Mardy Fish ends Ernests Gulbis’ winning run; moves into the quarters – Rogers Cup 2011
Ranked at number eight in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, Mardy Fish of the United States finally defeated the 55 ranked Latvian competitor, Ernests Gulbis, in the third round of Rogers Cup on Thursday
afternoon.
The contest was staged on the hard courts of the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada, with the American contestant winning in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to earn a berth in the quarter-final draws of the ATP Masters Series tournament.
Gulbis toiled hard for two hours and twenty two minutes before succumbing in the third set to let the sixth seeded Fish away with victory.
It was the 30th victory for the American in the running ATP season and the first one against Gulbis, who defeated Fish last month at Los Angeles in the final to win the championship title. Fish avenged his defeat and
his Thursday’s victory levelled the head-to-head series against the Latvian by 1-1.
Gulbis has been in magnificent form in his recent matches and defeated the former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the opening round of Rogers Cup. He was off to a flyer in the contest against Fish and bagged the
opener early to get hold of the game. The Latvian failed to sustain the momentum in the game and let Fish some easy opportunities to rebound in the following sets.
Despite of firing 12 aces and reeling off 40 out of 56 first serve points in the game, Gulbis failed to take down the world number eight, who converted three out of 12 break opportunities en route to victory. Fished serve very
well when needed the most in the matchup and backed it up with some powerful baseline hitting to drive his opponent out of the contest.
The first serve break of the day came from the racquet of Gulbis, who closed out the set alter at 6-4 to get one up in the game. Fish bounced back immediately to bag the second set at 6-3, with a timely serve break to level the
matchup with one set a piece. The sixth seen then carried on his momentum to finish off the proceedings in the final set of the match and reached victory at 6-4 to get to the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup to face the 14th seed Swiss, Stanislas
Wawrinka, for a place in the semis.
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