Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988, nicknamed "Lord", "The Gull" or "Ernie") is a Latvian professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
doubles title at the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships
The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is an annual ATP Tour tennis tournament that started in 1910. It is the last remaining ATP World Tour-level tournament in the United States to be played on clay courts.
The tournament began in 1910 when the ...
, teaming with
Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in double ...
, and in 2010, he won his first ATP Tour singles title in the
Delray Beach
Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...
, defeating
Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a former Croatian professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint tallest ranked tennis player in history, along with Reilly Opelka. He has won eight ATP sin ...
in the final. In total, Gulbis has six ATP titles to his name. His best performance at a
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
is reaching the semifinals of the
2014 French Open
The 2014 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 118th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June. It consisted of e ...
. He had previously reached the quarterfinals of the
2008 French Open
The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 J ...
. Gulbis' career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10 in ATP Singles Ranking. He achieved this in June 2014.
Beginning after Wimbledon 2011, Gulbis was coached by Austrian
Günter Bresnik
Günter Bresnik (born 21 April 1961) is an Austrian tennis coach.
Early years
Born in Vienna to two physicians, he did not take up tennis until age 16; he studied medicine for four years at the University of Vienna. As Bresnik recalls, his caree ...
, until his departure the day before the 2016 French Open. Previously, he was coached by
Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977), often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired tennis player from Argentina. He was born in Buenos Aires and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. Cañas won the 2002 Canada Maste ...
, and before that by
Hernán Gumy
Hernán Gumy (born 5 March 1972) is a former tennis player from Argentina, who turned professional in 1991. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was defeated in the first round by Venezuela' ...
(who before that was
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
's coach), but their partnership ended due to Gumy's schedule; during that time,
Darren Cahill
Darren Cahill (born 2 October 1965) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Australia. In addition, Cahill is a tennis analyst for the Grand Slam events on the US sports network ESPN and a coach with the Adidas Player Devel ...
served as Gulbis' consultant for several tournaments. Before Gumy, Gulbis was coached by Karl Heinz Wetter, and subsequently by
Nikola Pilić
Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia.
He was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tinga ...
, the former professional
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n tennis player and Croatian and German Davis Cup captain.
Personal life
Gulbis grew up in an upper-class household. His book-collecting parents named him after
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
. His father Ainārs is an investment businessman, and his mother Milēna Gulbe-Kavace is a theater actress. His maternal grandfather
Uldis Pūcītis
Uldis Pūcītis (15 April 1937 – 14 December 2000) was a Latvian television, theater and film actor, scriptwriter and film director.
Early life and stage career
Uldis Pūcītis was born in Ranka parish, Gulbene District to Jānis Pūcītis a ...
was a popular actor and film director.
The second of five children, Gulbis has three sisters and one brother. His younger half-sister
Laura Gulbe
Laura Gulbe (born 27 February 1995) is a Latvian tennis player.
Gulbe was born in Riga. On 13 April 2015, she reached her best singles ranking of world number 898. On 7 October 2013, she peaked at world number 1131 in the doubles rankings.
Play ...
is also a tennis player.
Gulbis comes from a sporting family in general, and his paternal grandfather,
Alvils Gulbis
Alvils Gulbis (17 April 1936 – 27 February 2021)
, was one of the starting five players on
ASK Rīga
ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club).
History
BK Rīga was then founded in 2004, and it got back the original name of ASK ...
, the Soviet Union basketball team that won the European Championships."An Interview with Ernests Gulbis: Round 4 US Open" 2007 He first started playing tennis with his grandmother. Gulbis married Tamara Kopaleyshvili in November 2017, and they are raising a child in Riga, Latvia.
When Gulbis stunned world no. 1
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
at the 2010 Italian Open after throwing away six match points, he told reporters that "I shit my pants a little bit there...excuse my language" and has bragged about his racquet-throwing "skills" in an on-court interview. On a telecast during the 2010
Western and Southern Financial Group Masters
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
from Cincinnati, broadcasters
Brad Gilbert
Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is a former professional tennis player and an American tennis coach. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles rank ...
,
Patrick McEnroe
Patrick William McEnroe (born July 1, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player, broadcaster, and former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.
Born in Manhasset, New York, he is John McEnroe's youngest brother. He won one ...
and
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for '' Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...
compared Gulbis to former world No. 1
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
in terms of both playing style and attitude on and off court. Like Safin, Gulbis often comments about his own lack of discipline and/or interest in practising, but is forthcoming about his aspirations for a high ranking.
In 2009, Gulbis was arrested in Sweden for soliciting prostitutes. He called it a "misunderstanding". After paying a fine, he was released in time to play in the
Stockholm Open
The Stockholm Open (currently sponsored by Intrum) is an indoor tennis event on the ATP Tour played at the Kungliga tennishallen in Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament is owned by The Royal Lawn Tennis Club of Stockholm, SALK (Stockholm Pub ...
