The Most Comprehensive of Fails

Wow. Paragraphs. Two days in the row. Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

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Pity the first day of Roland Garros was so spectacularly dull. It's hardly worth writing about, but seeing as I have been so ragingly neglectful, I feel like I should. So let's see what we can come up with.

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Remember a few years ago when I picked out a few guys as Stars of the Future? Well, yeah, my track record is not the best, as it turns out. And it started so promisingly. The two prize horses in my fold, Marin Cilic and Ernests Gulbis, began - and ended - Roland Garros with an epic fail.

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Cilic hasn't been playing well of late, and he went out in straight sets to Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, who hitherto has been best known for almost beating Roger Federer one time a few years ago. Cilic has done precisely nothing this year, but still, this is not a match he should be losing. But he did. And that is all there is to say about that.

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And yet he is the less comprehensive of my fails.

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Ernests Gulbis has now lost 2o straight sets at Slam level. TWENTY. F^&*ING TWENTY. Is a single person left on that bandwagon? Seriously, what a waste of a stupendous talent. He was beaten by Blaz Kavcic, who is coming up LIKE WHOA, but that doesn't excuse anything, to tell the truth. Gulbis should be top ten, with his talent. And he's not even close. Ugh. It's... well, it's pretty much disgusting.

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Over in the ladies, the big upset of day one was Flavia Pennetta, who went out depressingly to Varvara Lepchenko. I say depressingly on account of I have no idea who Lepchenko is, and seriously, Flavs should be winning and going deep at events like this. She hasn't really been a force this year and I find this sad.

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But enough of this despair. Sam Stosur had a cracking match to win, and I am very happy about that. I don't know if there is any finals-making in her future again, but this is very good so far. Good signs.

Into The Ravine

It has taken a long, long time for this to happen, but I have fallen off the Ernests Gulbis bandwagon. Ker-plunk. I am off. And the bandwagon is merrily wheeling away into the distance... actually, no. It's bouncing and jolting across interminable potholes and I'm pretty sure it's about to fall into a ravine. Hence the jumping off. I'm not going down with it.

If there has ever been a tennis player who lacked mental fortitude more than Ernests Gulbis, I bet I've never heard on them, on account of of they never would have won anything ever. Gulbis is very, very talented - ain't no one denying that. But he's also clearly lazy and extremely mentally volatile, and there is only so far talent can take you. He is the least disciplined player in all aspects of his game I have ever seen. And it is such a waste, because those crazy-talented players are the best kind to watch. In his way, he is like a skittish Svetlana Kuznetsova - and when Sveta is your benchmark for consistency, problems: you has them.

It's a little odd to write this article when Gulbis has just pulled what is technically an upset victory over also-skittish Alexandr Dolgopolov. But there is a difference between Dolgopolov's brand of crazy and Gulbis's, and that difference means that, in the long run, Sascha is going to be the more successful one. Bet you any money.

Sascha can go hot and cold in huge extremes - look at his match against Soderling in Australia. He got pummelled to pieces in the first set - 6-1 - and then suddenly he was on FREAKING FIRE and Robin Soderling was walking off the court in defeat, wondering what the hell happened, where the kid had come from and who he thought he was anyway. No one will ever call Dolgopolov the model of consistency. He's almost Safinesque that way - though far less explosive. He seems like a pretty chill guy, despite his massive swings. But he's taken his massive talent and, with his coach Jack, applied some discipline (albeit of the long-haired boho variety). And this year has shown that that works.

Gulbis, on the other hand? Anyone who saw the semis in Sydney knows just how much he can do and just how lazily he can throw it away. He has a huge talent but he seems too lazy to do anything with it. I wrote a few years back, when I was on that bandwagon, that I expected him to be top ten in a year - two, max. And he hasn't even come close. Not because he doesn't have the talent - he does - but because he doesn't seem to have the desire to do that much with it.

Gulbis may have won against Dolgopolov today. These things happen. But in the long run, Sascha is the one with the will to win, and if one of them is going into the top ten, it's Sascha all the way. Ernie may have won this battle, but Sascha will win the war.

Basel O'Clock

You know who hasn't been around for a while? Robin Haase, that Dutch dude. I think of this, of course, because he suddenly is around again, beating Stephane Bohli in Basel, and he's popped his head up a couple of times this year, but mostly... not so much with the being around.

He was one of those young guns a few years ago who was supposed to be heading big places - I remember him taking Lleyton Hewitt to five in the first round of Wimbledon in an awesome match. He reminds me a bit of Gulbis, but I think he just looks like him more than actually being like him.

