More hard times in New York Town
Ernests returned under the dazzling lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium today only to suffer another heartbreaking defeat to the US Open second seed, Andy Murray.
He stood toe-to-toe with Murray for most of the match, but unfortunately was second best on many of the important points.
He was broken in the first set to trail 2:4, but broke Murray back immediately with a sensational forehand, much to the delight of the crowd.
At 5-all, Ernests scored his second break point with a phenomenal lobbed winner, but was unable to capitalise on the opportunity as Murray managed to hold serve for 6:5.
Perhaps still disappointed by the missed break point, Ernests temporarily lost his concentration to allow Murray three break/set points.
He recovered to save all three of them but slipped up once again to offer Murray another set point, which the Scot successfully converted to capture the first set, 7:5.
Ernests started the second set in poor fashion after a failed dropshot attempt stranded him with three break points against him. He saved the first with a volley winner but was unable to save the second, thus handing Murray a 2:0 lead.
A netted volley by Murray off an Ernests passing shot offered three break back points, but strong serving by the second seed saved the day for him as he held serve to lead 4:1.
However, perseverance paid off for Ernests as he earned another set of triple break points two games later, which he converted to return on serve at 3:4.
Alas, he was unable to sustain the momentum and was broken back immediately for 3:5, allowing Murray to serve out the second set in the next game.
With Murray just one set away from the match, tensions ran high in the third set as both players seemed to realise what was at stake.
The set went on serve until 5:5, where Ernests found himself having to fight off break points despite having a 40-15 lead initially.
He managed to scramble back to game point but a poorly judged forehand error sent the score back to deuce.
Murray, as if sensing the opportunity in the air, upped his class to out-manoeuvre Ernests like a wily cat to score the lone, vital break of this set.
With the 6:5 lead on his racquet, Murray needed no second chances as he successfully served out the match to catapult himself into the second round.
As for Ernests, this loss will see him drop 70 ranking points, a deficit he could ill afford given his currently tenuous hold on the Top 100.
He has been announced to play in Latvia’s Davis Cup tie against Slovenia on 18-20 September, but to date has not signed up for any other tournament, both ATP or Challenger-level.
I hope this is not goodbye forever Ernie, and that we’ll never have a chance to watch live broadcast of his matches again. Good effort though. I really hope to see more, much more of you Ernie! Good Luck!
Why would it be goodbye forever? Isn’t he coming back?
Does anyone know where i can find pics of the match other than the ones of the US OPEN site and is there a presser coming out?
Poor Ernests.
When will he next play doubles with Dmitry Tursunov?
His coach has helped a trillion!!!
Watching the match live on ESPN and listening to Mac and his brother talk it was sad to listen .According to their account he has turned down help in coaching from Addidas people like Cahill and others. They said in Indianapolis he just went out and played without a warm up and was blown away.They both said over and over how much talent he has and it is going to waist. He played very good and certainly had every chance to win the first and third set but made mistakes and concentration failed. Of course his father’s wealth was mentioned and that he lacks the desire.I for one don’t know what will happen. Will he play Davis cup or enter challangers or give up tennis. Just so sad. Last year he had so many great coaches that wanted to help him ,hope a few are left. Good luck Ernest in whatever you choose to do.
The coaching issue was also discussed in the USOpen.org’s live stream of the match. I think it’s safe to assume that all the tennis commentators – and myself included – think Ernests should really get a coach (if Darren Cahill wanted to coach me, I’d be a fool to say no). He’s too talented to fade into obscurity.
i was also watching live, and yes john and pat all said what everyone knew. he has an amazing arsenal, but lacks the work ethic. i was shocked to hear ernests is the only top 100 that doesn’t warm up, and just “wings it”.
he played brilliantly at times, much better than wimbldon vs. murray, but i think what led to his undoing was his serve disappeared at crucial times. it’s a weapon, but it’s not used correctly, ie. to get him out of jams (like federer uses his).
he doesn’t attack the net as much as he should, and doesn’t step into the court and attack on short balls as much either. not to mention he botched a few easy overheads.
i’ve watched him on all surfaces, and i believe hard court suits him the best. it is sad to see him now, likely out of the top 100 and not even guaranteed qualifiers.
he needs serious help, maybe he just doesn’t want it or has given up. one thing i know is that I won’t be seeing him on live television for a long time. if he is done, at least i got to watch a good match on live TV. the crowd really supported him the whole match.
one more thing, yes he has been unlucky with his draws this year, but it’s his own fault for not getting past the 2nd round once. he lost alot of matches he should have won and that’s why he is where he is.
The not warming up thing must be recent/sporadic. He always warmed up a couple of hours before the match during the times that I saw him.
They said he just did that a few times when he didn’t have a coach! But he did warm up before last nights match!
I am a bit suprised over the negitive feel I’m getting from the previous comments. (I could have easily got that wrong) I watched the match last night and I am VERY proud of Ernests! He didn’t play so bad in the first set and after the second set I thought he was just going to give up..but what did he do? He tried to give Andy hell. He had some moments where his head may have not been complately there and his footwork was off but there were some great moments in there aswell. He didn’t take a set but he was in that match and that was pretty decent considering the year hes had.
To be honest I thought that match could easily be a blood bath..but if you recall, Andy was the one bleeding on the court! Haha.
At one point I said ” OMG! It’s Ernests!” meaning that it was Ernests and part of the game I first saw last year and fell for!
I hope he stays with the new coach and it will work out for him and see what next year brings.
Courtney, I don’t think it is all negative. I think everyone is concerned that Ernests has no tournaments scheduled at all ,even challangers.So he is at a crossroads of his tennis career. He is very talented and as i said last year needs a good coach that can teach him the game and how to handel the tight situations. John pointed out so many of his faults in his game but no one is correcting them. He would win so many more matches but loses concentration so fast. He did fight back and never gave up yesterday. It was one of his better matches of the year. However if he was higher ranked he would never have run into Murry or any other seeded player. So lets wish him luck and hope he does not give up the game of tennis. He has so much natural talent.
No, the entry lists for Challengers are released at a different time than ATP tournaments. ATP entry lists are released 6 weeks before an event; Challenger deadlines are much shorter (and the information isn’t as easily available.) There are also no qualifying entry lists for ATP 250/500 tournaments, so he probably is just playing somewhere we don’t know about.
Zahirah,thanks again for telling us how it works.I think you are right about Ernest playing someplace in the qualifying tournaments. lets hope so.Thanks.