. Speaking about the need for more explosive rivalries in tennis (e. g., Connors-McEnroe), in 2013 he said that Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
were "boring" in interviews. The next year, at the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, when Gulbis was asked if he would encourage his sisters to pursue professional tennis, he said he believed that women should "focus on family and kids".
Gulbis speaks Latvian, English, Russian, some French, and German.
Interestingly, Gulbis hates technology such as cell phones and prefers to read in his spare time.
Tennis career
Early years
Gulbis began playing tennis at the age of 5 with his grandmother. At the age of 12, he attended the
Nikola Pilić
Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia.
He was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tinga ...
tennis academy in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and trained there until age 18. One of the players he trained with at the Niki Pilić academy was future world No. 1
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
who sometimes practiced with Gulbis when they were at the academy. He refused to play much junior tennis as he only played in three tournaments winning one in May 2004. He mainly played in men's ITF futures events to start his career and officially turned pro in June 2004 at the age of 15.
Professional career
2004–2006: ITF and challenger success and St. Petersburg semifinal
Gulbis' first event at any level was a challenger tournament in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in June 2004 after receiving a wildcard into the main draw. He lost in the first round to
Teymuraz Gabashvili
Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 4 ...
in straight sets. For most of 2004–2006, he solely played ITF futures events while also occasionally playing in challenger events. At first, he struggled to win matches. But his results started to improve as time went on and he won his first futures title in September 2005. After this win, he made four more futures finals in 2006 winning two.
In July 2006, Gulbis made his first challenger final where he lost to
Michal Tabara
Michal Tabara (born 16 October 1979) is a former tennis player from the Czech Republic, who turned professional in 1997. The right-hander has won one singles title (2001, Chennai) so far in his career. Tabara reached his highest singles ATP-rank ...
in straight sets. Two weeks later, he made his second challenger final where he lost to top seed
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP title after four previous defeats in ATP fin ...
in three sets.
Gulbis received direct entry into the 2006 US Open Qualifying, his first Grand Slam qualifying draw. There, he upset 5th seed
Dick Norman
Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of h ...
in the first round in straight sets before losing in the second round to
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
in straight sets.
Gulbis made his ATP debut at the 2006 St. Petersburg Open after receiving a wildcard into the main draw. There, he reached the semifinals where he lost to 3rd seed and eventual champion
Mario Ančić
Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking c ...
in straight sets. Because of his result, his ranking jumped 48 spots from 204 to 156.
Gulbis ended 2006 with his first challenger title without losing a set defeating
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner (born 24 March 1984) is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and bursts of speed around the court. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in ...
in the final. He also won two doubles challenger titles within the year both partnering
Mischa Zverev
Mikhail "Mischa" Alexandrovich Zverev (russian: Михаил "Миша" Александрович Зверев, , ; born 22 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player born in Russia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world ...
and another doubles final partnering compatriot Deniss Pavlovs. He ended the year with a year-end ranking of 141. A remarkable jump from his ranking of 418 at the beginning of the year. His results during the year earned him the award for Rising Star of the Year at the 2006 Latvian Sports Awards.
2007: Breaking into top 100, Grand Slam debut and US Open fourth round
Gulbis started his season as a qualifier in the Sydney Medibank International, losing in the first round to
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
of Cyprus. He was subsequently defeated in the first qualifying round of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
.
Gulbis was relatively successful on the Challenger circuit in 2007. He reached the quarterfinals in Bergamo (l. to
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...
) and the semifinals in Heilbronn (l. to
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
). Gulbis won his second Challenger title by triumphing over the local favorite, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, at the Besançon Challenger in France, enabling him to break into the ATP Top 100 for the first time in his career. In his next tournament, the Sarajevo Challenger, Gulbis emerged victorious in both the singles and doubles events.
In the first week of October, he won the Mons Challenger in Belgium (d.
Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen (born 22 June 1982) is a Belgian former tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001.
He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tourname ...
) as the top seed, breaking into the ATP Top 50 for the first time in his career and surpassing
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
as the highest-ranked player born in 1988. This win also meant a fourth consecutive title.
Gulbis announced his arrival on the Grand Slam stage in the
2007 French Open
The 2007 French Open (Roland Garros) was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June 2007. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Björn Borg, 1978–81; and maintained his unbeaten run at Rol ...
by defeating the British veteran,
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in the ...
in straight sets to advance to the second round. It was heralded by the British Davis Cup captain, John Lloyd, as ''"... a brilliant performance from Gulbis, that is just pure and utter talent."'' Gulbis' run was halted in the second round by Spaniard Álbert Montañés in a four-set, rain-interrupted match.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, his second Grand Slam participation, Gulbis again was drawn to face
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
in the first round. He won the first set before succumbing in four sets. Gulbis debuted in Grand Slam doubles by teaming up with
Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career highlights include reaching a Grand S ...
