Ernests falls from Queen’s grace

The next time Ernests rocks up at Queen’s, he’d do well to check the draw for players with the initials A.M. If anybody whose name begins with those offending letters is drawn near him: run. Pray to the rain gods. Or maybe, work on those second serves and hope that this time he will be the one to come out on top. For the second year in a row, an opponent with the initials A.M. has banished Ernests from the hallowed turf of Queen’s Club. In 2008, it was Andy Murray who answered the British cries for a home-grown prospect, flicking Ernests aside in three rain-soaked sets. This year, Ernests’ conqueror came in the form of Alberto Martin, a 30 year-old veteran from Spain. He was not over-awed by Ernests’ seeding of 13 and did his job efficiently: holding serve when necessary and breaking when opportunity arises.

For the first half hour of the match, Ernests appeared on track to cruise into the second round, having broken Martin’s serve for 3*:2 in the fifth game.

However, the wheels started to come off at 5*:4 when he served for the first set.

He quickly went down two break points at 15*-40; saved the first, but capitulated on the second.

Both men held serve easily for the next few games and sent the set into a tiebreak.

Again and again Ernests found himself with a chance to close out the set – there were approximately 11 minibreaks in that deciding tiebreak – but failed on each count.

Things really went pear-shaped in the third game of the second set, which was caught in a prolonged limbo of deuces and unconverted advantages.

Ernests had to save no less than eight break points, before he mystifyingly served two consecutive double-faults to hand the game to his opponent.

Having squandered one break point earlier in the set, Ernests had another chance to level the score three games later when he clawed to a 40-30* lead on Martin’s serve.

However, an ace by the Spaniard put paid to that opportunity and Alberto Martin found himself up 5*:3 and one game away from the second round in no time at all.

Ernests determinedly salvaged some of his bruised pride, saving two match points on his own serve for 4:5*, but that only served to delay the inevitable as Martin finally converted his third match point for a 7:6(9) 6:4 victory.

Despite the 2008 loss to Murray being so galling considering how close he was to victory, this year’s defeat is a more stinging blow to Ernests’ campaign.

If against Murray he had overperformed – the Scot was ranked No. 4 to Ernests’ 51 – against Martin he had imploded.

Not only was Ernests seeded to make at least the third round of this event, Alberto Martin is also a claycourt specialist who, at No. 97, is clinging precariously on to a spot in the Top 100.

This loss takes another chunk out of Ernests’ total ranking points, with 40 points due to be deducted at the end of this week.

He faces another fortnight’s wait before Wimbledon begins on 22nd June, having elected to skip the Eastbourne, ’s-Hertogenbosch and Boodles Challenge warmup events next week.

However, there is still a possibility that he may receive a wildcard or play in the qualifying rounds of one of those tournaments, to avoid heading to SW19 woefully short of match practice on grass.

QUEEN’S R1: A. Martin (ESP) def. (13) E. Gulbis (LAT) 7:6(9) 6:4

~ by Zahirah on June 9, 2009.