Wimbledon Shocker: Gulbis KO's Del Potro

[scoop]

Ernests Gulbis, largely forgotten on the ATP World Tour after his ranking dropped over 500 spots in the last year, has resurrected his career this week with double straight set wins vs Victor Estrella Burgos and Juan Martin Del Potro today at Wimbledon.

A year ago Gulbis was ranked in the 60s and reached the fourth round at Roland Garros, losing to Goffin. Since then it has been a disaster for the 28 year old Gulbis who so far this year has only won ONE ATP Tour level match (vs Gombos a few weeks ago).

Somehow the now bearded Gulbis, still sponsored by Adidas and Wilson, gained entry in the Wimbledon main draw despite his ranking of 589 and boy has he maximized the opportunity. The veteran has restructured his forehand again and used it to blast out Estrella, losing a total of five games in three sets.

Today was the real test though, with a resurgent Del Potro coming off a strong win vs Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.

But Gulbis was up to the daunting task and overpowered Del Potro, a former semifinalist at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club. Gulbis served big and showed off his baseline power to win the first two sets 64 64.

Gulbis rolled to a 4-2 lead in the third but Del Potro rallied with a challenge and leveled it at 5-5. It would have been reasonable to expect Gulbis to crack under the heavy pressure of the situation – playing a major again against a top player but Gulbis showed no signs of withering.

There was even one rally late in the set where Gulbis traded blows with his backhand cross court against the vaunted Del Potro forehand inside out. It was Del Potro who blinked and went for too much of an angle missing it just wide.

In the tiebreaker it was Gulbis’s serving and power which kept Del Potro off balance. On his first match point at 6-3, Gulbis fired an unreturnable serve down the tee.

Del Potro dipped his head. He was clearly the inferior player on this day. Gulbis showed no reaction given the importance of the situation. He shook his right hand holding his Wilson and brought the racquet head to his chest. As subdued a reaction as you will ever see of a thought to be destroyed player who just proved again he can be a contender for major titles.

The former French Open semifinalist who has won five ATP singles titles in five tries, will play Djokovic in the third round. The same Djokovic who beat him in the Paris semi and who owns a 6-1 record against him, though Gulbis did have a match point in one of those losses in Cincinnati.

Gulbis has the power and the weaponry to cause Djokovic problems on the grass, just like Sam Querrey did last year. So it will be most interesting to see if Gulbis can continue this astonishing and inspiring rejuvenation at Wimbledon which no expert or pundit saw coming.

 

[Front242]

I personally am not one bit shocked as only injuries have deterred Gulbis the last 2 years. Healthy and now with a better forehand he can be deadly if he stays fit. As soon as I saw the scoreline in his last match, I knew he'd beat Del Potro. Big test next match but a win would certainly not be out of the question.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Gulbis looked great today Front242. Healthy and strong. Not sure if it was just injuries. He lost a lot of confidence with bad losses particularly to younger players like Thiem and Kokkinakis. A few heartbreakers. But Gulbis is BACK.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Andrew Miller writes:

American men getting booted. Will Sock or Donaldson make it through? Isner, gone. Tiafoe, gone. Harrison, gone. Sock holding onto set three, still down one. Donaldson up a set in his battle. Wow. It may be just Querrey and Johnson unless Sock and Donaldson can make it through. This is so far a very worrisome tournament for the USA men.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Thomas Tung writes:

Yes, Gulbis looked good out there, and the revised forehand seems to have given him a lot more confidence as well. Is Ernie still working with Larry Stefanki?

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Dan Markowitz writes:

Anyone who says she/he wasn't shocked by Ernie beating Delpo today is either a very big Ernie fan or clairvoyant. I frankly thought Delpo would drill Ernie, but perhaps Ernie is deeply feeling it. The other shockers are Izzie losing to Sela (are you kidding me?) and I don't even know who this dude Ofner is who's beating Sock now 4-2 in the fifth set.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Hartt writes:

And 21-year-old Ofner did beat Sock! He is ranked outside the top 200, has been playing Futures, and is coached by Thiem's father.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Chazz writes:

Sock's downward trend over the past 3-4 months is stunning.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Dan Markowitz writes:

Geez, it's the Scoop stunner! It used to be an athlete didn't want to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated because it doomed them. Now if Scoop says you're ready to make a big breakthrough, a la Sock and F Lo, you better watch out. Sock is going in the Harry direction. What happened to Bettanie Mattek-Sands today? I yell, "Help me" a lot when I'm playing tennis, but this was a serious injury. It's too bad, Mattek Sands has been one of the only USA women bright spots this year and it's too bad she won't be able to keep her four-in-a-row slam doubles win streak going. Shout out to Alison Riske (am I actually talking about women's tennis, egads!) for beating Mladenovic or whatever her name is. And Coco Vandy is being coached by Pat Cash and not that weasel Craig Kardon, who was the only coach Vince had when I wrote "Break Point" with him that year, who basically was a pain in the arse. Now here's the kicker! I'm actually looking forward to the Giorgi-Ostapenko match tomorrow.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Andrew Miller writes:

Dan, writing eloquently on wta ball. Mark this day down folks!!!