, with whom he had reached the semifinals of the 2007
Ordina Open
The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Open), is a pro ...
Potito Starace
Potito Starace (; born 14 July 1981) is an Italian retired professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world no. 27 on October 15, 2007. He was a clay court specialist, and was coached by Umberto Ri ...
, in the first round and eighth seed,
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...
, in the third round, the latter for the loss of only 6 games. In that match, Gulbis broke Robredo six times and had 39 winners to Robredo's seven. Gulbis' run was finally halted by former World No. 1,
Carlos Moyà
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewhere ...
, to whom he lost in four sets.
2008: French Open quarterfinal
In the first round of the
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 throug ...
, Gulbis lost to
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
in straight sets. He reached the second round of the
2008 Pacific Life Open
The 2008 Indian Wells Masters (also known as the ''Pacific Life Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 35th edition of the Indian Wells Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of ...
, where he lost a tight match to former Grand Slam finalist
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine retired professional tennis player who played on the ATP Tour from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. He reached the highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006. Nalban ...
in a final set tiebreak. In the first round of the 2008 Miami Masters, he defeated
Dominik Hrbatý
Dominik Hrbatý (; born 4 January 1978) is a Slovakian former professional tennis player. Hrbatý reached the semifinals of the 1999 French Open – Men's singles, 1999 French Open, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in ...
, but in the second round met eventual champion
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...
. After winning the first set 6–3, he lost the following two sets in tiebreaks.
His biggest result up to that point occurred when he reached the quarterfinals of the
2008 French Open
The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 J ...
. Throughout the tournament he beat
Simon Greul
Simon Greul (; born 13 April 1981) is a retired German male tennis player. His career high rank was No. 55, achieved on 22 March 2010.
Career
His major breakthrough was at the 2006 Nasdaq-100 Open, where after beating Adrián García and Ricar ...
Nicolás Lapentti
Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni Lapentti, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés Gómez, Andrés, and cousins Roberto Quiroz, Roberto and Emil ...
, and home-favourite
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
. In the quarterfinals, he lost to third seed
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen (born 22 June 1982) is a Belgian former tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001.
He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tourname ...
and 12th seed
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player.
He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Tennis car ...
. He lost to sixth seed
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
, after winning the first set 7–5.
In the first round at Wimbledon, Gulbis defeated fellow rising star
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers e ...
, but lost in the second round to second seed and eventual champion
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in a four set, rain-interrupted match. Other than
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, he was the only player to take a set off the eventual champion.
At the 2008 Cincinnati Masters, Gulbis defeated
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
,
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément (; born 17 December 1977) is a French former professional tennis player and Davis Cup captain. Clément reached the final of the 2001 Australian Open and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 10 in April of that year. Par ...
, and James Blake, but succumbed in the quarterfinals to third seed
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
.
The young Latvian then traveled to Beijing to take part in the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, where he lost his first-round match to
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...
Thomas Johansson
Karl Thomas Conny Johansson (; born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish retired professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 7 singles ranking on 10 May 2002. His career highlights i ...
in the first round, before losing to
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...
in the second, again after winning the first set. Coincidentally, it was both his and Andy's birthday on the day they played.
2009: Decline in form and rankings
Gulbis began the year strongly by defeating world No. 3
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
in straight sets in the first round of the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
before falling in the second round to
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the ...
. It would be the first time and one of only two times that Djokovic ever lost in the first round of a tournament with the other instance being against
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
at the
2016 Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...
. It would also be Gulbis' only victory against Djokovic to date.
He lost in the second round of the
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 Janua ...
to
Igor Andreev
Igor Valeryevich Andreev (russian: link=no, И́горь Вале́рьевич Андре́ев, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles ti ...
in five sets, after beating
Albert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain.
He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
in the first round in straight sets.
Gulbis was seeded third heading into the 2009
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
, but was defeated in the first round by former World No. 8
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
. It was the fourth time he was drawn to face Baghdatis in the first round of a tournament.
Gulbis had a poor clay-court season compared to 2008, failing to go deep in any of the tournaments preceding the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. Gulbis also failed to defend his quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, causing his ranking to drop to World No. 67, the lowest it had been since the summer of 2007.
At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Gulbis, unseeded, defeated Italian
Riccardo Ghedin
Riccardo Ghedin (born 5 December 1985) is an Italian tennis player. He began playing tennis when he was 12 years old.
At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Ghedin advanced successfully through the qualifying rounds to reach his first and only gr ...
in the first round, before falling to third seeded
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
.
Gulbis played in the
Indianapolis Tennis Championships
The Indianapolis Tennis Championships was an annual men's tennis tournament played in Indianapolis as part of the ATP Tour. Since its inaugural playing in 1987, the tournament was held for one week in July up until its final playing in 2009. Ori ...
in singles and doubles. He lost to
Marc Gicquel
Marc Gicquel (born 30 March 1977) is a former professional male tennis player from France.
