Ernests Gulbis has long been a one of the hardest players in
the game to figure out. He's known for mixing puzzling losses with
brilliant upsets, and his ranking has fluctuated accordingly. However, it appeared that Gulbis began to
figure it out and gain consistency in 2014, as he finished in the top 15 in the
world. All the signs were pointing to
more success in 2015, as Gulbis was squarely in his prime and would have the
luxury of being seeded fairly high at most events. However, Gulbis' 2015 season to date has to
be one of the strangest and most disappointing beginnings to a season in recent
memory.
After his loss to Benoit Paire in Barcelona , Gulbis is now 1-9 on the year,
with his only win coming against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Indian Wells. Further, in most of his losses he hasn't even
managed to take a set. It's natural for
players to have some down periods throughout their career, but its particularly
unusual to see a player of Gulbis' quality completely forget how to win
matches. He never has had the focus or
desire of a Nadal or Djokovic, and accordingly has always been prone to slumps,
but not to this degree.
It's possible Gulbis is simply struggling to adjust to the
higher expectations based on his strong 2014, and doesn't know how to handle
being the favorite. However, the
attention placed on Gulbis following his 2014 season was hardly enormous, as
there are plenty of other players the tennis world focuses on before him. If he's that flustered by the attention and
expectations following a top 15 season, it's hard to imagine how he would
handle even greater success should he temporarily turn his career around.
For now Gulbis' ranking is still respectable based on last
year's points still counting, but it will begin to plummet as the 2014 points
gradually fade away. At this rate, it
won't be long before he's having to qualify to play challengers. Maybe he'll go ahead and "pull a
Gulbis" and do something remarkable at the French Open completely out of
nowhere. If he doesn't, we may be seeing
a lot less of him on the ATP Tour in the near future.
Mercurial, Yes.... Disappointed, No....
ReplyDeleteI think you have to question his commitment to the game. All the top Men work incredibly hard off-court on training & fitness, diet, physio, everything that will give them an edge. Gulbis is talented without question, but not prepared to put in the hard yards.
I agree he's always been missing that part of it, though he still managed to make the top 15 last year. Wish I had a good explanation of why it's all falling apart for him this year.
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