Where Are They Now?
Where Are They Now? Paul Goldstein
by
Colette Lewis, 27 August 2009
Few Kalamazoo competitors are remembered as fondly as Paul Goldstein, who won three consecutive singles titles at the USTA Boys Nationals, winning the 16s in 1992, and the 18s in 1993 and 1994. Add a doubles title with Scott Humphries in 1994, and his sportsmanship award in 1992, and it's little wonder Goldstein was welcomed like an old friend when he returned to Kalamazoo several weeks ago for the professional exhibition that opens the event.
After his unprecedented run in Kalamazoo (the only other boy to win three straight singles championships accomplished that before the tournament moved to Kalamazoo College), Goldstein went on to play for
Stanford University, where he helped the Cardinal claim the NCAA team championship four consecutive years. Goldstein graduated in 1998 with a degree in human biology, then began playing professional tennis, where he reached an ATP career-high ranking of 58 in April 2006. He earned the nickname "the Crash Davis of tennis" - after the Kevin Costner character in the baseball movie Bull Durham - when setting the USTA Pro Circuit record for victories with 26.
Goldstein, 33, retired from tennis after the 2007 US Open and has been working in sales and business development for Bloom Energy, an alternative energy company, since January of 2008. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Abbie McBride, and two daughters, Sadie, 2, and Maggie, who joined the family in June.
On a rainy morning the day after the exhibition, I sat down to talk with Goldstein about his past successes, current interests and future plans.
Questions and Answers
Colette Lewis: What factors led to your retirement?
Paul Goldstein: I sort of smile at the term retire. I don't feel like I retired, I just got a different job. I wish I could retire, but I didn't win enough matches. Pete (Sampras) retired.
It was a difficult decision. I certainly miss tennis and miss being around the competition, the guys. I was on tour for ten years and the decision was based primarily on family reasons. I wanted to be home a little bit more and help raise our child, make sure I'd be involved, be around every day.
CL: What led you to a second career not involving tennis?
PG: The decision to choose to go into a field outside tennis was also quite a difficult one. I looked at some opportunities within tennis, some very appealing to me, but in the end I wanted to try something else. I went to school and got a degree, had some other interests, and just wanted to give something else a shot. I feel there are ways to stay involved in tennis - events like this, and others, and I feel at the appropriate time down the road, I can always come back to tennis, but I feel like doing something outside it now. I have a lot of options for getting some knowledge in a field outside tennis and I felt I owed it to myself.