Tennis career
Gicquel turned pro in 1999. He made his ATP Tour singles debut at the 2002 Open 13 – Singles, 2002 Open 13 tournament on hard courts in ...
of France in the first round. However, he entered the doubles draw with Russian
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
and won the championship, defeating top seeds
Ashley Fisher
Ashley Fisher (born 25 September 1975) is a professional tennis player who comes from New South Wales in Australia. Fisher turned professional in 1998. Fisher has never played a major singles match on the ATP Tour, but has won four notable do ...
and
Jordan Kerr
Jordan Kerr (born 26 October 1979, in Adelaide) is a retired Australian professional tennis player.
Kerr reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 356, which he achieved on 7 August 2000. Additionally, he reached a career high ATP ...
of Australia in the final.
At the US Open, Gulbis was again drawn to play
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
early in a Grand Slam, losing to the No. 2 seed in the first round.
At the 2009
Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
The Japan Open (currently sponsored by Rakuten) is a men's tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally founded in 1915 as the Japan International Cha ...
, Gulbis advanced to the quarterfinals, upsetting sixth seed
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
in the first round as a qualifier, then defeating top-20 player
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Miami Masters, and achieved a career-high singles ranking ...
in the second in straight sets. He lost to eventual champion and second seed
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
after taking the first set.
The year saw a general decline in his ranking, with Gulbis failing to go deep in any of the Grand Slams. He momentarily dropped out of the top 100 in August and finished the year ranked 90 and with a win–loss record of 20–26.
2010: First ATP title
To begin the year, Gulbis claimed wins in the first two rounds of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
Albert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain.
He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
and Italian
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player.
He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Tennis car ...
. Gulbis progressed to the third round, where he was defeated in a tight three set match against World No. 1
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. At the 2010 Australian Open itself, Gulbis was ousted in the first round by 30th seed Argentine
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Miami Masters, and achieved a career-high singles ranking ...
in straight sets.
In February, Gulbis reached his second career semifinal at an ATP 500 event, the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee. In the second round, he defeated third seed
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
, facing two consecutive Czech players as he ousted fifth seed
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
in the third round in a tight, three set match. He lost in the semifinals to eventual champion
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
.
At the end of February, he then competed in the
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
, an outdoor hard-court tournament, where he won his maiden ATP tour title. In the final, he faced 6' 11" Croatian and second seed
Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a former Croatian professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint tallest ranked tennis player in history, along with Reilly Opelka. He has won eight ATP sin ...
, winning convincingly. With this victory, his ranking rose back into the top 50.
Gulbis' next tournament was the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, an ATP 1000 Tier tournament. Gulbis defeated Swiss player
Marco Chiudinelli
Marco Chiudinelli (born 10 September 1981) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. A member of Switzerland's winning 2014 Davis Cup squad, he reached his highest singles ranking of 52 in February 2010 during a career that was often hindere ...
in the first round, but succumbed to fifth seed
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...
in the second round. Davydenko later withdrew from the tournament due to a wrist injury exacerbated during the match. Gulbis did not compete in the
Sony Ericsson Open
The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, instead returning to Europe to train for the clay season.
At his first clay-court tournament of the season, the ATP 1000
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, Gulbis again defeated Swiss
Marco Chiudinelli
Marco Chiudinelli (born 10 September 1981) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. A member of Switzerland's winning 2014 Davis Cup squad, he reached his highest singles ranking of 52 in February 2010 during a career that was often hindere ...
in the first round, this time in straight sets, but lost to 13th seed
Stan Wawrinka
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
in the second round, also in straight sets. At his next tournament, the ATP 500
Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
The Barcelona Open (currently sponsored by Banc Sabadell) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event has been held in Barcelona, Spain every year from 1953 (except for its cancellation in 2020), and is played on clay ...
, Gulbis reached the quarterfinals, defeating
Peter Luczak
Peter Luczak ( pl, Łuczak, ; born 31 August 1979) is a retired professional tennis player for Australia. His career-high ATP singles ranking was World No. 64, achieved in October 2009.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, Luczak won ...
,
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French inactive professional tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best Grand Slam performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Austra ...
, and
Albert Ramos-Viñolas
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Albert ...
, all in straight sets. He lost to in-form, eventual champion
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player.
His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
in the quarterfinals. With this result, Gulbis' ranking rose back into the top 40 and also pushed his career win–loss record past 50% for the first time in his career, his year-to-date win–loss record at 15–7.
At his next tournament, the
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2010 Italian Open (also known as the 2010 Rome Masters and sponsored title 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia) was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event ...
in Rome, Gulbis was drawn to face
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
in the first round of a tournament for the fifth time in his career, although for the first time on clay. He defeated Baghdatis for the loss of only four games, which set up a match with top seed and World No. 1
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. After losing the first set, Gulbis rallied to win the match 7–5 in the third, converting his seventh match point for his biggest career win to date. In the third round, he backed up his win over Federer, with a battling final set tiebreak victory over Italian qualifier
Filippo Volandri
Filippo Volandri (born 5 September 1981; ) is a former Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri is a right-handed player who reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and has earn ...
