Ernests Gulbis topples Steve Darcis in the second round – Delray Beach International 2012
World number 78, Ernests Gulbis, advanced to his first quarter-final of the season, battling past world number 68, Steve Darcis, in three sets 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-3 in the round of 16 at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
in Florida, USA on Wednesday.
The Latvian, Gulbis, required two hours and ten minutes to post a win over Darcis.
Gulbis and Darcis swapped a break of serve in the first twelve games of the opener, equalizing the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. Both players went neck to neck till 6-6 but the Belgian grabbed last two points to
clinch it 8-6.
If we look at the statistics, Gulbis was better in almost all the aspects of the game but Darcis struck when it mattered most in the opener. The Latvian hit more aces and had a better first serve conversion rate but he faltered
in the tie-breaker to let Darcis through.
Gulbis completely turned around the match in the second set, as he came up with far superior game play than his opponent. The Latvian allowed Darcis to win just a single game and broke him three times to bag the set 6-1.
The 23-year-old hit explosive first serves, delivering a couple of aces and winning all the 10 points on them. He also won seven of the 10 first and five of the eight second return points.
Gulbis and Darcis won their serve in the first five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of the former. The Latvian made a breakthrough in the sixth game and capitalized on it to seal the set 6-3.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Gulbis assessed, “Today was tough because I couldn’t get my timing right in the first set. From one side it was much easier to get your serve going than the other side. I didn’t play my
best tennis today but I’m happy I won the match because I was fighting.”
The Latvian added, “I don’t want to be like Agassi who started to play when he’s 30. I don’t want to spend all my life running around and warming up, and all the stress. I want to get my career going. Now I’ll do the best I can
do until I’m 29 or 30 and then that’s it.”
Gulbis will lock horns with qualifier, Marinko Matosevic of Australia, for a place in the last four.
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