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Sock and Querrey Flame Out In Delray, Berankis and Gulbis Earn QF Berths
39 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Jack Sock was up a set and 3-1 against lucky loser Ricardas Berankis and only won two more games the rest of the match, completely collapsing in a 1-6 third set. Sock was in firm control with his superior firepower from the baseline but Berankis hurt the 20 year old American with wide, angled shots near the sidelines, which seemed to take advantage of the far physically larger player’s movement.
Sock smashed a stick late in the second set to vent his frustations but he could not stop the bleeding. On the positive side for Sock, he was dominant when the rallies were from the center of the court area and his heft on each wing and serve is enough to trouble any player. Also, Sock did rebound to win a doubles match with James Blake.
Gulbis vs. Querrey was a heavyweight slugfest. Both players practiced before the match on adjacent courts to each other. Querrey was with his pal Isner and the atmosphere during Q’s warmup was light with quite a few smiles and chuckles.
The mood on Gulbis’ court was a stark contrast. Gulbis was deadly serious and all business, hitting every ball with a laser concentration. He was hitting extremely hard too. During breaks, his partner Bjorn Phau sat by himself in a folded chair near the umpire stand. Gulbis moved his seat about 20 feet away, facing straight across the service line with his back to the short side fence and Querrey, who was hitting behind him. Gulbis did not talk at all with Phau. He was in kill mode. Just in case his demeanor didn’t deliver the message, Gulbis’ blue adidas shirt did: “…Attack Destroy.”
Gulbis lost a close match to ATP #19 Querrey recently and this was a chance for revenge. The first set was hard fought but Gulbis edged it by lunge returning a wicked Querrey serve on set point which blooped near the right service line corner. Q hustled to the ball but misfired a big forehand long to lose the set 4-6.
Gulbis went down a break in the second but gamely fought back, twice earning 0-30 leads on Q’s serve late in the second. But Querrey battled back with four straight service winners to go up 5-3. Gulbis had to fight hard to hold and had Q in trouble again at 4-5 but Q hung tough and won the second, yelling out a loud “Come on.”
I had to leave at this point, learning later Sam built a 4-0 lead only to lose the match in a third set TB. I am not surprised by this result in the least, as it was very clear Gulbis has a newfound desire and hunger which emanates an almost Nadal like intensity.
This is an enormous statement kind of win for Gulbis, shortly after making the controversial comment a few days ago that he feels there are some players in the top 100 now who “don’t know how to play tennis.”
Gulbis advances to the quarterfinal where he will meet the surprising lefty Daniel Munoz De La Nava of Spain, who has defeated Donald Young (qualies), Ryan Harrison and #8 seed Xavier Malisse in three sets today.
Berankis, who lost in qualies to Bobby Reynolds, replaced injured Feliciano Lopez in the main draw and will face Ed Roger-Vasselin in his quarter.
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Dan Markowitz · March 1, 2013 at 1:14 am
thanks, Scoop. Whoa, the misery for Querrey continues. Hard to believe he took the second set and then was up 4-0 in the third and dropped the match. I wonder if it was more of a Gulbis delivering great tennis or Sam flaming out.
The Munoz-de la Nava win, 7-6 in the third over Malisse was even more of a surprise. I mean I’d never heard of this guy before this event and while beating DY, Harry and Malisse is not a killer’s row, for a guy who’s come out of thin air, it’s not bad. Then the misery of Dr. Ivo continues. His game has really dropped this year.
Delray has to be thanking their lucky stars that Gulbis has emerged at this event and Isner and Haas are still in the quarters, otherwise there would be a cast of no names taking over the event. As for Sock, he has some big good weapons, but in a sport where movement is paramount, his Andy Roddick style of hammering serve and forehand will not work unless he starts to cover the court. Losing to Berankis is not a good result obviously and Sock might just prove to be right now an indoor specialist.
loreley · March 1, 2013 at 3:23 am
Thank you, Scoop.
Gulbis lost his focus. I don’t remember anymore when he killed his racket or when he shouted f..k. But it seemed to help him. He started to play well again, when he found himself down 0-4, fought every point.
Maybe Querrey became a bit too relaxed. Ernests got a break back. But one break was not enough & Querrey was about to serve for the set. I agree Ernests was wild as the bull & the unexpected happened. Querrey doublefaults on breakpoint. 5-5. Both players hold their serves then.