Anyway. That's all I have to say about that. I hope we see a bit more of Haase playing. I remember really liking his game.

And we cannot talk about Basel without talking about the Basel guy himself, one R Federer. He spent less than an hour on court dismissing Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr and he was smoking. And then Dolgopolov retired one game away from the finish line, which I thought was pretty poor form - how hard is it to play one extra game and give your opponent the win proper? - but it was still all sunshine for Roger. Keep it coming.

...oh, and why is Stan Wawrinka playing in Valencia and not Basel? Are he and some Swiss tennis figure or organisation or something having a fight?

The G-Boys

There's a poll on the ATP website at the moment that is trying to ascertain who is the biggest improver of 2010. Mardy Fish, John Isner and Jurgen Melzer are all on there, as is Aleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, who obviously has improved, even though I don't remember it happening.

But most importantly, two of my favourite young characters are on there. Both have won their first titles this year, and I have hopes of great things for both of them.

Andrey Golubev. Ernests Gulbis. Improved. Still improving.

Finally.

I've talked a lot about my fangirlishness of Golubev lately, so I'll leave him alone for now, but let's talk Gulbis. I have been on his bandwagon for what feels like a thousand years now, waiting for him to break through. Sometimes I thought I was the only one on the bandwagon, though at other times it was quite popular. Though, with injury and whatnot, he hasn't been around much lately, it is really good to know that I was right. Gulbis is going places.

Both Gulbis and Golubev have massive tennis stories left to tell. Both are relatively late bloomers, but so what? So are plenty of players. I don't know if either of them will ever win a Slam - though Gulbis might surprise you! - but there is a lot of success ahead of both of them. I am sure of this.

And I'd also like to point out that Gulbis is leading the poll at the moment, and Golubev is coming second. But the real winner? Me, obviously.

(This is a joke, clearly.)

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Still-In-It-Just

Roland Garros is here! Day one is over and gone and we have some stories and some winners and some losers and all kinds of things. Tennis, tennis, tennis - I love tennis! I love Roland Garros! (Yes, I have had a couple of glasses of wine...)

The winners: Robin Soderling. Big time. He smashed Laurent Recourderc like a guitar and looked very, very dangerous. I thought this was the best performance of the day by a long way - for the boys at any rate.

Over in the women, you have to go with Gisela Dulko, because that was quite some win she had over Vika Azarenka. See notes re smashing like a guitar. But another person that did some serious smashing was Aravane Rezai. That gold dress has given her superpowers, even though it's totally fug.

The losers: You can't go past Victoria Azarenka on this one, because this was one of the most disappointing performances I have seen in a long time. I thought this was going to be an upset win, but I didn't think it was going to be an upset shut out. Dulko absolutely destroyed Azarenka, but Azarenka destroyed herself as well.

There have been 'Azarenka is the next Vaidisova' opinions voiced. I think this is a bit OTT - Azarenka had a leg injury which she didn't take time off to heal, which was totally stupid, but not the end of the world. She really needs to take time off now, and this exit gives that, at least.

And also - Janko Tipsarevic. What kind of performance was that?

The disappointments: It's got to be Gulbis. This was a great win by Julien Benneteau, but obviously not the way that Gulbis wanted to conclude his clay tournament, especially when he's done so well at this tournament in the past. And the retirement... oh, Ernie. Not happy with you, chappie.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Jo-W Tsonga. He really, really shouldn't have gone five sets. I picked him to win his quarter and I will be mighty pissed off if he screws up my bracket. Obviously he hasn't been in le form d'awesome or anything, but his quarter is so eminently winnable...

That's all from Day One... oh, except for Dinara Safina breaking up with Zeljko Krajan! That made me actually very sad - I loved those crazy kids, with all their shouting... I kind of hope they get back together. I love them.

Red Carpet

I feel like ever since Ernie won Delray Beach I've been going, 'okay, I don't want to say this is it, but he's close, he's closer, he's getting better, he's almost there.'

Well, guess what, amigos? I'm finally ready to make that sweeping claim.

Roll out the welcome mat. Here comes Ernie.

I said a couple of weeks ago that I didn't think anyone would take a set off Rafa this clay season - at least not until Roland Garros. Well, guess who proved me wrong? That would be one E Gulbis, who played an absolutely spectacular match to take Nadal to three today. The final breakdown was 103 points to Rafa, 101 to Ernie. That is the difference of a hair. Like, literally, a hair. And against just about any other player, what Ernie did today would have catapulted him into that final.

