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Ernests Gulbis

Nickname(s)	The Gull, Ernie, Erno
Country	Latvia
Residence	Jūrmala, Latvia
Date of birth	August 30, 1988 (1988-08-30) (age 21)
Place of birth	Riga, Latvian SSR
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	77 kg (170 lb)
Turned pro	2004
Plays	Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money	$1,411,399
Singles
Career record	68-70
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 38 (August 4, 2008)
Current ranking	No. 45 (March 1, 2010)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	2R (2009)
French Open	QF (2008)
Wimbledon	2R (2008, 2009)
US Open	4R (2007)
Major tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2008)
Doubles
Career record	17-13
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 130 (November 23, 2009)
Current ranking	No. 193 (March 1, 2010)
Last updated on: March 1, 2010.

Ernests Gulbis (pronounced [ˈærnəsts ˈɡulbis], born August 30, 1988) is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title in Houston, teaming with Rainer Schüttler. In 2010, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour singles title in Delray Beach, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final. His career highlights also include a 4th round appearance at the 2007 US Open, upsetting two seeds along the way, and a quarterfinal appearance at the 2008 French Open.

Gulbis is currently coached by Hernán Gumy, who became his coach in late 2009, after the retirement of Marat Safin. Gulbis was formerly coached by Karl Heinz Wetter but was coached by Nikola Pilić, the former professional Croatian tennis player and Croatian and German Davis Cup captain, and began training at the Niki Pilic Tennis Academy in Germany at the age of 12.^[1]

Personal life

Gulbis comes from a very wealthy family. He first started playing tennis with his grandmother and considers basketball, football and hockey as his favourite sports. His father, Ainārs, is an investment businessman while his mother, Milēna, a theater actress. The second of five children, Gulbis has three sisters: Elina (23) studying Law in London, England, half-sister Laura (14) who attends Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Florida, a younger half-brother named Kristaps^[2](16) who also attends Saddlebrook as an aspiring professional golfer, is reported to be interested in building model cars and planes, and a half-sister named Monika (10) who also plays tennis and is from his mother Milena's second marriage to Gintars Kavacis.^[3] Gulbis comes from a sporting family and his grandfather, Alvils, was one of the starting five players on ASK Rīga, the Soviet Union basketball team that won the European Championships.^[4] His other grandfather, Uldis Pūcītis, was a popular actor and film director.

Gulbis can speak Latvian, Russian, English and a little German.^[4].

Tennis career

The highlights of his career up to 2006 include reaching the final of the Oberstaufen Challenger in July 2006, where he lost to Michal Tabara; reaching the final of the Tampere Challenger, also in July 2006, where he lost to Florian Mayer; reaching the semi-finals of ATP St. Petersburg Open as a wildcard in October, where he lost to Mario Ančić; and winning the Eckental Challenger in November, where he defeated Philipp Petzschner. In the 2008 US Open second round, Gulbis played a grueling 4 setter against Andy Roddick, yet lost. Later when interviewed, it was discovered that both he and his American opponent shared a birthday the moment the match rolled past midnight and into the early hours of the next day, August 30.

2007

Gulbis started his season as a qualifier in the Sydney Medibank International, losing in the first round to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.^[5] He was subsequently defeated in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open.

Gulbis was relatively successful on the Challenger circuit in 2007. He reached the quarterfinals in Bergamo (l. to Fabrice Santoro) and the semifinals in Heilbronn (l. to Michaël Llodra). Gulbis won his second Challenger title by triumphing over the local favorite, Édouard Roger-Vasselin, at the Besançon Challenger in France, enabling him to break into the ATP Top 100 for the first time in his career. In his next tournament, the Sarajevo Challenger, Gulbis emerged victorious in both the singles and doubles events.

In the first week of October, he won the Mons Challenger in Belgium (d. Kristof Vliegen) as the top seed, breaking into the ATP Top 50 for the first time in his career and surpassing Juan Martín del Potro as the highest-ranked player born in 1988. This win also meant a fourth, consecutive title, which drew some attention to him by tennis pundits.

Grand Slam debut

Gulbis celebrates after defeating Potito Starace at the 2007 U.S. Open.

Gulbis announced his arrival on the Grand Slam stage in the 2007 French Open by defeating the British veteran, Tim Henman in straight sets to advance to the second round. It was heralded by the British Davis Cup captain, John Lloyd, as "... a brilliant performance from Gulbis, that is just pure and utter talent."^[6] Gulbis' run was halted in the second round by Spaniard Álbert Montañés, with a 1–6, 2–6, 6–1, 6–7(3) defeat, in a rain-interrupted match.

