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.

Roddinki

So Andy Roddick has picked his new coach - Larry Stefanki. I can't say I know a whole lot about Stefanki, except that he was responsible for that remarkable transformation in Fernando Gonzalez last year when Gonzo made it to the final of the Aussie Open and into the elite eight of the Masters Cup... but then the partnership seemed to go a bit stale. Or maybe that split or something. I'm not really up on the minutiae of Gonzo's career. But wouldn't it be interesting if Stefanki could have a similar effect on Roddick, however short-term?

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There are two matches that stand out for me from Fernando Gonzalez, both in the '07 Australian Open - and I think we can safely say that if he had not been playing Roger Federer in the final (Roger Federer in insane form - remember that semi-final demolition of Roddick?) he would have won that tournament, 400%. He absolutely destroyed Tommy Haas in the semi-finals - and sure, Tommy Haas isn't exactly a world-beater, but this was coming on the back of a straight sets thrashing of Rafa Nadal in the quarters. Whatever Stefanki did to Fernando, it worked big time, and it can be seen nowhere more clearly than in that tournament. His serve became consistent, those huge, massive groundies went in more often than not, and overall, his game just tightened up a notch.

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Thing is, I'm not necessarily sure that's what Andy Roddick needs. He's got a great serve, and while he may not be the most consistent player in the world, he's no Marat Safin. His groundies are fine - to my eye, anyway. What he really needs is a real grass-court coach - specifically, someone that can teach him how to volley. Because the Andy Roddick volley at the moment... well, I use 'volley' in the loosest possible sense of the word. And the sad thing is, it's come on light years from where it once was, and it's still only a 'volley.'

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Now, like I said, I'm no authority on Stefanki. Maybe he can teach Roddick this - looking him up, I see he's coached Tim Henman, and no one would ever doubt the Henman volley. So Roddinki will be an interesting partnership - I'll certainly be watching closely to see how it all turns out.

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Now if only Federer would hurry up and pick his new coach...

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Oh, and Davis Cup! How could I forget to write about that? (Actually, I know exactly how I could forget... I was so excited about the Nadal/Nalbandian clash, only to be thwarted AGAIN!) We're at 1-all, and I think it is going to be veeery interesting... massive kudos to Feliciano Lopez for beating Juan Martin del Potro! If Spain pulls this tie out of the bag, I think Fidgiano just might be the hero - he was an odd choice for that singles rubber, but oh! did he pay off!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup (Mar del Plata)

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Argentina 1, Spain 1

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David Nalbandian def. David Ferrer, 6-3 6-2 6-3

Feliciano Lopez def. Juan Martin del Potro, 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3