Although he lost today, this has got to go down as the biggest tournament of his career. To beat Federer and go pretty damn close with the Claycourt Freight Train... that is something else. Though I was obviously pulling for Federer, I'm very happy with the way Ernie has progressed in this tournament.

Roland Garros awaits. The future beckons. And Ernie - at last, at long last - is striding down the red carpet to meet it.

No Dunces Here

Okay, Ernie, so you beat Roger. I wasn't too happy when you did that.

But you know what? You took that opportunity and you didn't waste it. And that is important. You fought to the death in that match against previous Roger-conqueror Volandri, and you came out on top.

And now... you know what, Ernie? You're in the frigging semi finals of a bigass tournament. Rome is not Delray Beach. This is not some little 250 you can fluke. This is Rome, man. This is a Masters event. This is a big frigging deal.

Now, no one in their right minds expects you to win this title, because, hello, Rafa is a freight train of clay pain and he will destroy anyone who stands in his path. But Ernie, I'm glad you are making the most of this opportunity. You were great in your match against Feliciano Lopez and I'm really keen to see how you're going to fare in the next round.

You're part of the class of '88, Ernie - the class that has given us Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic. And now your name - you're not the top of the class yet, my friend, but you ain't wearing no dunce's cap.

Roger, Really?

Ernie, you know most of the time I cheer (and cheer loudly) when you win. I'm on your bandwagon, dude. I love it when you do well.

But did you have to win this one?

I'm a Federfan first and foremost, and much as this win is massive for Ernie's career and I really like Ernie, I like Roger more. I know it's only Rome and stuff, but it's... irksome. To say I'm not especially impressed is an understatement.

Take this here very short paragraph - more like a sentence, really - of praise for the skill of Ernie and the win and stuff. If/when he wins his next round, you can bet that I'll be very excited.

But Roger, really?

He said just what I wanted him to in his presser, which was that it served as a wakeup call and that he's going to smash it out in Estoril. I think he underestimated Ernie a bit, which was foolish, because Ernie = good. But it doesn't change the fact that this isn't exactly the Bestest Sign Ever for Paris.

Still. It's Roger. I have faith and faith eternal.

But Roger, really?!

Roman Holiday

Wow - Barcelona finished without me even noticing. I got all caught up in Fed Cup and then suddenly Rome's started and that whole week is gone.

A little late, but awesome work, Nando Verdasco. I haven't been reeeeeeeally convinced by Nando for a while now, but to back up a final in Monte Carlo (where, admittedly, he got crushed, but them's the haps when you play Rafa, I guess) with a win in Barcelona is pretty much epic. Didn't see the match and so thus can't comment, but Nando's making a push to be in those claycourt contenders this year. And good on him for it.

Now, we're all caught up. Over to Rome.

I'd have to say the award for biggest win of the day has to go to Ernests Gulbis. Yes, I know I'm biased, considering I've been clinging to the Gulbis train for a while now, but if he wins his next match I'm going to be cursing his name (he's playing Federer) and so I have to laud him now. Marcos Baghdatis is a tough, tough opponent, even if his ranking doesn't necessarily reflect this, and Gulbis smashed him like a guitar. I'm going to be very interested to see how Ernie does on clay - his breakthrough, we must remember, came at Roland Garros 2008...

Biggest loss of the day is a toss up between Sam Querrey and Juan Carlos Ferrero, but I'm going to have to go with the Mosquito on this one. A qualifier? Seriously, JC? I know you can do so much better than this...

...but perhaps, as it often happens on clay, this will be a blessing in disguise. Maybe JC will get some rest and be super fresh when he hits the home courts in Madrid...

Ernie Rolls Onwards

So Jeremy Chardy has some serious cojones on clay. Remember a few years back when he knocked out Tursunov and Nalbandian in a row at Roland Garros on his way to the round of sixteen? (Leastways, I'm pretty sure it was those two - what's up with Dmitry Tursunov these days anyway? He used to be one of my favourites.)

Ernests Gulbis knocked him out in cruise-y straights today.

He had his mojo going on hard courts - his mojo took him all the way to the title at Delray Beach, where he overcame some serious opponents, not least of whom was Ivo Karlovic. And now in Barcelona, it's Jeremy Chardy who's fallen to the Gulbis train. And beating Chardy on clay - that's not the easiest thing in the world.

I know Ernie has a bit of the dirtballer around him as well - it might have been the same year, actually, when he rode the train all the way to the quarters before falling to old friend Djokovic. I know that it's easy to read too much into Ernie wins, but this is a seriously good sign, especially coming off that title in Delray Beach. If Ernie can do well on the clay, then everything is looking good.

