THIS GAMBILL MIGHT PAY OFF FORMER 14TH-RANKED ATP PLAYER RETURNS TO CHALLENGER SERIES.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

Jan-Michael Gambill stuffed rackets into his bag with authority and stormed off the court two weeks ago after losing in the second round of the Japan Open.

It's about time.

Losing had become much too commonplace and acceptable to Gambill, a player Pete Sampras once called the future of American tennis.

Before his 22nd birthday, Gambill had victories over Sampras, Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt. Later, he beat Roger Federer.

He made his mark in Los Angeles by advancing to the final at the Mercedes-Benz Cup in 2000 and 2002, beating Andy Roddick in the semifinals before falling to Agassi in the latter tournament.

Gambill's return to Los Angeles comes with less fanfare. Ranked as high as No. 14 in the world in 2001, he is down to No. 188 and relegated to playing lower-level tournaments such as this week's Calabasas Challenger.

Now healthy and starting to get back his confidence, Gambill, 28, hopes a deep run at the Calabasas Tennis and Swim Center will spark a late-season push to revive his career.

``I don't feel down on myself anymore,'' Gambill said. ``I feel I have as good a chance as anybody to get back up there.''

Gambill's troubles started three years ago with recurring shin splints that hampered his agility on the court and work off it.

The injury resulted in streaky play. He would go deep in a couple of tournaments, then lose in the first round in five consecutive.

``Basically, I was trying to play the best guys in the world at 80 percent,'' Gambill said. ``They were guys I knew I could beat, but you can't do it if you can't train as hard as they do. Actually, you can't do it if you don't train harder than they do, for me, because it has been more hard work than talent for me to get where I was at.''

He dropped down to the Challenger level in March, playing the lower circuit for the first time since the early stages of his career.

However, even against lesser-ranked players, Gambill didn't find success. Entering this week, he had a 6-7 record in seven Challenger events, only once making it past the second round.

``It's always easy being the underdog, or going against equal competition on the ATP tour,'' Gambill said. ``When you're down here and you're a big name, everybody is gunning for you. When you're not playing well, that is tough.''

Gambill entered the Calabasas tournament with a ranking so low he was unseeded even in a Challenger event. He started smoothly, easily beating Sam Warburg, ranked No. 534, 6-1, 6-1 Tuesday. Gambill's previous five Challenger matches had all gone three sets.

``He hardly made a mistake,'' Warburg said. ``He has a lot of weapons. I think he can still succeed at the ATP level.''

Gambill agrees. For the past two months, his leg has not been a problem. He attributes the recovery to daily yoga sessions.

Counting Calabasas, Gambill will finish the season with five Challenger tournaments. His goal is to get back into the top 100, which would take winning two or three of them.

``Tennis is an unforgiving sport,'' said Justin Gimelstob, the top seed in Calabasas, who has split eight matches with Gambill in ATP events. ``He wasn't moving as well as he did, and that changes a lot of the dynamics of what happens on the court. But he's done it for a bunch of years, and now he has to do it again.''

After a winter of working out with buddy Taylor Dent, ranked No. 28 in the world, Gambill hopes to regain his status as a regular ATP player next year.

There is precedent for top players going down to the Challenger level, then becoming as good or better than they were before.

Agassi played two Challenger tournaments in 1997 when he was struggling.

``You look back at a guy like that, and all the great things he's done in his career since then,'' Gambill said. ``I take inspiration out of that.''

In Japan, Gambill battled No. 20 Mario Ancic deep into the third set before losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. He was controlling points again and hitting the ball harder. He played like he used to play.

It was a match he thought he should have won.

``I was fiery and upset when I went off the court,'' Gambill said. ``But that was a good thing. I'm not going to accept losing anymore. It's a small step in the right direction.''

Matthew Kredell, [phone]

matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Jan-Michael Gambil