Muster in straights to reach the final, where, 20 years ago this season, he beat Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. He can still see the final stroke in his mind’s eye — a lefty’s forehand down the line, a clean winner, off Agassi’s service return. But there was a lot Gomez couldn’t remember.

“You rehearse these moments so many times when you are a child, coming up. OK, this is the last point, match point at Roland Garros. And when it happens, you forget the first few minutes. Really, my first memory is going up into the stands to pick up my son (Juan-Andres), who was in the nursery in the players box. Then, going back on court for the ceremony. Such a great moment.”

Today, Gomez splits time between the U.S. and his native Ecuador, but there’s a lot of American culture in his family. He spends several weeks, including this week, at the Naples, Fla., academy of his longtime friend Emilio Sanchez, with whom he won the 1988 French Open doubles title.

That infant he picked up in the players box is now 22 years old and playing No. 1 singles and doubles for San Diego State. And his second son, 18-year-old Emilio, is training with him and is at No. 633 in the ATP rankings. There are also Alejandro, 15; Rafaela, 12; and Manuela, 9.

His children have no doubt profited by having a former top professional for a father, but coaching your offspring can be bewildering at times. “Sometimes they don’t know who’s talking, the father or the coach,” said Gomez. “Same for me. It’s a fine line. Just being a father is hard enough, but I try to talk to them as much as possible.

“I know how hard it is to become a professional, but for me as a parent, and for my wife, we want to raise them, educate them, then leave whatever they want to do up to them.”

Gomez is still available for the various former champions tours, but at 50 that second career has largely come and gone. “I had 15 years as a pro and another 15 years on the seniors,” he said.

His job now is making sure his five children get out of the nest and into a secure future and trying to bring along the next great Ecuadorian player, which won’t be easy. There are only 13 Ecuadorians on the ATP ranking list, and two of them are Gomez sons. After old pro Nico Lapentti at No. 93, the next Ecuadorian is No. 213.

But if the country never develops another great one, it still has the memory of 1990 — the day that Andre Agassi wigged out and Andres Gomez lit up himself and his nation.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com