I know I am a chronic optimist about this boy, but I am so eager for him to do well. He has so much talent - I want him (finally) to deliver.

Dirty Ernie

So I'm about a day late on this one, but how about that win Ernests Gulbis had over Marco Chiudinelli? That was a pretty sweet win, if I do say so myself.

I'm always a little wary of foretelling a player's entire clay season by their performance in the first week - I mean, they need time to adjust and whatnot - but sometimes it's just really hard to resist the temptation. I certainly don't think Ernie is going to go on and win the title or anything like that - I really doubt he'll get through Stan Wawrinka in the next round - but a good solid win like this is nothing but good.

We must remember that Gulbis really sprang onto the stage when he made the quarters at Roland Garros in 2008. The boy can seriously play on the dirt. I wouldn't call him a dirtballer - I think hard courts are probably best suited to his game - but he can bring it on the red stuff. I'd give him a solid shot at any smaller tournaments he plays and, providing he gets a good draw, a pretty decent run at some of the bigger ones.

The real test for Ernie will be whether he can upset big names on clay. And well... Stan Wawrinka is a good place to start...

Dreaming Anastasia

Now, here is something I completely forgot to write about last week, what with all the shenanigans of Davis Cup... and also because the women's tour is not so interesting right now. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a personal favourite of mine, won a tour title - a tour title which I am pretty sure is her first - in Monterrey.

Coming right on the heels of Ernests Gulbis' first tour title, this makes me feel very vindicated. Pavlyuchenkova was an extraordinarily talented junior - I think she won a good half dozen junior Slams - but she came up at the same time as Alize Cornet, who obviously bloomed a little earlier. However, you'd be excused for saying 'who?' about Cornet at the moment - seriously, when is the last time she won a match? whereas Pavlyuchenkova has made some good steady progress.

I'm pretty sure it was Indian Wells last year where she made the semis - either there or Miami, anyway. That was her really big coming out party, the first really epic result she had on tour. However, she's been making good progress for a while now - she's very much a slow and steady wins the race sort of player in that sense.

But I was super glad to see her win this title in Monterrey because she really is incredibly awesome. In my mind, she really will be the next successor to that uber-Russian crown that Sharapova and Dementieva and Safina and Kuznetsova and Zvonareva and all those kids toss around among themselves. She's mentally steadier than more than a few of the players on that list and if she keeps progressing the way she is, she can do pretty much anything. And it's not as if she beat a whole crowd of nobodies in Monterrey - she ran up against Daniela Hantuchova in the final and lost the first set badly before gritting it out in three. That's some toughness right there.

Considering Indian Wells (I think) was her first breakout last year, I'll be interested to see how she backs that up - that can often be a test. But let us just say this - Jodi's picks are starting to come good. Now if only Sabine Lisicki could get her arse into the top ten and Gulbis could keep winning stuff, I could legitimately be a super genius.

Factoids for 700

Hey, guess what?! This is the offical 700th post on Tennis From The Backseat. Yes, I have dribbled on and on and on about tennis and I still have more to say. I don't know how informative or insightful that might stuff might be, but I'm going to keep saying it nonetheless.

Onto the real business of the day - I've been so wrapped up in the phantasmagorical victory of Ernests Gulbis over the weekend (hurrah!) that I forgot about all those other tournaments. And there are some interesting things there, so let's get started.

Factoid #1: Venus Williams has won more clay court tournaments than any other active player except Justine Henin.

I don't have too much to say about that except whoda thunk? V's never made a huge impact at RG (except that year she went to the final) - with those kind of numbers, I find that surprising. V ain't just no grasscourt gal.

Factoid #2: Elena Dementieva plays too much tennis. She should not be losing to Kleybanova.

This is not news. No wonder she has never won a Slam.

Factoid #3: This is the first time ever Novak Djokovic has defended a title.

I don't know whether to class this under 'fluke', 'maturing player' or 'deeply troubling'.

Factoid #4: Juan Carlos Ferrero has still got it.

He may have lost in the final, but JCF has still got serious game. He's now ranked #14 in the world. What is this, 2004?

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?

Bandy Voodoo

Okay, so Gulbis didn't win his semi final - he got outclubbed by Sam Querrey - but this is still a very positive result for him in Memphis. Much more positive than anything he's done in the last eighteen months or so, at any rate. Hopefully it was not a big-arse fluke, because I really do not want to return to the kingdom of the eternal first round loss again, no sirree. It's been lonely on the Ernie bandwagon on all my onesies, and I do not wish for the train to turn back into the tunnel now I think I have seen the light at the end of it.