. In the next round, Gulbis defeated
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
to reach his first semifinal at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, where he lost to
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in a tight, three-set match, hitting 50 winners and 59 errors throughout. This made Gulbis the first player to take a set off Nadal on clay in 2010. With his semifinal appearance, he assured himself a seeded position at the
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...
.
At the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Gulbis got off to a winning start in the first round against 2010 Estoril Open champion
Albert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain.
He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
. He carried on his good vein of form, defeating 10th seed
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
and
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
. In the quarterfinals he again faced World No. 1
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, which ended in the opposite result: Gulbis losing after taking the first set.
Expectations were high for Gulbis as the former quarterfinalist came into the
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...
seeded 23rd (ranked World No. 27), after having an incredible clay-court season. However, Gulbis retired during the first round citing a hamstring injury against the veteran Frenchman and World No. 38,
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is ATP world no. 25, which he reached in November 2014. He formerly resided in Boulogne-Billancourt and ...
.
Due to his injury sustained during the clay-court season, Gulbis withdrew from
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and its precursor tournaments, effectively missing the entire grass season.
Gulbis returned to the ATP in July, first competing in the
Farmers Classic
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...
in Los Angeles, California. He defeated
Lukáš Lacko
Lukáš Lacko (; born 3 November 1987) is a former professional Slovak tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is World No. 44, achieved in January 2013.
Tennis career Juniors
As a junior Lacko compiled a singles win–loss record ...
in the first round in straight sets, but lost to the in-form
Alejandro Falla
Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...
in the round of 16 in three sets. He next played in the
Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The Washington Open (known as the Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 5 ...
, where he received a first-round bye, but quickly retired in the second round to Ukrainian
Illya Marchenko
Illya Vasylovych Marchenko ( uk, Ілля Васильович Марченко) (born 8 September 1987) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Marchenko turned professional in 2005 and had been playing at the Futures and Challengers level f ...
, citing fatigue.
His next tournament was the ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Rogers Cup
The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
. He defeated World No. 26
Thomaz Bellucci
Thomaz Cocchiarali Bellucci (born 30 December 1987, in Tietê) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21 in July 2010.
Bellucci used a string of ATP Challenger Tour victories early in ...
in the first round easily, but fell to World No. 5
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include rea ...
in the second round in a tight match. He then played the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Western & Southern Open, defeating Donald Young in the first round and 13th seed
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Geral ...
in the second, both in close matches. However, he fell in the third round to World No. 4
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
in another tight encounter, decided by a final set tiebreak.
Gulbis who was the 24th seed, lost in the first round of the US Open to
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French inactive professional tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best Grand Slam performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Austra ...
of France in three sets, marking the fourth consecutive first-round lost at a Grand Slam tournament. Gulbis then took three weeks off to play for the Latvian Davis Cup team against Poland, winning both of his singles rubbers against
Jerzy Janowicz
Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.
Noted for his very powerful serv ...
and
Michał Przysiężny
Michał Przysiężny (; born 16 February 1984) is a former Polish professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of St. Petersburg in 2013, achieving a career-high singles ranking of World No. 57 in January 2014.
Career
He started his ca ...
. His next tournament was the PTT Thailand Open. He received a bye through the first round, and defeated
Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in double ...
in three sets, advancing to the quarterfinals, where he fell to
Guillermo García-López
Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People
*Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player
*Guillermo Ar ...
, also in three sets. He then played the
Japan Open Tennis Championships
The Japan Open (currently sponsored by Rakuten) is a men's tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally founded in 1915 as the Japan International Ch ...
, but suffered an upset defeat at the hands of World No. 432
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
.
Gulbis suffered two more consecutive first-round losses at the hands of
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
, at the
Shanghai Rolex Masters
The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
, and
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, at the Swiss Indoors. However, in his final tournament of the season, he bounced back at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 even in Paris, where he dispatched World No. 40
Juan Ignacio Chela
Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as “El Flaco” or “Liliano,” is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post-d ...
and World No. 10
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
, both in straight sets. He then fell to
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...
, also in straight sets.
Gulbis ended the year at a then-career-high of World No. 24.
2011: Second ATP title
To begin the year, Gulbis claimed wins in the first two rounds of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
Victor Hănescu
Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a former Romanian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26.
Professional career
Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. In a Davis Cup match again ...
and
Antonio Veić
Antonio Veić (born 18 February 1988) is a Croatian former professional tennis player and current coach. His highest singles ranking is 119, which was reached on 14 May 2012.
Tennis career
2009
Veić received a wild card for Zagreb Indoors an ...
