Extraordinary implosion expels Ernests from Toronto
Ernests defied the odds to lose 7-6(1) 3-6 5-7 to Jose Acasuso of Argentina in the first round of the Rogers Cup despite enjoying a 5-1 lead in the third set.
His troubles showed up early in the match, missing an uncharacteristically high number of forehands. He threw his racquet out of frustration several times, but was lucky that the umpire chose to ignore it – rather than issue a warning for racquet abuse, as is standard procedure.
He requested for his strings to be tightened in the middle of the match, complaining that his racquets were strung too loose, but the repaired racquet returned too late to be of any use.
String tension is important for a pro player, as a loosely-strung racquet tends to generate more spin than what the player is accustomed to, and makes the shot direction harder to control.
Ernests earned 3 break point chances in the first set, but converted none of them. He was untroubled on his serve and cruised to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak, which culminated in a comfortable 7-1 scoreline in Ernests’ favour.
His serve began to desert him in the second set, which saw him double-fault at 30-all on two occasions to hand Acasuso with break points. Despite Acasuso gifting him with several break-back points, Ernests failed to take advantage of any of them, and he duly lost the second set 3-6.
Things started to pick up in the third set, when he claimed two consecutive breaks of Acasuso’s serve to lead 5-1. Alas, he was unable to serve out the match successfully, even with the two breaks to cushion his chances. He failed to win even a single game after that – double-faulting at break point at 5-all – despite enjoying a break-back opportunity as Acasuso served for the match.
The veteran Argentine only needed one match point to triumph, fittingly, with another Gulbis unforced error. By the end of the match, Ernests had committed a total of 74 unforced errors, with more than 60 coming off his forehand wing.
Ernests records a net reduction in ranking points from this loss, as he will drop 15 extra points which he earned in the qualifying rounds last year.
He will next head to Cincinnati, where he also made the main draw as an alternate.
I need to see the clip in which Ernests smashed the raquet…:P
I know, I know…it must have been so hard for him to lose in that manner. but these kind of experiences build a great fighter:D
So, for now, I just want to say : Keep Your Head Up!
:*
lool…mee too.. ii reallii need to see the clip too!!
...
aww… but im realliii sad he lost.. itz unusual for him to hv such a temper =[ but he can get nervous... but ur rite Andra, these kind of experiences do build a great fighter... but we wont be seeing ernie playin for a while now
oh well.. uu hv to just keep improving!! dun wry... u'll be there in the top 10 Ernests!! We're wit uuu!!! =]
I suppose it does come across as a bit of a surprising experience for people who only started watching after this year’s French Open – but yes, he has been known to throw his racquet sometimes.
No offense to Ernests, because I think that he is an asset to not just Latvian tennis, but world tennis, but, getting back to my point, he needs to cool his head down a tad. If he starts to lose his temper, the fans and other players will begin to lose respect for him, and that is just what does NOT need to happen to him. I just hope that he knows what he’s doing, and that he’ll do well in the Olympics.
i totally agree with maija… come on ernests!
I saw his last match as he was not able to hold a 5:1 lead inthe third set.Yes he broke one racket and threw another one. Ernests has incredible potential,but needs to learn how to close out matches. He has lost 5 this year the same way. I wonder what his new coach is doing? Good luck Ernest
I saw his last match as he was not able to hold a 5:1 lead inthe third set.Yes he broke one racket and threw another one. Ernests has incredible potential,but needs to learn how to close out matches. He has lost 5 this year the same way to top ranked plaers. I wonder what his new coach is doing? Good luck Ernest