Rafael Nadal completed his emphatic march through the Wimbledon first week when he trounced Alex De Minaur on Saturday. A more surprising third-round development saw a resurgent Ernests Gulbis upset Alexander Zverev in five sets.
(2) Rafael Nadal def. Alex De Minaur 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal put on his best performance of the tournament so far with an emphatic win over Australian youngster Alex De Minaur. The Spaniard, who hasn’t lost a set in the Championships, won all six points he played at the net, staved off each of the the three break points against him, and secured five breaks of De Minaur’s serve en route to victory.
The hot, relatively dry weather has made for court conditions that favor Nadal’s game as he heads into the second week. The win over De Minaur secures Nadal’s position as the No. 1 player in the world, since he at least equals last year’s fourth-round showing.
Nadal will meet world No. 93 Jiri Vesely on Monday in the fourth round.
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Ernests Gulbis def. (4) Alexander Zverev 7-6(2), 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis ousted No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in a see-saw of a third round match at Wimbledon on Saturday. After snagging the first set in a tiebreaker, things seemed to go Zverev’s way. The No. 4 seed from Germany was down a break in the third–Gulbis ever served for the set at 5-3, but Zverev broke back, then broke again to take a two sets to one lead.
Uncharacteristically, Gulbis–who has sometimes been known for collapsing mentally in matches–kept his composure. He secured a single break of serve in the fourth set and then rolled through the fifth, serving Zverev with a bagel to close out the match.
Gulbis will take on Kei Nishikori in the round of 16.
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I’m very happy for Gulbis, and I’m not surprised at all that he won against Zverev who still hasn’t figured out the slams, and Gulbis certainly doesn’t lack talent compared to Zverev and can play very well on grass. He had a tough few seasons because of injuries. But things seem to go his way a bit more lately. He made it through the qualies in Paris and then won the first round. He made it through the qualies again in Wimby and then managed to win three five setters in a row. Respect! He will be a tough opponent for Nishi.
OOP for Monday, July 9:
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/schedule/pdf/schedulePDF15.pdf
Gulbis! i thought that he was dead and buried long ago, but I guess there will be one more tale from the crypt!
Solid pick of Gulbis for the upset yesterday, Scoot. I agree. I imagined we would hear no more from him. He came through qualies, so that could mean that he’s ready to work. A hardworking Gulbis could be VERY interesting.
he picked Gulbis?!?!
Yup
I knew Gulbis would beat Zverev. Never in doubt.
Theres no subtlety in Zverevs game, he got a grass lesson.