Latvia's Ernests Gulbis. -By M.Azhar/TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: The good, the bad and the ugly facade of Ernests Gulbis were on show at the Malaysian Open ATP 250 tournament at the Putra Stadium.
Yet, despite several erratic plays, getting annoyed at the crowd and smashing a racquet, the world No. 13 from Latvia recovered to secure a 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 win over German qualifier Phillip Petzchner in the second round on Thursday.
The French Open semi-finalist started the first set on fire as he broke Petzschner in the second game before winning 6-3.
Gulbis appeared to cruise through when he broke Petzschner’s serve in the first game of the second set for a 3-1 lead.
The German however hung on and eventually broke back to level at 3-3 to win the set in a tie-break, after which, Gulbis smashed his racquet in frustration.
That stirred Gulbis into action and he regained his composure to go through at 6-1.
“Well, my opponent didn’t come back. I gave the second set to him,” said Gulbis who fired 15 aces in the match.
“I think it was mostly due to a lack of matches – this is my first tournament since the US Open and it’s a tough court as well as the ball flies very differently.
“It’s not quality tennis that’s for sure but a win’s a win. Hopefully I’ll play and serve better in my next match,” added Gulbis who meet another German – Benjamin Becker in the quarter-finals.
In men’s doubles, the experienced team of Andre Begemann-Julian Knowle continued their fine run as they stunned US Open semi-finalists Rajeev Ram-Scott Lipsky 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals in exactly an hour.
It was the second scalp for the German-Austrian pairing who beat top seeds and defending champions Eric Butorac-Raven Klaasen in the first round.
The 30-year-old Begemann and the 40-year-old Knowle will meet either Marcin Matkowski-Leander Paes or another German-Austrian duo – Petzschner-Jurgen Melzer in the semi-finals.
Argentine Leonardo Mayer picked himself up from losing in the second round of the singles event to Jarkko Nieminen by progressing to the quarter-finals of the doubles event with Joao Sousa.
Mayer-Sousa won 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 against Italian-Austrian duo Daniele Bracciali-Oliver Marach.
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