The tiebreaker was crazy. Ernests got an early minibreak, but gave it back. Got another one. But when Ernests served next, the linesperson shouted out. The umpire refused a challenge, he said, Ernests asked too late. Ernests served a furious ace on 2nd serve. Well, he was angry. Afterwards he broke a smile. But he lost the next point. The minibreak was gone. 5-4. But Querrey made a doublefault. 6-4. Querrey made another double fault. Gulbis won.
loreley · March 1, 2013 at 3:23 am
Querrey was serving for the match of course.
Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2013 at 8:18 am
Dan Haas is definitely a sort of sentimental favorite now with the crowds. It was funny to see and hear Haas again venting in German at himself in the first set like the old days, he had 15-40 leads on Istomin’s first two service games and let him off the hook both times. He took a couple of vicious golf swing hacks with his racquet after missing a forehand wide. Just like the younger Haas, he still has the drive for perfection and the competitive fire. His movement and everything looks as good as ever, he is really playing well. I remember two years ago in Newport when he came back and was trying to save his career, struggling with Berrer and then defaulting to Yani with some injury, he seemed such a hopeless longshot. It’s really quite incredible he has made it all the way to the top 20.
Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2013 at 8:22 am
What a set Loreley!!! That’s a huge win for Gulbis to get under his belt, well earned, this could really propel his career forward. Q is a tough out and with a 4-0 lead…this really reflects well on Gulbis. He’s turning into a real hard nosed fighter. I saw this intensity in the warm up with Phau. Loving this edge about Gulbis too and his bravado to make controversial statements, nobody else in tennis will do this except Gulbis. He is creating a strong aura and presence. Interestingly, the crowd was not heavily in favor of Sam either, it seemed very close to 50-50.
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 9:17 am
The Gulbis comments made me laugh.
Scoop, your man Tomic is also good for an outlandish comment every now and then.
They should play doubles together.
Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2013 at 10:01 am
Tomic’s are more bravado and cockiness, but Gulbis’ are flat out controversial, to say certain top 100 players can’t play tennis is a rather astonishing opinion. Wonder which players inspired him to utter this? It would have been better if Gulb named names )
loreley · March 1, 2013 at 10:43 am
Actually a lot of ppl agree with him.
There are too many players in top-100 who gained their ranking only with weak Challengers in Asia or Southamerica. There are even players in top-100 who hardly play an ATP-Event.
But the ATP events don’t have the same level also.
These claycourt tournaments in Southamerica are a joke in contrast to the tournaments in Europe & US, but players get the same points.
Tennis needs the bonus points back.
I hope Ernests doesn’t name names 😉
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 11:10 am
Someone said he was maybe looking for a headline.
Not sure how anyone can seriously believe that though.
I’m sure there are Divisoin 1 players that can give Gulbis a tough match.
loreley · March 1, 2013 at 11:16 am
Federer had some problems with Jaziri this week in Dubai. It was his first round match. The guy played wild. A lot of these guys play like maniacs & sometimes it works.
loreley · March 1, 2013 at 11:23 am
Cahill about Gulbis on twitter:
his forehand needed work. Anything flat and hard to it was a major problem. Clay was forgiving for him.
not as close to his body. He nearly swiped his ear off with the old one. It does look strange though. We’ll see
https://twitter.com/darren_cahill/status/307249086187331586
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 11:39 am
He does change his forehand a lot. The new version is odd looking but effective.
Dan Markowitz · March 1, 2013 at 1:32 pm
How can anyone really root for Querrey. He’s a nice guy, but to root for a player he has to excite your senses and Q is not the type of player who does that. He’s to be admired, respected and applauded for what’s he’s done, especially since this was Young’s generation to excel in and not Querrey’s, but Sam is too nice a guy for this business.
Even a guy like Isner, who seems nice enough, is I’d imagine much more cut-throat than Querrey. Q has a sister, Isner 2 or 3 brothers. Anyone’s who grown up in either dynamic would tell you you’re probably going to be rougher around the edges if you’re the youngest brother.
I’ve said this before I truly believe it. Most of the guys on tour are not the nicest guys. They’re tough competitors and usually because of that they tend to be guys who like to dig it in to people they meet. You take Roddick, Fish, even Blake, these guys have a cold side to them. You want to go further, guys like Haas, Malisse, Courier and Agassi, they can be real dicks.
