One Step At A Time

There is no three title run for Nicolas Almagro. Such a thing was not writ in his destiny. Instead, David 'Lord Farquaad' Ferrer took the title. And he is looking gooooooooood. Australia was no fluke. David Ferrer is a force to be reckoned with and no mistake.

He is one of those dudes that, given the right draw, could go very, very deep at Roland Garros. Or even given the wrong draw. No one expected him to end up in the semis in Australia, and yet semis he made. So keep an eye on this one. No telling where he'll pop up.

He will be seeded. This we know. And he will be seeded high. So while it probably wouldn't be a top player's MOST FAVOURITE THING EVER to have Ferru land in their quarter, he's hardly a dangerous floater.

One of the other winners over the weekend, on the other hand, is. Welcome home, Juan Martin del Potro.

I don't want to go proclaiming that JMDP is 'back' in some definable sense of the word or anything like that. For one, that's not really a quantifiable concept; and two, it's a long way back up to where he was, because he was forced to fall from so very high. But winning titles is the way to get back up there - step by step, rung by rung, hand over hand on the ladder.

Sure, it was a Mickey Mouse tournament - there's not much else going on this week. But Mardy Fish and Janko Tipsarevic are quality opponents and JMDP basically ate them for breakfast. These are all good signs, positive signs. While Juan's results over the Australian summer might not have been spectacular on paper, I think they did give him some useful matchplay. Want to get your eye in? Try playing three hours against Feliciano Lopez. It's been a grinding, wearing summer for JMDP, but it is paying off.

Delray Beach is JMDP's first title since he lifted the trophy at the US Open in 2009. I don't see him lifting another Slam trophy this year - or maybe not even next year - but these signs are all good. In a lesser field, his return might be quicker. Unfortunately, we have an extraordinary level of depth in men's tennis at the moment, crowned with some truly extraordinary players at the top. If JMDP is going to get back up there, climb the mountain again, it's going to take a while. No single title win is suddenly going to propel him back among the echelons of the top ten.

But there's only one way to climb a mountain, and that's step by step. And winning Delray Beach is quite a large step - one might almost call it a leap.

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!

Ernie's First Final

This isn't a dream, is it? Because this is certainly crazy. It's surreal. Ernests Gulbis into a final? Surely you jest!

But no, it is true - Ernie played an admirable match today, closing out Jarkko Nieminen in two sets. Sure, Nieminen hasn't been especially impressive of late, but then again, neither has Ernie. As noted yesterday, he made his first semi in 2006, and then didn't make another one till last week. Now here he is the very next week, in the final.

Please, please let this not be a fluke.

I've seen very little of Ernie's actual matches, so I couldn't actually tell you what Ernie's changed. Maybe he hasn't changed a thing. Maybe it's just all clicked for him - because he has immense, immense talent. He was just matching that talent with totally stupid numbers of errors. I can't imagine he's winning any matches with the amount of errors I saw him hit in his match in Australia, so presumably that's where he's tightened up. The click.

The real test will be how he follows this win up. Obviously, it would be totally awesome if he would go on and win this, his very first final - but even if he doesn't, this is still a great result for him. What would suck, however, is if he followed up this fortnight of sweetness with another seventeen-odd first round losses. Two weeks of consistency is sweet, but two weeks is not a season.

So there's not much I can say but keep it up, Ernie. Make me proud. Validate me for spending all this time clinging to your bandwagon. Make me look like a not-moron. I know you can do it!

O-Kei

So here is a truth-fact I did not know - Ernests Gulbis reached his first ATP level semi final at St Petersburg in 2006, and, while 2008 can legitimately be considered his breakout year, what with his run to the quarters of Roland Garros, he did not reach another semi until last week.

Last week.

And where is he this week? Why, monsieur, that would be - wait for it - the semis.

Now there is something to make we few lonely passengers on the Ernie bandwagon very excited indeed. Semis in back-to-back weeks? That is a solid result for just about anyone, but for Ernie, with his struggle to string two matches together last year, this is not just solid, but solid gold. Now if only he can take that one step further...

I would love for Ernie to win the title. I really would. But I think I would be satisfied with a run to the final. If he makes the final, he'll play either Ivo Karlovic or Mardy Fish, who are neither of them slouches, though I believe Ernie is capable of beating them both. But if he could just go that one step further, make that final...

Not that the semis isn't already a very satisfactory result. It totally is. But I really think Ernie has a great shot at beating Jarkko Nieminen, who really hasn't been that impressive for a long time now. Ernie was really quite impressive in his victory over Leonardo Mayer... and I can't help but remember how Kei Nishikori won this tournament out of nowhere a few years back.

Please let Ernie be this year's Kei, okay? O-Kei! Fear my punnage.

The Ernie I See Before Me

Is this a Gulbis that I see before me, actually winning stuff?

