Hope floats in Bangkok
So close, yet so far.
That is the most apt sentiment to describe Ernests’ chillingly close loss to the Thailand Open top seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the second round of the Bangkok tournament today.
The fast indoor hard court worked like a charm to Ernests’ advantage as he gunned down 23 aces and saved all break points against him.
He took the first set in a tiebreak but lost the next in the same manner.
Both men held serve convincingly in the decider, with no ground at all offered to the receiving player.
Fittingly enough, that set too was determined with a tiebreak.
Ernests sped into the lead after mini-breaking Tsonga in the first point of the tiebreak.
However, he lost the advantage when a backhand sailed long two points later.
Nonetheless, he did not look visibly flustered – at least, not until his forehand winner when serving at 2*-3 was wrongly called out to give a minibreak to Tsonga.
Still rattled, he was quickly mini-broken again to hand Tsonga a 5-2 lead, and the defending champion wasted no time in serving out the match to progress to the quarterfinals.
Despite the loss, Ernests’ fans have much to look forward to, as his game appeared to be on the upturn. He served well and no longer deployed the dropshot as recklessly as he once had, although his concentration during rallies still needs to be improved.
With two more weeks to go before the culmination of the Asian hard court swing, it is premature to speculate as to whether Ernests’ new cooperation with Hernan Gumy will lead to his long-awaited breakthrough.
However, if his performance against Tsonga is an indication of the future, then good tidings may well be close on the horizon.
ATP BANGKOK: (1) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) def. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6:7(3) 7:6(4) 7:6(2)
Zahirah, so great to read you write up on Ernests match vs Tsonga. You used my line: ) So close, yet so far.It was close and feel same way he is on the the upswing. If Ernie would have beaten Tsonga he would have clear sailing to the semis and finals. But that is in past.So good luck Ernie to the next tournament. If you know Zahirah let us know is it China or Japan?
He was sooo close. I was ledt feeling dissapointed but on the up side yes, i agree with Z it shows that he has improved his shot selection and had sooooo many winners. He might too be dissapointed but he can go home proud to take a set off the no. 1 seed and top ten player. And he took it to the limit, no breaks of serve or anything.
Where is his next tournie?
All the best Ernests
Hi Z. Thanks so much for the match report. I guess we can only support and root for him all the way.
it really was close, if not that double fault in the beginning of second tie-break, it could have been different…
where does he play next? does anybody know?
One thing for sure he is not playing in qualifying matches in China or Japan. The list is out. Maybe a wild card invite in one of those tournaments. Hope he gets in after good match.
When i looked on the list of Alts for Tokyo he was number five but they hadn’t accounted for the withdrawals of:
Roger Federer
Tommy Haas
Andreas Seppi
Andy Murray
And a ton more
I would say then, he is in the main draw for Tokyo next week
Who knows if hawkeye would have given him the match…
It is about time they use that device in all tournements.
Going out early, leaves us on our appetite.
On some tennis blogs, we foresee Gulbis as a great pretender for high ranking. His service, but overall his forehand is so powerfull and precise, a beauty.
Wish that Gumi, his new coach, gives him the boost to acheive that goal.
So we could enjoy seeing him longer in a tournement.
Too bad that he does not have already an official website so he could appreciate all the fans he is gathering in tennis world, young and old, professional and amateur…
Ernests, did not get in in the Tokyo or Beijing tournaments .So we wait for another week. He did play qualifier.
Correction. He did not play in qualifier matches .Sorry my mistake,writing to fast.
He missed out of Tokyo because he was on the alternates list and missed out by four places. Next he will play Qualifiers for Shanghai where he is number 11. Good Luck
Now,Ernie is playing qualify in Tokyo!
hi..i just want to inform everyone that Ernests decided to play in Tokyo..he won his first round qualifying match this day…against Junn Mitsuhashi 6-3;6-4…
corretion again this time its correct 6-2;6-3
ernest is in Tokyo; just won with 6-2 6-3 to Mitsuhashi
oh really i didnt know, sorry i never saw. the comment i made about him not being in Tokyo is wrong then.
YESSSSS so glad he is playing