It’s amazing that guys like Querrey and Nishikori can be as good as they are being as nice as they are. Nice guys finish last in tennis. That’s the way that I see it. Sure Djoko, Fed, Nadal and Murray are all nice guys, but they’d also probably sell you down the river if it came to that.
But as fans we want to see that fire and desire. We want to see the flair and boldness. That and the talent, otherwise we could go down and watch USTA matches, but most people find that too boring.
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Dan, I really think Fed is about fair play even when he has his warrior paint on. He’ll take a break gifted his way but I haven’t really seen him orchestrate drama or trickery on court. Delpo and Gasquet are two other guys that seem pretty nice on court. I really don’t see it as a hindrance to getting to the top of the game. It’s certainly gets them long term fans.
Now you could play in a Stepanek or Mac style but it’s really tiring to keep that up if it’s not natural to you.
Dan Markowitz · March 1, 2013 at 1:47 pm
There really is a need for free-spirit, sarcastic, let-it-all-hang-out guy like Gulbis on tour. You don’t have many of these types out there, or if they are, they don’t reach his level of play or candidness. Spadea was a little like Gulbis, but not as interesting in my opinion. Gulbis is a character out of the Safin and Nastase mold and it helps that he can sometimes play very stirring tennis.
Check out this piece done on SI.com on Gulbis. I liked it.
http://tennis.si.com/2013/02/28/ernests-gulbis-quotes/?sct=tn_t2_a9
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 2:16 pm
That’s a funny interview for sure but I hope he can string some wins together. I’m more into a person’s playing style. He’ll never be as interesting as Safin or Goran. He’s what? 24? He can peak at 26 or later so who knows.
I wonder if fans have a hard time rooting for the son of a billionaire???
loreley · March 1, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Steve, there many players who have very rich dads too.
Nadal, Murray and a lot of others. But nobody ever tells that. They only keep talking about the wealth of Ernests’ dad. It’s annoying.
Why are ppl still cheering for Federer then? He is ridiculously rich since a long time.
And you said it, his dad is rich, not him. And Ernests doesn’t show off a luxery lifestyle, he doesn’t collect expensive watches or cars or dates a model like so many other players.
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 3:54 pm
True Loreley, it shouldn’t matter. I just wonder sometimes. It’s like “will the billionaire’s son throw a tantrum today or and fly back home on the private jet?” It sometimes hangs over the whole match with the announcers mentioning it fairly often. I’m sure he does fine enough with his tennis earnings but his matches become mini reality shows.
I think with Fed, well, he wins. He’s earned those victories and is a friendly and accessible champion.
Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2013 at 6:29 pm
I like Gulbis from the first time I met him and Biofiled him in Delray the year he won, after his second round match, nice guy, polite, sincere, looks you in the eye, respectful, just a stand up guy. He has the quality to make you an instant supporter after you meet him. Just real and normal. He gave very thoughtful elaborate answers to my questions which is always very appreciated. You don’t get any sense of a smug arrogance rich kid at all. He competes fair and hard, no BS. He’s a good person with a good head on his shoulders. I like him. Querrey is also likeable. But it’s hard to really get excited for Sam. Like one of the women I was sitting behind yesterday, was a Sam fan but her cheers were very weak, just an occasional lazy “Come on Sam.” Sam doesn’t seem to inspire extreme devotion in any tennis fans, it’s like he’s just a nice guy and very good player to watch. But it’s hard to see him ever having a big fanbase or a Facebook fanpage created by his fans.
Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Arias asked Gulbis after beating Nava why he’s scaring opponents on their second serves and causing Dfs? Gulbis joked with a serious face, that he’s “hypnotizing them.” Then he actually said he’d prefer to play Haas next “because he’s older.” This guy tells it like it is with a sense of humor. I swear I don’t think I’ve heard one player ever say which player they’d prefer to play in the next round, they always give the diplomatic answer. Gulbis is an original. He is becoming one of my favorite players. Hope he can keep this up. Loving his intensity right now.
Scoop Malinowski · March 1, 2013 at 6:35 pm
Steve, I think he’s just as interesting if not more so, than Goran and Safin. Did you read his Biofile I did with him from 2010? Very smart person, very very impressive in many ways. It’s odd how the commentators always talk about his dad’s wealth, it’s their automatic talking point. Gimelstob Rusdedski Roddick and many other players came from wealthy backgrounds, but they only seem to talk about Gulbis. Typical media distortion.
