Ernests falls to Seppi in three sets
In the first round of ATP Poertschach, Ernests faced Andreas Seppi, a semi-finalist at the Hamburg Masters last week. The first set whirled past as Ernests converted both of the break point opportunities he received and dropped only one point on serve. Helped by Seppi’s dismal first serve percentage of 25%, Ernests won the opening set comfortably, 6-1.
In the second set, Seppi finally appeared to be involved in the match. Ernests saved one break point in the middle of the set, but to no avail, as he was broken on his own serve to surrender the second set to Seppi, 4-6.
Ernests promptly broke Seppi in the opening game of the third set, but was unable to sustain the lead as Seppi returned the favour to level the score at 3-all. Ernests was broken again in his next service game, providing Seppi the opportunity to serve out the match.
In the final game, Ernests earned himself a break point but was unable to convert it. Despite winning six more points overall in the whole match, Ernests was duly sent packing by the sixth-seeded Italian.
Ernests now will head to Paris and resume his clay season in Roland Garros on May 26th.
POERTSCHACH R1: (6) Andreas Seppi (ITA) def. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 1-6 6-4 6-3
hate to be negative, but this is really getting bad. Erno needs to get off the Tour and start playing Challenger events. If he doesn’t he is going to plummet in the rankings and when he loses his fourth-round U.S. Open points, he won’t even be able to get into any remotely decent tournaments. I don’t care if he is 19-years-old – it’s now or never if he wants to save himself and live up to his GOD DAMN potential.