Yeah. That's right. I rock that train metaphor.

There have been other players playing this week apart from Ernie, though my blog would seem to belie it. One such of these was David Nalbandian. Yes, I know I am a few days behind here, but I have to ask the question -who exactly is it that has the Bandy voodoo doll? Because this level of injury is SO not normal.

I never really was Bandy's biggest fan, but you have to feel sorry for the guy. He has more injury problems than Rafael Nadal's knees. And he totally never used to be like this either - I can't remember any major, major injuries in his career before this whole year-off debacle. Maybe there was a wrist thing or something one time, but I never had him up there on my Captain Injury Prone list, if you know what I mean.

But now it's all gone wrong for him.

That said, he did have some positive results. He managed to get a win or two before the person with the voodoo doll realised and struck him down again. Hopefully he can keep it coming - though I have to say that if you're on the injury comeback trail, clay is probably not the surface you want to be on. Not even that's gone right for him, poor dude.

Get better, Bandy. And get someone to find that voodoo doll and deactivate it. Or whatever.

A Definite Shimmer

There is a tunnel. There is light at the end of it. And I can see that light.

Oh yes. Ernests Gulbis won another match. He's in the semis of Memphis. He beat another seeded player.

What's that I see? Why, would that be another few passengers on this otherwise deserted Gulbis train which just might be heading towards the light?

Okay, so that is overstating it a bit. But this is far and away the best result that Gulbis has had in at least eighteen months - probably since RG '08, to tell the truth. I think there was only one or two occasions last year where he won two consecutive matches, let alone three. And he's beaten some really high-quality players in this tournament - first Stepanek, now Berdych. That would be men's tennis of the Czech republic (aka last year's Davis Cup runner up) taken out by Gulbis.

I know I'm getting pretty excited over something which really isn't that huge... but damn it, I've been clinging to this bandwagon for, like, ever. I need to celebrate when I have the chance.

Gulbis only barely scraped through against Berdych today - it was a third set breaker. However, considering he was down a set, I think this shows some nerve, which is something he has definitely been lacking. He won the second and steeled his way to the breaker. I didn't look closely at the stats, but he had a pretty reasonable first serve percentage as well - that's something else that has been killing him. I only saw a set of his first round in Australia, and he served, like, 37012830182 double faults. I think he served 5 against Berdych today, which is still a lot, but it's definitely getting better.

We're still a long way off reaching that light at the end of the tunnel. But I'm beginning to feel a glimmer, a shimmer of hope that the Ernests Gulbis train is heading in the right direction.

Glimmer?

So, I'm a little late, but whatever. Ernests Gulbis totally won two matches in a row! And he beat a seeded player!

Let's all take a moment to process that.

It was very popular to tout Gulbis as the Next Big Thing a few years ago - 2008 was a good year for him. He reached the quarter finals of Roland Garros and generally was awesome. Then he opened 2009 with a win over Djokovic... and did pretty much nothing from then on out. And then 2010 didn't exactly open with a bang, considering he lost to Juan Monaco in the first round of Australia, spraying some number of errors so huge I can't even remember what it was.

Suffice to say, the once-packed Gulbis bandwagon is now rattling along pretty emptily. But I'm still on it.

I couldn't really tell you why. It's not like the last year or so has given me any glimmers of hope. But there's something about Gulbis's game that I really dig, and even though he's spraying a ton more than he did in '08, I think the bare bones are still there. He probably qualifies as a late bloomer now (provided he, you know, blooms) but I still believe that Gulbis can be awesome. This victory over Stepanek doesn't suddenly herald a huge resurrection or anything, but I'm really hoping that this is the glimmer of hope I've been waiting for.

What does Gulbis need to do? Well, stop making so many errors, for a start. As far as I know, he's still working with Niki Pilic - it might be time to break the bonds and fly free. What I would really like to see is Gulbis working with wondercoach Larry Stefanki, but I don't know if Roddick will give him up so easily. But a change in coach and the ensuant breath of fresh air would be good for Ernie, I think. It's time to change something up, because what he's doing now clearly isn't working so well.

I used to say that Ernie would be top ten for sure. I still think he can get there, but 'sure' is a strong word. However, what I really want to see is a tournament win. Don't care which tournament. Any will do. Just give me something, Ernie. It's lonely up here on your bandwagon all on my lonesome.