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10/12/08 4:13 PM | Cheryl Murray
Nicolas Kiefer and Ernests Gulbis get an early first round start on Sunday in Madrid in what could be the best of the opening round matches.
Ernests Gulbis, the rising star from Latvia, has had his break-out year in 2008. The talented youngster had his first big result at Roland Garros, where he made the quarterfinals. He repeated that result in Cincinnati this summer. However, in between these impressive runs, were other tournaments where he was ousted mostly in the first and second rounds.
When Gulbis is playing well, he is a pleasure to watch. He plays with wonderful flair and he has much obvious untapped talent. Unfortunately, when he is playing poorly, his game runs off the rails in an almost spectacular way. His sends his groundstrokes long and wide and his opponent is left with the tactic of simply hitting the ball in the center of the court with the knowledge that it will be hit out with the next swing of the Latvian's racquet.
Nicolas Kiefer's year started off unimpressive. Until the Masters event in Hamburg, he did not advance past the third round of a tournament. His season changed completely in May. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the Hamburg tournament, going out to Andreas Seppi. He followed that up with a semifinal run on the grass in Halle, but his best result by far was his appearance in the final of the Toronto Masters.
Kiefer has not played a tournament since he withdrew from the US Open in his first round match against Ivo Minar. Gulbis has been active since his second round defeat in New York, but he has not been past the second round. The Latvian's inconsistency will more than likely cost him this match. Kiefer in three.
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Well done Gulbis!
EinarBerg , 10/12/08 8:56 PM
he won! woohoo!
gulbisfreak , 10/12/08 10:31 PM
once again it's impossible what to expect from Gulbis - some days he can barely hit a shot in against players he should beat 2 and 2, other days he comes through in the clutch against decent players like Kiefer
RickyDimon , 10/12/08 11:17 PM
ur just pissed that ur prediction was so wrong. its easy to know wat 2 expect from him - hes a rising talent. ur gonna get off days and ur gonna get on days. the match is hardly ever on his opponent.
kaitepai , 10/13/08 2:55 AM
I'm impressed with this win from Gulbis. I suppose Kiefer couldn't quite shake off the rust.
cherylmurray , 10/13/08 2:58 AM
Kaitepai - which is it? First you said it's easy to know what to expect from Gulbis, then you said it's impossible to know whether you'll get an off day or an on day. Sorry but I'm confused.
And I could not be less "pissed" about my prediction being wrong. I've made no secret about Gulbis being my favorite player. I root for him every single match.
RickyDimon , 10/13/08 3:37 AM
I don't think it was Kiefer that cudnt shake off the rust, Ernie has weapns to beat any player. I didn't see it but I'm guessing he deserved this win.
Ricky- you just cant expect an up and comer to be consistant.
kaitepai , 10/13/08 10:45 AM
kaitepai, I completely agree. Quoting from my previous comment: "it's impossible what to expect from Gulbis"
RickyDimon , 10/13/08 2:32 PM
Gulbis is very inconsistent so far. We can't see YET if he can be a top 10 player by his results this year.
agf25agf , 10/14/08 1:25 AM
I think we can say he CAN be a top ten player. I dont think we can say if he WILL be a top ten player.
kaitepai , 10/14/08 9:14 AM
gulbis made Rafa work to advance to the next round ! He's got lots of aces and double faults as well. Sometimes rushing points & not timing his shots.
HE will improve a lot if he will get lessons from his defeat.
agf25agf , 10/15/08 12:43 AM
dsgsu, Jul 5, 2009 3:03 AM
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tomnjerry2, Jun 21, 2009 3:37 PM
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Tennistalk v1.3.0
Nicolas Kiefer 
Ernests Gulbis 
ATP Masters Series Madrid
Kiefer in 2 routine sets
RickyDimon , 10/12/08 4:49 PM