, both in straight sets. Gulbis progressed to the quarterfinals, equaling his 2010 run, where he was defeated in a tight match against World No. 1
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
. Gulbis next played in the 2011 Medibank International Sydney. He received a bye through the first round due to being seeded third for the tournament and defeated Russian
Igor Andreev
Igor Valeryevich Andreev (russian: link=no, И́горь Вале́рьевич Андре́ев, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles ti ...
in the second round in three sets. He then defeated
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
in the quarterfinals, before losing to eventual champion
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour.
...
of France in the semifinals, citing fatigue as a cause for his low intensity.
His next tournament was the
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players wer ...
, where he lost in the first round to unseeded German
Benjamin Becker
Benjamin Becker (born 16 June 1981) is a German retired professional tennis player who is known for defeating former world No. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round at the 2006 US Open in what was Agassi's last match as a professional player.
Bec ...
in straight sets, again citing fatigue and illness for his poor showing. It marked his fifth consecutive loss at a Grand Slam event. Gulbis then withdrew from his next three tournaments, his ranking momentarily rising to his personal best of World No. 21 due to
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
failing to defend his points from the 2010 Australian Open.
Gulbis returned to the tour in late February. His next tournament was the
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
, an outdoor hard-court tournament, which was held simultaneously with the
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
, the tournament at which Gulbis attained his first ATP title. In the first round, seeded 8th, Gulbis won against wild card entrant and former doubles partner
Michael Berrer
Michael Berrer (born 1 July 1980) is a German retired professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 in May 2010.
Career
2010
He reached the quarterfinal at the Aircel Chennai Open in January, losing to ...
, despite having trouble with his first serve, giving away seven double faults throughout the match. Gulbis fell to
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
of Ukraine in the second round in three sets.
Gulbis' season did little to improve as he next played in the
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 38th edition of the men's event (23rd for the women), known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters ...
, receiving a bye through the first round, before struggling with
Lu Yen-Hsun
Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu.
He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
, but ultimately prevailing, with the first two sets going to tiebreaks. In the third round, he was swiftly defeated by eventual winner
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, winning one game. He then proceeded to play the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, receiving a bye through the first round, but losing in the second round to World No. 72
Carlos Berlocq
Carlos Alberto Berlocq (; born February 3, 1983) is an Argentine retired professional tennis player nicknamed ''Charly'', ''Panther'' and ''Warlocq''. His favourite surface was clay and he was last coached by Walter Grinovero. Berlocq's career ...
. Ranked World No. 30 going into the
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, he defeated the Ukrainian World No. 21
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
in his first round in straight sets, before losing to
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
in the second round, also in straight sets. Gulbis proceeded to lose in the first round of the 2011 Serbia Open to Ukrainian
Illya Marchenko
Illya Vasylovych Marchenko ( uk, Ілля Васильович Марченко) (born 8 September 1987) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Marchenko turned professional in 2005 and had been playing at the Futures and Challengers level f ...
, in straight sets.
From late April to mid-May, Gulbis took three weeks off due to fatigue before competing in the 2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur. In his first two rounds, he defeated
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
and
Denis Istomin
Denis Olegovich Istomin (born 7 September 1986) is an Uzbek professional tennis player. He has won two singles titles (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham and 2017 Chengdu Open) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in Au ...
, both in three sets, before falling to World No. 6
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
in the quarterfinals. From there, Gulbis' playing deteriorated further as his ranking dropped from No. 30 to No. 85 during the clay-court season, failing to defend his deep runs in 2010. He proceeded to lose his next four matches in a row: against
Blaž Kavčič
Blaž Kavčič (born 5 March 1987) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player.
He was the highest ranked Slovenian male player ever, achieving a career-high of World No. 68 in August 2012, until Aljaž Bedene began to play for Slovenia a ...
at the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, against
Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, attained on 19 March 2018. He won his first ATP Tour singles title at the 2019 Rosmalen Open on grass. He is c ...
at the
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) T ...
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
(which marked his seventh, consecutive first-round exit at a Grand Slam, and after which he took nearly a month off from tennis to train with his new coach), and against former World No. 4 James Blake at the
Atlanta Tennis Championships
The Atlanta Open (known for sponsorship reasons as the Truist Atlanta Open), is a professional men's tennis tournament that has been played in the Atlanta area in the United States since 2010, usually during July or August. The tournament is pl ...
.
However, Gulbis won his second ATP title at the
Farmers Classic
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...
in Los Angeles, where he snapped his five-match losing streak by defeating fifth seed Belgian
Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a former Belgian professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David Goffin) to have been ranked i ...
in a final set tiebreak in the first-round. He then defeated American qualifier
Daniel Kosakowski
Daniel Kosakowski (born February 21, 1992) is a retired professional American tennis player.
He played for the University of California, Los Angeles and was named Pacific-10 Conference 2011 Freshman Player of the Year. He resides in Downey, CA. ...
in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he defeated
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
with relative ease, before defeating Russian
Alex Bogomolov, Jr.