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Sock has hit the rocks. I think those losses to Rafa this year really hurt his confidence. He felt he was ready to take down a top player after he beat Kei in Indian Wells he got his shot at Rafa in Miami and blew it. Then again on clay Sock lost again to Rafa in SS. I think Sock has lost belief. He really expected to get a top four win but didn't come close. It's kind of like a WTA player getting to a final of a major losing badly like Bouchard. Losing belief and losing confidence is lethal on a player's mind.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Thomas; No more Stefanki, he has a new coach with a name I don't recognize.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Duke Carnoustie writes:

Sock used the old injury excuse and said he wasnt sure he would even play at SW19. Doesn't excuse this loss at all but honestly he could have lost his 1R match to qualifier Garin also. But I won't count him out on home soil here on hard courts. He could make the Open QFs for all I know. Totally shocked that Ernie G beat DelPo. On the women's side no one talking about Kuznetsova and if she beats Herzog I would expect her to lose to Aga or Baczinky. Still a helluva year for her. Maybe the US Open will be once again her time to shine.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Article correction: Gulbis had not won a Tour level match since making fourth round at French Open a year ago. Zero ATP level match wins this year before this week. Gulbis has arisen from the tennis graveyard.

 

[10isfan]

Gulbis got recently engaged. Maybe he realizes he isn't young any more. I look forward to seeing his new FH. The old one caused him all kinds of problems.

 

[Moxie]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Article correction: Gulbis had not won a Tour level match since making fourth round at French Open a year ago. Zero ATP level match wins this year before this week. Gulbis has arisen from the tennis graveyard.

Gulbis is as talented as Wawrinka (or Del Potro, for that matter, since he beat him today,) and equally as enigmatic. I'm not saying that he's got a Major in his future, but he does have the talent. Given that we've also been talking about bratty rich tennis players, the question for Gulbis has always been about his commitment. Even his mother told him to either commit or quit. This is a big win for him. It'll be interesting to see how he runs with it.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Dan Markowitz writes:

Gulbis is not as talented as Wawa or Del Po. Please! The guy's gotten to one slam semis and got killed. You're talking about a three-time slam winner and a one slam winner who's had more injuries than Gulbis. You really think Gulbis could've beaten Nadal in Aussie finals and Djoko in French and US Open finals or Fed in US Open finals? Come on, let's not get carried away here after a nice win against Djoko on grass.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Dan Markowitz writes:

Geez, Mac's "But Seriously" is seriously panned in the London Guardian. The Brits are so much fun to read. They really write much better than Americans. Here's the article. While Mac's book might not be a good read, this is...https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...aphy-john-mcenroe-review-rolling-stones-trump. How about this description: "For a long time after McEnroe retired, the tennis world lamented the lack of personalities in the becalmed era of Michael Chang and Pete Sampras. But as Martin Amis once noted, in tennis, personality was an exact synonym for “asshole”. The late 1970s and early 80s were the golden era of proctological “personalities”." I think he's calling Mac an asshole. You know, Pat Mac, is harder to take most of the time than Johnny Mac. Before Wimbledon, ESPN was talking about Mac saying he could beat Serena and Pat Mac in all his unctuousness said, " Who cares?" I guess referring to it doesn't matter all this talk the issue has received. Well, I care Pat Mac and there are quite a few other people who would like to watch Johnny Mac duel with Serena at 58. Maybe it's only us older middle aged men who care, but if a 58 year old Johnny Mac could actually beat Serena, I think it would be amazing and a fascinating tennis event.

 

[Moxie]

Dan Markowitz writes:

Gulbis is not as talented as Wawa or Del Po. Please! The guy's gotten to one slam semis and got killed. You're talking about a three-time slam winner and a one slam winner who's had more injuries than Gulbis. You really think Gulbis could've beaten Nadal in Aussie finals and Djoko in French and US Open finals or Fed in US Open finals? Come on, let's not get carried away here after a nice win against Djoko on grass.

Slightly outrageous claim, but hear me out. I think Gulbis is very talented, and has underperformed most of his career. I can't be alone in that. Like Dimitrov. Arguably, Wawrinka has over-hit his mark. He's got a high-ceiling, when at his best, but who would have guessed that he'd have hit it right at the sweet spot of 3 Majors, and hardly ever anywhere else? Folks go on about Soderling and how sad it was he got mono...is Gulbis that different from Soderling? Tall, big shots, rather unbridled, with a go-for-broke style that hits sometimes and others not? I put Del Potro in as a parenthetical because he had a great deal of talent and game, but injuries have brought him below his best level. Gulbis may be no Stan or Juan Martin, but I do think he's a Robbie Soderling...giant-killer potential. A spoiler, though no dark horse. That's where I put Soderling, too. And, frankly, Dimitrov. There's a small raft of guys like that out there that have loads of talent, but will spoil, not win big, and sadly Juan Martin has fallen into that category, too. Tsonga is in there. You can tell me that Gulbis doesn't have the pedigree, but tell me he doesn't have the game. If anyone is actually astonished that Gulbis won today, then that surprises me, given the state of DelPotro, atm.

 

[Front242]

Del Potro's last wrist surgery is well behind him at this stage. Granted, he's still mostly slicing his backhand, but if we're talking injuries as a performance gauge, then Gulbis has been more banged up than Del Potro of late and deserves much more credit imo than people mostly putting this loss down to Del Potro's issues.

To further back this up, you need look no further than the rankings as Del Potro is ranked 32 and Gulbis 589. Not too hard to guess who has been less able to play lately. So please, more praise for Gulbis and less defending and sob stories for Del Potro who is healthy enough to have got back to number 32. Will be watching closely to see how far Gulbis can jump back up before year end.