USTA drops Justin Gimelstob from its U.S. Open TV ad campaign
TENNIS
The former touring pro's derogatory remarks toward female players are intolerable, the tennis association says.
The U.S. Tennis Assn. has dropped the controversial Justin Gimelstob from its plannned television ad campaign for the 2008 Olympus U.S. Open Series.
"Justin Gimelstob's recent comments on a Washington, D.C., radio program were dergatory and demeaning to female tennis players and to women in general," the USTA said in a statement.
In the radio appearance, Gimelstob, a former UCLA player and touring tennis pro, used a derogatory term in describing Anna Kournikova, a former tennis player, and made suggestive comments about current player Nicole Vaidisova.
The strongly worded statement went on to say it would not tolerate such "harmful remarks" and said that Gimelstob had expressed remorse for his comments, which in particular targeted Anna Kournikova.
lisa.dillman@latimes.com
