This month marks the fourth anniversary of Ernests Gulbis’ stunning run to the semifinals of the French Open.
Seeded 18th in the tournament back in 2014, the Latvian exceeded expectations with a five-set win over Roger Federer follow by a straightforward triumph against Tomas Berdych to reach the last four of the event. He was eventually stopped in the semifinals by Novak Djokovic. It was during that same year where he became the first and so far the only player from his country to break into the top 10 on the ATP rankings.
The highs of fours years ago seem like a distant memory now for 29-year-old Gulbis. Injury problems combined with inconsistent results of the tour has resulted in him being ranked outside the top 100 for the past 20 months. To gain entry into this year’s French Open draw, he had to come through three rounds of qualifying. Recording wins over Stephane Robert, Stefano Travaglia and Alessandro Giannessi.
“I once would lose easy matches and think I still have 10 more years ahead of me.” He told AFP news.
“Now I know time is limited and I probably have three more good years left in me.”
On Monday, Gulbis returned back to winning ways in the majors by knocking out 29th seed Gilles Muller 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Picking up his first win against a top 50 player this season. Some may be unsurprised about Gulbis’ latest victory given his previous record at the tournament. At Roland Garros has has now won 17 main draw matches in his career since 2007. To put that into perspective, he has a combined tally at the other three grand slams of 19.
Gulbis have proven over the years that he is anything, but ordinary. The triumph over Federer in Paris remains fresh in his mind. Although the plain speaking Latvian has since played down the significance of his victory.
“I haven’t forgotten the win over Federer,” he said.
“But what difference does it make? OK, I beat him, I was number 10. It’s all about how you evolve as a person, what you understand in the head.
“You can be number 1, 10, 50. If that’s what you want for your ego, then OK. I don’t have these ambitions anymore.”
“My ambition is to get through this phase. I need to do it as a man and a husband, to do it for myself.”
Currently ranked 160th in the world, Gulbis will take on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the second round at the French Open. Should he win that match, a potential encounter with seventh seed Dominic Thiem looms.
