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10/8/08 6:02 PM | Ricky Dimon
Ernests Gulbis squanders countless chances to pull off an upset in Vienna on Wednesday afternoon. The end result puts Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinals of the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy.
It's been the same old story over and over again for Ernests Gulbis in 2008, but this time he took his habit of missing golden opportunities to a whole new level. The 20-year-old Latvian wasted five match points in the second set before succumbing to Fernando Gonzalez 4-6, 7-6(11), 6-1 in the second round of the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy on Wednesday.
Gulbis would eventually lose any fighting spirit in the third set, but in the beginning he had his mental game under control. Gonzalez seized the first break of the match for 3-2 in the opening set only to see Gulbis break right back. In a match that featured countless agonizing chokes at the crucial moments, Gonzalez was the first to fold. The No. 2 seed dropped serve a second time at 4-5 to hand Gulbis a one-set advantage.
In the second set Gonzalez served with a 5-4 lead as opposed to a 4-5 deficit. The Chilean had failed to capitalize on six break chances throughout the set, but he finally broke through to give himself the opportunity to serve it out. Once again, however, Gonzalez crumbled under the pressure as Gulbis returned the favor for 5-5 and eventually forced a tiebreaker.
That's where things really got crazy. Gonzalez went up a quick mini-break but Gulbis eventually took two of his own and set up two match points at 6-4. The first, which was saved, came on Gonzalez's serve, and Gulbis promptly blew what turned out to be his only match point on his own serve at 6-5. Gulbis went on to have match points at 7-6, 9-8, and 11-10. Gonzalez had set points at 8-7, 10-9, and 12-11. Gulbis finally melted under the pressure while serving at 11-12 and threw in his fifth double-fault of the match to gift his opponent the set.
As expected, it was all over for Gulbis from there. He lost all hope and Gonzalez broke easily in his first return game of the third set for a 2-0 lead. The rest of the afternoon was routine for Gonzalez against a lifeless Gulbis, who made less than half of his first serves in the final frame of play, had no aces, two more double-faults, and won just 10 points.
Gonzalez, on the other hand, continued to display a rare dose of mental strength this week. His first match against Simone Bolelli was eerily similar, as Gonzalez also lost the first set 6-4 and needed a second-set tiebreaker to force a third.
Great fight by Gonzalez.
Typical implosion by Gulbis, who has also blown notable matches this year to Nalbandian, Davydenko, Acasuso, and Roddick.
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Did you know that... Fernando Verdasco is a huge fan of football club Real Madrid.
Avalaine, Dec 4, 2008 4:32 AM
ravikiran, Dec 4, 2008 3:49 AM
kaitepai, Dec 3, 2008 10:59 PM
kaitepai, Dec 3, 2008 10:02 PM
janhavi, Dec 3, 2008 2:51 PM
Avalaine, Dec 3, 2008 10:15 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:23 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:02 PM
Ernests Gulbis
Fernando Gonzalez
BA-CA Tennis Trophy
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