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Years ago I was on the Gulbis bandwagon. The bandwagon crashed many, many times. He’s young though and can still right the ship but I can’t really watch that forehand. He was also serious, maybe 1.5 years ago, with a victory over Mardy Fish and then nothing.
He’s not as interesting or funny as Goran or Safin. Not even close. Even his racquet smashing is not in their league!
Steve · March 1, 2013 at 8:43 pm
Scoop, do you remember Sampras’ famous answer to “What’s the difference between you and Patrick Rafter?”
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2013 at 6:28 am
A lot of people jumped off the Goranwagon too but he came through eventually. Yes I do Steve, “About 12 grand slams.”
Mitch · March 2, 2013 at 4:06 pm
I don’t think his dad’s money should be invoked as often as it is, but the Gulbis family wealth is a different breed. Other players on the tour may come from money, but none have billionaire fathers. I’ve read that Gulbis’s dad is one of the richest guys in Latvia. Can you imagine what would happen if Bill Gates or Warren Buffett’s kids played pro tennis?
Dan Markowitz · March 2, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Regardless of wealth, Gulbis’ forehand is just too ungainly to compete against the big boys. What a contrast in talent this week with Dubai boasting Djok, Berd, Fed and Delpo in the semis and Delray hurrahing Gulbis, Isner, Haas and the wrong Roger Frenchman. Even in Mexico, they have Nadal and Ferrer in the finals.
There’s both a freshness and tired jaded worldliness to Gulbis that I find appealing. But there’s a reason other than his bank account that he’s had such an up-and-down career. He’s got weapons and he’s got a good tennis body, but he doesn’t do anything spectacularly.
Watching Djoko dismantle Berdy again today, the top guys are just so much better than the next 10 and on guys. It’s almost like women’s tennis in this way now. And frankly, how does Delray get a tournament anyway? I know it’s a nice place to have an event, but look at the semifinals today, the place is more than half-empty. In Dubai, they were hanging from the rafters.
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2013 at 6:39 pm
Let’s be fair here. Big money does not always create a top 50 ATP pro. There have been many examples of rich people trying to make their child a tennis star and it rarely happens. Gulbis is also a special talent and a very tough competitor with an iron will and a brave heart as he showed today beating Haas in a thriller. If Gulbis’ dad was a middleclass regular guy I still think Gulbis would have made it, he has the key qualities. It is not about money, it’s about heart desire talent toughness grace under pressure and self belief. Gulbis has got that. As he showed today.
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2013 at 6:43 pm
Gulbis is a fighter Dan, when he wants to he can battle, today was an example, so was the Querrey match, so was his beating of Federer in Rome. Delpo in LA. This guy can play when he really wants to. THey said the same thing about Fish’s forehand but it got him to top 10. They said Edberg had a faulty forehand, he got to #1. Gulbis has a big serve, can really drive the ball off both sides, and he showed amazing defense today, he can really move, I didn’t know he could move so well. I realy was impressed by his fighting spirit today. He toughed out an epic war with a very determined Haas. Haas whooped Isner in San Jose and has had a good season. Do not discount Gulbis’ chances to make top 10. Yes, that’s not a mistype!
Steve · March 2, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Scoop the match looked filled with errors. It seemed windy out in Delray today. Haas doesn’t usually spray that many balls long. I’ve compared Gulbis to Cilic before. I think can stay consistent he can be 11 in the world and maybe reach Cilic’s level. I think Haas would have won this match in normal conditions.
Scoop Malinowski · March 2, 2013 at 7:53 pm
Steve, Haas didn’t beat Gulbis at the US Open last year and barely squeaked by him 75 in the third the other time they played in 09. Gulbis is not intimidated by Haas and seems to like to play him despite being over 80 points behind him in the rankings. After his previous win vs. De Nava Gulbis flat out said he’d prefer to play Haas. The wind was rough today, it was tough here in Bradenton, we had a Cure for Cancer tourney at Bradenton CC and it was rough. Jimmy Arias said on TV it was the worst day so far wind wise in Delray and it was bad all week I was there. It seemed to let up a bit in the third set but it was really tricky in the first two sets. Gulbis toughed it out, with the bigger swings and higher toss on serve, Haas should have had the slight advantage. Gulbis was very impressive today, in several ways.
loreley · March 3, 2013 at 3:33 am
Give the guy a break, Dan.
Ernests played his 7th match in row. He had only a kind of rest because the match with Querrey was postponed to next day, because it rained.
