Ten-Year Anniversary of Emotional Sampras-Courier Tennis Match Mirrors 10 Years of the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation
In 1995, No. 1 singles player Pete Sampras came back from two sets down to defeat Jim Courier in an emotionally-charged Australian Open quarterfinal match. On Sampras' mind was his ailing coach, Tim Gullikson, who was on his way to a Chicago hospital where he was diagnosed with brain tumors.
Palm Coast, FL (PRWEB) January 24, 2005 -- On January 24, 1995, Pete Sampras
played the toughest tennis match of his life and his coach, Tim Gullikson, began
to fight a battle unlike any he’d ever experienced on the
court.
As the Australian Open celebrates its
Centennial, the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation, which helps support brain
tumor patients and their families, recognizes its 10th year. Both found their
wings in Melbourne, one consciously, the other because of one of life’s double
faults from which few recover.
Ranked No. 1 in
the world ATP rankings, Sampras, along with Gullikson were in Melbourne,
Australia preparing for Sampras’ tournament run when Gullikson had a seizure.
Accompanied by his twin brother Tom, Tim Gullikson was admitted to a Melbourne
hospital where doctors thought he had brain tumors.
“It was a very uncertain time,” Tom Gullikson recalled. “Pete came to see
Tim everyday after practice and other coaches and players were taking time out
of their training routines to do the same.”
Sampras, who arrived in Melbourne with a tournament title as his goal, found
himself determined to play exceptional tennis for his ailing
coach.
“I remember having to play knowing that
Tim was not doing that well and wanting to get through some tough matches for
him,” said Sampras who is retired from professional
tennis.
Before Tim left Australia to travel home
for further testing, close friends and associates visited to wish him well.
Among them were Sampras and Jim Courier who were scheduled to play one another
in a tournament quarterfinal the following day.
What happened January 24 is etched in Aussie Open archives and was the most
emotional display of a coach and player bond in professional sports history. As
Tim and Tom Gullikson flew home to Chicago, Courier and Sampras played a tight
match. Down two sets to love, a spectator yelled to Sampras “do it for your
coach,” at which point the protégé broke down on the court. He would continue
the match with tears streaming throughout. Sampras played each point with heart
and tenacity, and captured the next three sets and match from Courier, 6-7, 6-7,
6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
It was Tim Gullikson who helped
Sampras develop the tenacity he showed on the court, even as he bowed to Andre
Agassi in the Open’s title match.
“Tim’s
attitude about practicing hard, his work ethic and knowledge of the game made a
lasting impression on me on and off the court,” Sampras said.
Tim Gullikson used the same determination to
battle brain cancer.
“This was obviously an
emotional time for Tim and our family,” Tom Gullikson said, “and Tim took it at
as hard as anyone would. Tim said, though, that he had two fundamental choices.
He could wait to die or he could fight the brain tumors for all it was
worth.”
Once Tim Gullikson knew what he was
facing he developed a game plan to fight the disease that is the No. 2 cause of
cancer deaths in children and young adults, and the No. 3 cause of cancer deaths
in middle-aged adults. Then he turned his attention to others who fought the
disease. If he, who had a loving and supportive family and the best medical
attention available found it challenging to find information about how to live
with this disease on a daily basis, how would other patients and caregivers
cope?
“Tim said if someone had to face something
as serious as brain tumors, it was good that it was him because he had so much
support from family and friends,” Tom Gullikson said. “He reverted to a coach’s
role. Tim believed in incorporating the principles of team-building, mental
attitude development and coaching on how to best treat and live with the illness
to create a source where patients and families could go for information and fill
a gap in doctor’s offices.”
Tim Gullikson, with
Tom, wife Rosemary and other family members founded the Tim & Tom Gullikson
Foundation.
“Tim continued to coach Pete over
the phone,” Tom Gullikson said. “Paul Annacone was brought in to coach Pete
on-site on an interim basis. Tim fully expected to return to Pete’s side as his
coach.
“Tim handled everything with amazing
fight, hope and a positive attitude. He never had a bad
day.”
Although Tim Gullikson died on May 3,
1996, his legacy lives on. Ten years and more than $3 million dollars later, the
Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation awards scholarships to college-bound students
whose lives have been affected by brain tumors, supports research regarding
quality of life issues that confront brain tumor patients, provides camp
scholarships to children who are brain tumor survivors to attend Ronald McDonald
Good Time Camps, funds social workers on the East and West coasts and in the
Midwest who have developed social service programs for, and provide support via
a toll-free telephone line and the Internet, to brain tumor patients ,caregivers
and brain tumor networking groups.
The Tim &
Tom Gullikson Foundation played an instrumental role in developing the Brain
Tumor Family Support Center at Duke University Medical Center, a model support
program for large teaching hospitals.
In 2005,
the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary. In
launching a yearlong celebration, benefits will be held throughout the United
States beginning in March with Desert Smash in California and Tennis for Tim in
Southeastern Wisconsin.
“The Foundation has
done such a wonderful job at keeping Tim’s vision firmly intact, and I have no
doubt that it will continue to do so,” Sampras said.
According to Tim’s wife, Rosemary Gullikson, Tim was always a coach who
cared about other people and their needs. As the Foundation that bears his and
his brother’s names recognizes its 10th anniversary, she believes that the
Foundation’s programs pay tribute to that legacy.
The Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation was founded in 1995 by former tennis
professionals Tim and Tom Gullikson and their families after Tim was diagnosed
with brain tumors. The mission of the Foundation is to assist brain tumor
patients and their families manage the physical, emotional and social challenges
presented by the illness. It funds care and support programs of organizations
with similar missions, and through college and camp scholarships. The Foundation
is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. It may be reached at 1-888-GULLIKSON
and www.gulliksonfoundation.org.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb200688.htm