Changed Man

Oh yes he did.

OH YES HE DID.

I am disproportionately excited about Ernests Gulbis' maiden tournament win in Delray Beach. I know it's only one tournament. I know it's not a huge tournament. I know he might go on to do a fat lot of nothing...

...but this is so, so much better than anything else I have experienced while clinging to this Gulbis bandwagon by my fingernails.

I don't think we can underestimate the significance of this win for Gulbis. Something has clearly clicked in his brain, because things are going right again. There was an interesting stat in the ATP write up of this final - Gulbis did not win his tenth tour level match last year until Wimbledon, but this year, he's already at 10-4. He started off with the quarters in Doha, where he (understandably) lost to Federer, a couple of first round losses, including the AO, which was disappointing, but then semis in Memphis and now the title in Delray Beach. Excuse me for making assumptions, but this to me smells changed man.

He beat Karlovic in the final and he beat him good. When you're Ivo Karlovic, basically your job is to get the other dude to the breaker. There were no breakers today - Ernie beat him comprehensively in straights, two and three. When you're breaking a serve like Dr Ivo's, you've got some serious returning mojo going on. And he's tidied up those errors, and...

...look at me, gushing like Federer won another Slam. But this one is a real victory for me. Damn it, I knew Ernie could do it! Good on you, Ernie! Good on you!