At Wimbledon, his second Grand Slam participation, Gulbis again was drawn to face Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. He succeeded in winning the first set off the tenth-seeded Cypriot before succumbing in four sets.^[7] Gulbis debuted in Grand Slam doubles by teaming up with Ivan Ljubičić, with whom he had reached the semi-finals of the 2007 Ordina Open.

At the 2007 U.S. Open, Gulbis upset the No. 30 seed, Potito Starace, in the first round and the No. 8 seed, Tommy Robredo, in the third round, winning by a convincing score of 6–1, 6–3, 6–2. In that match, Gulbis broke Robredo six times and had 39 winners to Robredo's seven. ^[8] Gulbis' run was finally halted by former world Number 1, Carlos Moyà, to whom he lost in four sets. ^[9]

2008

Gulbis serving to David Nalbandian at the 2008 Pacific Life Open.

At the first round of the 2008 Australian Open, Gulbis lost to Marat Safin 0–6, 4–6, 6–7. He reached the second round of the 2008 Pacific Life Open, where he lost a tight match to former Grand Slam finalist David Nalbandian with the score of 6–4, 4–6, 7–6⁴. In the first round of the 2008 Miami Masters, he defeated Dominik Hrbatý, but in the second round met eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko. After winning the first set 6-3, he lost the following two sets in tiebreaks.

His biggest result up to that point occurred when he reached the quarterfinals of the 2008 French Open. Throughout the tournament he beat Simon Greul, seventh seed James Blake, Nicolas Lapentti and home-favourite Michaël Llodra.^[10] In the quarterfinals he lost to third seed Novak Djokovic 5-7, 6³-7, 5-7.

In his next tournament he reached the third round of the 2008 Queen's Club Championships, beating Kristof Vliegen and 12th seed Andreas Seppi. He lost to 6th seed Andy Murray 7-5, 1-6, 4-6.

In the first round at Wimbledon, Gulbis defeated fellow rising star John Isner, but lost in the 2nd round to the 2nd seed and eventual champion Rafael Nadal with a score line of 5-7, 6-2, 7-6², 6-3 in a rain-interrupted match. Other than Roger Federer, he was the only player to take a set off the eventual champion.

At the 2008 Cincinnati Masters, Gulbis defeated Jarkko Nieminen, Arnaud Clément, and James Blake but succumbed in the quarterfinal to #3 seed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4.

At the US Open, Gulbis defeated Thomas Johansson in the first round before losing to Andy Roddick in the second, (3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-5). Coincidentally, it was his and Andy's birthday on the day they played.

2009

Gulbis began the year strongly by defeating former training partner Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Brisbane International tournament before falling in the second round to Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 4-6. He lost in the second round of 2009 Australian Open to Igor Andreev in 5 sets after beating Albert Montañés in the first round in straight sets.

Gulbis was seeded 3rd heading into the 2009 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, but was defeated in the 1st round by former World No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis. It was the fourth time he was drawn to face Baghdatis in the first round of a tournament.

Gulbis had a poor clay court season compared to 2008, failing to go deep in any of the tournaments preceding the French Open. Gulbis also failed to defend his quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, causing his ranking to drop to 67th, the lowest it had been since the summer of 2007.

At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Gulbis, unseeded, defeated Italian Riccardo Ghedin 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round before falling to third seeded Andy Murray of Great Britain 2-6, 5-7, 3-6.^[11]

Gulbis played in the Indianapolis Tennis Championships in singles and doubles. He lost to Marc Gicquel of France in the first round. However, he entered in the doubles draw with Russian Dmitry Tursunov and won the Championship. They played number one seeded Ashley Fisher and Jordan Kerr of Australia and won 6-4, 3-6, [11-9] in the final.^[12]

At the US Open, Gulbis was again drawn to play Andy Murray early in a grand slam, losing to the No. 2 seed 5-7, 3-6, 5-7 in the first round.

At the 2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Gulbis advanced to the quarterfinals, upsetting 6th seed Radek Stepanek in the first round as a qualifier. He lost to eventual champion and No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after taking the first set, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6.

The year saw a general decline in his ranking, with Gulbis failing to go deep in any of the grand slams, which was contrary to the expectations of many professionals and pundits.