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bogomolov Jr. (russian: Александр Александрович «Алекс» Богомолов; born April 23, 1983), nicknamed Bogie, is a Russian-American retired professional tennis player.
Tennis caree ...
in the semifinals. He faced top seed and World No. 9
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
in the finals; after double-faulting to hand Fish the first set, he rallied to win the championship match in a close three setter.
Gulbis received a wildcard entry into the 2011
Rogers Cup
The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
. He defeated former World No. 1
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...
in three sets in the first round, and proceeded to defeat
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
in the second round after Llodra retired, trailing in the second set. In the third round, he fell to eventual finalist
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
, whom he had recently defeated, in another tight three-setter. He then qualified for the 2011
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, where he lost to Croatian
Ivan Dodig
Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Aus ...
in two sets. Gulbis reached the second round of the US Open, but lost to
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a former professional tennis player from Luxembourg. He is a two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country. Müller won two titles on the ATP Wo ...
in the third round. He was later fined for improper coaching by the
USTA
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
. Gulbis played five more tournaments that year – all hard court – but had four first-round exits and one second-round exit.
2012: Lack of consistency and form
Gulbis began the year with three first-round losses at
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
, but in between won two singles rubbers for the Latvian Davis Cup match against Egypt. He also represented Latvia against Hungary, winning one of his two singles rubbers. Prior to that, Gulbis reached the quarterfinals at Delray Beach, defeating
Alejandro Falla
Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...
and
Steve Darcis
Steve Darcis (, born 13 March 1984) is a Belgium, Belgian retired professional tennis player. In his career, he won two ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 38 on 22 May 2017.
Personal life
Steve Darcis was born in ...
before going down to
Marinko Matosevic
Marinko Matosevic ( hr, Marinko Matošević, ; born 8 August 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 39, which he achieved in February 2013. Matosevic defeated top players including ...
. Gulbis' only wins during the clay court season were first round wins at
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and a challenger event, losing in five sets to
Mikhail Kukushkin
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kukushkin (russian: link=no, Михаил Александрович Кукушкин; born 26 December 1987) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. Before 2008, he played for his country of birth, Russ ...
at the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. During this time, Gulbis was transitioning to a new coach, Gunter Bresnik, the former Austrian Davis Cup Captain who had previously worked with
Becker
Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
by dispatching World No. 7 and sixth seed
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
in three tiebreak sets. He lost in the second round in 5 sets to rising star
Jerzy Janowicz
Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.
Noted for his very powerful serv ...
.
Gulbis lost to
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player.
His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
in a topsy-turvy match in the second round of the
Croatia Open
The Croatia Open (currently sponsored by Plava laguna) is a men's ATP tennis tournament held in Umag, Croatia that is part of the 250 series of the ATP Tour.
The tournament began in 1990 when it was part of Yugoslavia, and is the oldest tennis t ...
. Gulbis then reached the quarterfinals in Gstaad, losing to
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the ...
. He qualified for Winston-Salem, reaching the third round, before falling to
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
.
Gulbis won the first round of the US Open over
Tommy Haas
Thomas Mario Haas (; born 3 April 1978) is a German former professional tennis player. He competed on the ATP Tour from 1996 to 2017. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in May ...
, but crashed out in next round against the American Qualifier Steve Johnson.
He finished the year by playing some Challenger tournaments. He took a break due to a leg injury. He came back for the Vienna indoor tournament, where he fell in the second round to Janko Tipsarević. Gulbis didn't manage to qualify for Basel, but reached the final of the Challenger in Eckental, where he lost to Daniel Brands. Later on he had to skip the last two Challengers of the year due illness. He decided to take a longer off-season in order to prepare best for next season.
2013: Third and Fourth ATP titles
Gulbis skipped the Australian Open to have a longer off-season and played two Challenger tournaments, where he went out in the second and first rounds. In Rotterdam, he qualified for the maindraw. It was his first ATP tournament of the year, he defeated
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012, and has won two singles titles, at the Austrian Open in both 2011 and 2012. Haase also reac ...
in the first round, but lost to
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
in the second, after a first-set tiebreak. For the ATP tournament Marseille, he received a wildcard. After a win against Nieminen, he lost a tight match against
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
.
He went to Florida to qualify for the Delray Beach ATP tournament. After winning seven matches to reach the final, including wins against
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
and
Tommy Haas
Thomas Mario Haas (; born 3 April 1978) is a German former professional tennis player. He competed on the ATP Tour from 1996 to 2017. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in May ...
, Gulbis won his third career ATP title by defeating
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open, winning the men's doubles partnering Julien Benneteau, a ...
in straight sets to claim his first title since 2011.
Gulbis continued his excellent start to 2013 with a great run at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. After winning his two qualifying rounds, he beat Spaniard
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
in straight sets, crushed ninth seed
Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarević ( sr-cyr, Јанко Типсаревић, ; born 22 June 1984) is a Serbian former tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 8, achieved on 2 April 2012. In his career, he won 4 ATP World Tour titles, one AT ...
for the loss of only two games, and then defeated 20th seed
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player.
