Ernests Gulbis outlasts Tommy Haas in a third-set tiebreaker on Saturday in Delray Beach. Next up for Gulbis is a surprising title match against Edouard Roger Vasselin, who upset John Isner.
Ernests Gulbis and Edouard Roger-Vasselin sent the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds packing from the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on semifinal Saturday. After Gulbis survived second-seeded Tommy Haas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), Roger-Vasselin stunned top-seeded John Isner 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the nightcap.
Gulbis won his second third-set tiebreaker in the last three days, having previously upset Sam Querrey on Thursday. The Latvian fired seven aces, benefited from nine Haas double-faults, and he saved all five of the break points he faced in the deciding set to prevail after two hours and 14 minutes.
Gulbis got off to a fast start by breaking for a 3-2 lead in the first set, which he accomplished with a perfect backhand pass to end a prolonged rally. Haas, who looked dispirited and disinterested throughout the opener, dropped serve again at 3-5 and threw away the set with a netted backhand.
The 34-year-old German woke up for the second and it paid off with his first break of the day at 1-1. Gulbis double-faulted at deuce before some impressive defensive by Haas led to a botched overhead by the world No. 109 on break point. An insurance break at 4-2 proved to be necessary because Haas failed to close out the set one game later. On his next chance, however, the No. 2 seed made no mistake at 5-4 to force a decider.
Haas continued to have the upper hand throughout the third, but he could not get over the hump. The world No. 19 missed two break chances starting at 15-40 with Gulbis serving at 4-4. Haas took it one step further in his next return game, leading 0-40. Gulbis, though, won five points in a row–including one at 30-40 on an errant overhead by his opponent–for an improbable hold.
Appropriately, a final tiebreaker had to decide it. Although Gulbis was no means the better the player during the 12 previous games, he caught fire when it mattered most. The qualifier came up with an incredible defensive point for a mini-break at 1-1 and extended his lead to 4-1 on a backhand dropper. Gulbis took care of his two service points starting at 5-2, clinching victory on his first match point when Haas sent a forehand long.
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“I’m really happy that I won,” said the 2010 Delray Beach champion. “Maybe it wasn’t the best day to play tennis (because of the wind), but we showed a good fight. I fought until the last point.”
A tournament full of surprises saw an even bigger one when Roger-Vasselin defeated Isner after two hours and eight minutes. Playing in his first career ATP semifinal after five previous setbacks at the quarterfinal stage, Roger-Vasselin came out firing without any semblance of nerves. The Frenchman broke Isner in the very first game of the match with a perfect backhand passing shot. Roger-Vasselin never came close to giving it back, as he dropped a mere five service points in the entire opening set.
For a while it looked like the underdog was on his way to a surprisingly routine straight-set win. Roger-Vasselin earned another scalp of the Isner serve at 1-1 in the second with a backhand pass off the net cord, to which the No. 1 seed responded by blasting a ball out of the stadium. With the title match in sight, however, Roger-Vasselin got tight. The world No. 105 double-faulted on break point at 4-3 then donated serve for a second straight time by netting a backhand on set point at 4-5.
But a trend of back-and-forth matches this week in Delray Beach was not about to end. Roger-Vasselin recovered right away by breaking to begin the third, this time with a well-placed forehand approach shot. He made it stand up by saving four break points at 1-0, one more at 2-1 after Isner served five consecutive aces at 0-1, and he survived another deuce game at 3-2. Ultimately the set progressed in the exact same fashion as the first, with Roger-Vasselin consolidating the immediate break. An easy serving hold at 5-4 wrapped up the proceedings and polished off the upset in style.
Roger-Vasselin will contest his first ATP final on Sunday afternoon against Gulbis who is looking for his third ATP title and his second in Delray Beach.
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