Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert describes himself as a player, reminisces about playing days

Brad Gilbert's association with some of the top names in tennis, including Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray as a coach, is the most talked-about aspect of his career. However, Brad Gilbert, the tennis player, was also highly accomplished and he recently described himself as a "sneaky counterpuncher" back in the day.

An old video of a young Gilbert recently surfaced, where the American was involved in a match against former world No. 12 David Wheaton in a semi-final at Stratton Mountain back in 1989.

Apart from coaching, Gilbert has also been an active tennis commentator/analyst over the last few years. When quizzed on how he would describe himself as a player by putting on his commentary hat, Gilbert said that he was a very good competitor and had a highly effective counter-attacking style. The former world No. 4 also feels that his ability to swiftly move on the court is often underrated.

Reminiscing about the match against Wheaton, Gilbert honestly admitted that he was lucky to "sneak out" a 5-7, 7-6, 6-4 victory.

"That was way back in the day I believe 1989 Stratton mountain," Gilbert wrote, reacting to a short clip from the match, which made the rounds on Twitter. "Semis vs Wheaton was very lucky to sneak that one out."

"About me if I was espn commentator, very good competitor, sneaky counterpuncher who is tough out, most underrated part of his game movement," the 61-year-old added.

During his playing days, Gilbert achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 4 and won 20 career singles titles, along with three other titles in doubles. He reached the quarterfinals of the 1987 US Open and 1990 Wimbledon. Among Gilbert's biggest achievements is a singles bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

Andre Agassi tasted huge success under Brad Gilbert's tutelage

Andre Agassi and former coach Brad Gilbert (L) pose with the 2000 Australian Open trophy.

Brad Gilbert's brilliance translated from his playing career to his coaching career as he was instrumental in fellow American Andre Agassi's success. After Gilbert joined his fellow American's team back in 1994, Agassi won six of his eight Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal (1996 Atlanta Games) under the watchful eye of Gilbert. He also led Agassi to the world No. 1 ranking.

But before joining forces as player-coach, Agassi and Gilbert also faced each other eight times on tour, with both players winning four matches each. Gilbert once also highlighted that his former competitor and later pupil, Andre Agassi, was one of the best players he knew under conditions of extreme heat.

"Andre Agassi was amazing in extreme heat. He would absolutely make u suffer," Gilbert wrote on Twitter last year, in response to a question."