Why, I do declare that it is. That's right - Ernests Gulbis is in the quarter finals of Delray Beach, not one week after he made a run to the semis in Memphis. Now this, THIS is what I'm talking about, Ernie! I think there might be a few more passengers on your bandwagon now... now that there appears to be something to cheer about. (Winners are grinners. This is a truth fact).

He beat Teimuraz Gabashvili comprehensively today - straight sets, and good ones too. Gabashvili is no slouch - he's had his share of decent winnage in his time - so this is a good result for Ernie. But it's not so much the quarter final appearance that I'm excited about, it's the fact that he's backed up a good performance from last week with a good one this week. This is no first round loss/first round loss double whammy, like we were so used to seeing last year. This is actually consistency.

Okay, so it's only two weeks. I'm getting a little excited over something that is just not that huge. But I have been on this kid's bandwagon for forever, and he's been giving me nothing. This is a whole lot of something by those standards. Has Ernie finally found his mojo?

We must remember that Delray Beach brought us a surprise young winner a few years back in Kei Nishikori. Wouldn't it be awesome if it could finally give some validation to this talented young Latvian? And, much more importantly, validate me for clinging to his bandwagon for so long?

Dear Mr Gulbis

Now, Ernests, I don't want to put any pressure on you. I know you're going to perform when you're ready. I know you're still a dangerous youngster, rather than being a full-fledged threat. I know you're going to grow into your game, and I know you're going to be in the top ten one day, and I know you're going to mature mentally and you're going to be something pretty special.

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But Ernests, please. Kei's done it. Marin's done it a couple of times. Thomaz nearly did it last week. When is that title going to come?

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It's not that Ernests isn't performing. He's the third seed this week in Delray Beach, and you don't just get there by hanging about in the top hundred. But he's also the third seed who just got beaten and dumped out of the tournament in the first round. Sure, it was by Marcos Baghdatis, who is definitely someone who should be seeded and who you wouldn't like to run into in the first round, but still. He hasn't always been running into Marcos Baghdatis in the first round - and it's not that he isn't capable of beating Marcos. Remember his first first round of the year? That's right, he beat some no name player called Novak Djokovic. And I think Gulbis revealed when he had Nadal on the ropes last year that he can challenge just about anyone.

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So, Ernests, I am going to wait for you. I know you're a good player, and you've had some good performances, and it is going to happen one day. But please... can you string those performances together one week? Waiting for you to win a title is a little like waiting for Marat Safin at the moment. And I know you can do it.

*

So... win a title for me, Ernests. That's all I ask.

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Today's Results

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Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships (Dubai)

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Novak Djokovic def. Jan Hernych, 6-3 3-6 6-4

Andy Murray def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2 6-3

Gilles Simon def. Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1 6-2

David Ferrer def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 6-2

Marin Cilic def. Julien Benneteau, 6-3 4-6 7-5

Igor Andreev def. Dmitry Tursunov, 5-7 6-4 6-3

Fabrice Santoro def. Marco Chiudinelli, 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-1)

Richard Gasquet def. Simone Bolelli, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-5)

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Abierto Mexicano Telcel (Acapulco)

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Men's Draw

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Daniel Koellerer def. David Nalbandian, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Gael Monfils def. Olivier Patience, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Tommy Robredo def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Nicolas Almagro def. Santiago Gonzalez, 6-4 6-2

Jose Acasuso def. Brian Dabul, 6-3 7-5

Marcel Granollers def. Fabio Fognini, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Carlos Moya def. Pablo Andujar, 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-2

Alberto Martin def. Marcos Daniel, 6-4 7-5

Kevin Kim def. Juan Monaco, 1-6 3-0 retired

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Women's Draw

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Mathilde Johansson def. Tathiana Garbin, walkover

Venus Williams def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-4 4-6 6-2

Flavia Pennetta def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 6-1

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 7-5 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-3 6-2

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-2 6-3

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Andreja Klepac, 2-6 6-1 6-4

Mathilde Johansson def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-4 6-1

Maret Ani def. Patricia Mayr, 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

Greta Arn def. Edina Gallovits, 6-2 6-3

Agnes Szavay def. Anna Orlik, 7-5 7-5

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (Delray Beach)

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Mardy Fish def. Frank Dancevic, 7-5 6-3

Marcos Baghdatis def. Ernests Gulbis, 7-5 6-2

Evgeny Korolev def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Jeremy Chardy def. Tommy Haas, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3

Yen-Hsun Lu def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-5 2-6 6-2

Dudi Sela def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-3 4-1 retired

Gilles Muller def. Ryan Sweeting, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

Vince Spadea def. Denis Gremelmayr, 2-6 7-5 6-1

Mischa Zverev def. Taylor Dent, 6-4 6-3

Andrey Golubev def. Evan King, 6-2 6-4