Ernests Gulbis dumps Lukasz Kubot in opening round – Rakuten Open 2011
Ernests Gulbis, Latvian world No.49, scorched his 1st round rival, Lukasz Kubot, Polish world No.56, as he rallied out the first and the third set winning the fixture 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and into the 2nd round of
the Rakuten Open 2011.
Playing on hard court, Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan, It took the 23-year-old two hours and thirty minutes before he smashed the final winner of the tie.
Serving out the starter, Gulbis, world No.49, went out to put up his score first on the board and stood to return the second game. Playing the world No.56, the Latvian 23-year-old broke early, game 2, 2-0, to put up pressure on
his challenger early in the set.
With another game adding to the Latvians score chart, Kubot finally managed to trigger his side of the board winning his first game of the match. Gulbis, world No.49, kept on extending his lead till the end and finally, serving
out 3 of the last 5 games, the Latvian 23-year-old took the match lead winning the first set 6-3.
Kubot, 29-year-old Polish, made a startling comeback in the match as the second set ended in his favour. Serving out the first game of the set, Kubot broke the Latvian overpowering him and took the lead as he completed the serve-break-serve
tactic to lead the set 3-0.
Winning his first game of the set, Gulbis followed on winning a game, however, could not break back to cut the lead or level up. The Polish swirled away in the set closer to his win as he served out game 5 and was left with 2 more.
With a smart volley winner in game 7 and a forehand down-the-line winner in game 9, Kubot levelled up the match scores winning set 2, 6-3.
With the two now fighting for the final round of the match, Gulbis served out the first game of the set and took the lead. Levelling up instantly, Kubot charged in and won game 2 and switched the serve once again, 1-1. Working
up winning games on respective serves the two went on rallying out the next 5 game with scores at 4-3.
With the two looking to tie up in a tiebreak game, Gulbis served out game 11 to lead the set 6-5 before the 23-year-old presented a shocker to the 29-year-old Polish. Breaking Kubot on his serve the Latvian took off winning the
set 7-5 and the match, 2-1, to qualify into the 2nd stage of the ATP Tour 500 event.
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