He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Tennis car ...
from a set down to set up a fourth round meeting with the returning
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
. Gulbis lost in a tight three setter after taking the first set 6–4, ending his win streak at 13 matches. At the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Gulbis lost in the second round to
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...
despite taking the first set.
At Wimbledon, he defeated
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open, winning the men's doubles partnering Julien Benneteau, a ...
and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
, but was beaten by
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player.
His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
in the third round.
Gulbis defeated
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
,
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, and
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
to make the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup, losing to finalist
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
in three sets. He lost in the first round in Cincinnati and at the US Open to
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
and
Andreas Haider-Maurer
Andreas Haider-Maurer (; born 22 March 1987) is a retired professional tennis player from Austria.
In the first round of the 2010 US Open, he forced world No. 5 Robin Söderling to a fifth set before losing the match. That same year, Haider-Mau ...
, respectively.
Gulbis won his fourth career ATP tournament in the St. Petersburg Open, defeating
Guillermo García-López
Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People
*Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player
*Guillermo Ar ...
in the final. He came back from being down a set and 1–4 to reel off 11 straight games to take the match. It was the first time Gulbis had won more than one ATP title in a single season. As a result, Gulbis rose to No. 27 in the ATP World Tour rankings, improving this season's positive overall match record to 34–15.
Gulbis was absent from the 2013 China Open and the
2013 Shanghai Rolex Masters
The 2013 Shanghai Rolex Masters was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the fifth edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2013 ATP World Tour. It took place at ...
due to illness. He made his next appearance at the 2013 If Stockholm Open where Gulbis made it to the semi-final stage, losing to
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
in three sets. During the tournament, Gulbis defeated
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French inactive professional tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best Grand Slam performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Austra ...
,
Igor Sijsling
Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of Australian Open Do ...
and
Jerzy Janowicz
Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.
Noted for his very powerful serv ...
.
Gulbis finished his season with two first round defeats by
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers e ...
and
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player.
His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
at the 2013
Valencia Open 500
The Valencia Open, formerly known as Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, was a professional men's tennis tournament played in Valencia, Spain. It was part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. The tournament was first played in ...
and the
2013 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2013 BNP Paribas Masters was a professional men's tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts. It was the 41st edition of the tournament, which is part of the 2013 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Palais omnisports de Par ...
respectively.
2014 Best season: Fifth and Sixth ATP titles, top-10 ranking and first Grand Slam semifinal
Gulbis started the new season in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
for the seventh time in his career, in straight sets.
Gulbis was seeded at the
2014 Australian Open
The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, and defeated
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Miami Masters, and achieved a career-high singles ranking ...
in the first round in four sets by coming back from losing the first set. Gulbis ended the tournament in the second round by losing to
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
in straight sets.
Gulbis reached the semi-finals of the
Rotterdam Open
The Rotterdam Open, also known by its sponsored name ABN AMRO Open, and formely known as: ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (1991-2021), is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 500 series ...
, defeating
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
and
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
along the way. He lost the semi-final to the eventual champion
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
.
Gulbis won his fifth ATP title at the 2014 Open 13 in Marseille, beating 3 Frenchmen in succession without losing a set –
Nicolas Mahut
Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...
, then world No.9
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
in the semi-final, then No.10
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the final. With this victory, he entered the ATP Top 20 for the first time in his career, at No.18.
Gulbis then played in
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
where he was seeded seventh, beating
Yen-hsun Lu
Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu.
He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
and
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...
, then losing two sets to one to eventual champion
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
in the quarterfinals.
Next, in March, he played at Indian Wells. He beat
João Sousa
João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 and a doubles ranking of No. 26 on 13 May 2 ...
,
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
and
Roberto Bautista-Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in singles, which he first achieved on 4 November 2019.
Bautista ...
, but then lost in two tie-break sets to
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers e ...
in the 1/4-finals. At Indian Wells, he also played in the doubles with partner
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
. They beat Serbia's wildcards
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
and Krajinović in round 1, but then lost to Swiss duo Federer and Wawrinka in the second round in two tie-break sets.
Gulbis then played in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, where he was seeded 21st and had a bye into the second round. In an almost two and a half hour match, Gulbis lost in three tight sets to veteran
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is ATP world no. 25, which he reached in November 2014. He formerly resided in Boulogne-Billancourt and ...
, having conceded a match point during the match.
Gulbis started his clay-court season in Monte-Carlo but was defeated in the first round by
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
in straight sets. Gulbis also played in the doubles tournament with
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
, but lost in the first round to
Juan Sebastián Cabal
Juan Sebastián Cabal Valdés (; born 25 April 1986) is a Colombian professional tennis player who is a former List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 184 in Fe ...