2010

To begin the year, Gulbis claimed wins in the first two rounds of the Australian Open precursor tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, defeating 6th seeded Spaniard Albert Montañés 6-2, 7-5, and subsequently Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5. Gulbis progressed on to the third round, where he was defeated in a tight match against world number 1 Roger Federer 2-6, 6-4, 4-6. At the 2010 Australian Open itself, Gulbis was ousted in the first round by 30th Seed Argentine Juan Monaco in straight sets.

In February, Gulbis reached his second career semifinal at an ATP 500 event, the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee. In the second round he defeated No. 3 seed Radek Stepanek, facing two, consecutive Czech players as he ousted No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych in the third round in a tight, three set match. He lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Sam Querrey.

At the end of February he then competed in the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, an outdoor hard court tournament, where he won his maiden ATP tour title. In the final, he faced 6'11" Croatian and No. 2 seed Ivo Karlovic, winning convincingly with a score line of 6-2, 6-3. With this victory, his ranking rose back into the top 50.

Gulbis' next major tournament was the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, an ATP 1000 Tier tournament. Gulbis defeated swiss player Marco Chiudinelli in the first round, but succumbed to No. 5 seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.

Davis Cup

Gulbis played in three Davis Cup ties for Latvia in 2009, winning all seven of the rubbers in which he participated (4 singles; 3 doubles with Deniss Pavlovs).^[13][14][15] His participation in the tie against Monaco in September helped Latvia to qualify for the Europe/Africa Zone Group I tier of Davis Cup for the first time in its history.^[15]

Playing style and Equipment

Gulbis primarily employs an offensive baseline playing style. Gulbis' most consistent shot is his forehand, which has been likened to that of American James Blake's for its rapid pace and relatively flat execution; his forehand is taken with a short swing and high levels of wrist action, causing the shot to be volatile and difficult to read; he uses a modern semi-western grip. His running forehand typically has a slice action. Ernests has a two-handed backhand, which he takes very flat; he often prefers to go cross court with the back hand and up the line with the forehand, when feasible. Gulbis is likely best-known for his finesse shots, including the offensive topspin lob and drop shot, both of which he can strike from any position, including from deep in the court. Gulbis employs the drop shot consistently and often, sometimes to the point of derision. Gulbis plays an extremely aggressive, winner-driven game, which often leads to a high unforced error count, making his consistency an issue in tough matches, often causing him to be likened to Marat Safin. Despite playing a style more attuned to fast surfaces, his strong showing at the French Open is attributed to his powerful and flat strokes which can play through clay.

As of March 2010, Ernests uses a Head PT57E MicroGel Prestige MidPlus. His strings are Pacific Poly Force 17 strung at 62lbs. Gulbis uses Tourna grip on a white Hydrocontrol grip. He is endorsed by Adidas for his attire.

ATP World Tour

Singles (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	February 28, 2010	Delray Beach, United States	Hard	Ivo Karlović	6–2, 6–3

Doubles (2–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	April 14, 2008	Houston, United States	Clay	Rainer Schüttler	Pablo Cuevas Marcel Granollers	7–5, 7–6(3)
Winner	2.	July 18, 2009	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	Dmitry Tursunov	Ashley Fisher Jordan Kerr	6–4, 3–6, [11-9]

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2010 Australian Open.

Challengers and futures titles (10)

Singles (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	September 12, 2005	Friedberg, Germany	Clay	Marcel Zimmermann	6–4, 6–0
2.	January 16, 2006	Bergheim, Austria	Clay	Jean-Claude Scherrer	7–6(2), 3–6, 6–4
3.	March 6, 2006	Leuggern, Switzerland	Carpet	Tobias Klein	7–6(4), 6–4
4.	November 6, 2006	Eckental, Germany	Carpet	Philipp Petzschner	6–3, 6–0
5.	February 19, 2007	Besancon, France	Hard (i)	Édouard Roger-Vasselin	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
6.	March 12, 2007	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hard (i)	Jan Mertl	4–6, 6–4, 7–6(2)
7.	October 7, 2007	Mons, Belgium	Hard (i)	Kristof Vliegen	7–5, 6–3

Doubles (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	July 10, 2006	Oberstaufen, Germany	Clay	Mischa Zverev	Teodor-Dacian Crăciun & Gabriel Moraru	6–1, 6–1
2.	October 30, 2006	Aachen, Germany	Carpet	Mischa Zverev	Tomasz Bednarek & Irakli Labadze	6–7, 6–4, [10–8]
3.	March 12, 2007	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hard (i)	Deniss Pavlovs	Jan Mertl & Lukas Rosol	6–4, 6–3

Notes

External links

• Ernests Gulbis at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Ernests Gulbis at Davis Cup