About Dubai. It was empty there the whole week. Only when Federer or Djokovic played it was full. When Delpo played Brands less then 100 people were watching.
Dubai is a 500er tournament. You can’t compare it to Delray. Dubai gets all the stars because they give them big $$$. If Memphis would be able to do the same, some might play in US instead.
Acapulco had a stronger field, but the rest of the clay tournaments in South America was weak. Just check who Nadal had to beat.
Delray is doing a good job with their tournament. I like the relaxed audience. It wasn’t full yesterday when Gulbis played Haas, but there was a good atmosphere from 2nd set on. People cheered like crazy for their players against the end.
It was very windy. Haas & Gulbis played a good match under very windy conditions. Not many players are able to create so much excitement. Haas came better into the match, when Gulbis couldn’t generate that that much power anymore, but Ernets battled it out.
Dan Markowitz · March 3, 2013 at 6:30 am
I like Gulbis, I’m just being honest as I see it. The guy will never reach Top 10 and Top 20 is even hard for me to imagine. The reason? That forehand will be devoured by most players. Arias called it the “Spread Eagle.” And besides, until today, the two highest-ranked opponents that he’s beaten this year are Querrey and Nieminem, not quite a murderous row.
Why did he miss the Australian? He’s in shape, he’s making amazing comebacks this week, but he very easily could’ve been beat beaten in the last round of qualis.
Let’s see what Gulbis does in IW and Miami. I’m predicting no further than 2nd Round in either event.
NOW, what about Isner! What happened to him that he should lose to Roger-Vasselin, I can’t even spell this guy’s name. He’s like the 10th best Frenchman. This is what men’s American tennis has come to: the top American player loses to the No. 10 Frenchman in an American event!
Scoop Malinowski · March 3, 2013 at 8:28 am
Jarkko is having a good year actually. Dan I remember you saying the same thing about Fish and his forehand. Look where he ended up – top 10. I think Gulbis is the better player than Fish, by age 24 he’s already won two titles and has a win over Federer. Fish by age 24 I don’t think had those kinds of highpoints on his resume. If Gulbis keeps focused and driving like he is now, he can make top 10. Isner is missing something this year. He’s not dominating the lesser players like he did the last two years and he’s not knocking off the top stars like he did last year beating Fed and Djok. It’s possible Isner may have peaked last year and the other players feel they can handle his game and his serve. Isner needs a big win to restore his confidence and aura, he has not had a big win since beating Djok in the IW SF last year.
loreley · March 3, 2013 at 10:02 am
Ernests got ill at the end of the year with tonsillitis, he had to skip the last two Challengers. He said, he’ll have a longer off-season in order to prepare well for 2013 & that he’ll probably have to skip Australian Open.
When he began his season, he said he came faster in good shape as expected, but it was too late to get into Doha Qualifying. So he stuck to his first plan to start with a Challenger in Europe.
He had good matches against Delpo & Berdych this year. You should have seen how great he played. He killed Haase & Nieminen. I don’t see a problem for him, just because of his new forehand. He became a better defender too.
He blamed the wind for the problems he had yesterday against Haas.
loreley · March 3, 2013 at 10:11 am
Qualifying for IW starts on Tuesday. I’m not sure, if he can compete well there after the eight matches in a row in Delray. Actually I would like to see him taking a break & prepare for Qualifying for Miami.
loreley · March 3, 2013 at 10:20 am
In 2010 before Delray Beach final, Gulbis was asked who he prefers to play. Fish or Karlovic. He answered, Fish, because he is a normal player. He got Karlovic & literally killed him.
Dan Markowitz · March 3, 2013 at 1:43 pm
By all means, Lorely, if a guy makes the semis or finals of a preceding tournament, he should get a bye into the next event. All I’m saying with Gulbis is I’m not in love with his game. He doesn’t move great. He doesn’t play well in the front of the court and if your forehand is a liability, you’re in a lot of trouble. Beating Nieminem and Haase is not that big of a deal.
When push comes to shove, I think he’s a guy who will not get to that top level. But right now, he’s ranked No. 109, so he’s got a long way to go.
loreley · March 3, 2013 at 2:39 pm
He is back in top-100 again from Monday on. # 86 right now. Still a long way to go though.
It seems you watch him different than me & many others.
Scoop Malinowski · March 3, 2013 at 2:51 pm
Gulbis moves extremely well around the court.