Ernests Gulbis will go up against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the St. Petersburg final on Sunday. Gulbis is looking to go four for four in ATP title matches while Garcia-Lopez is bidding for his third winner’s trophy.
Ernests Gulbis and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they collide in the final of the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday afternoon. Both of their previous encounters have come on indoor hard courts, with the players splitting them at one win apiece. Gulbis rolled 6-0, 6-2 at this same St. Petersburg event in 2008 before Garcia-Lopez prevailed 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 two years later in the Bangkok quarterfinals.
Gulbis is once again serving up blowouts in St. Petersburg. Aside from a second-set walkabout in round two against Jurgen Zopp (he lost it 6-1), Gulbis has been in cruise-control mode this week. No other set has been closer than 6-3 in the 36th-ranked Latvian’s favor in wins over Zopp, Mikhail Elgin, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Michal Przysiezny. He is 31-15 for the season, which features a title in Delray Beach.
“I’m happy with my form this week,” said Gulbis. “I arrived here late from Davis Cup and to be honest I was quite tired when I got here. So I’ve tried to win my matches quickly and to lose as little energy as possible along the way.”
Garcia-Lopez has also dropped only set en route to the final. His scalps include Mikhail Biryukov, Mikhail Youzhny (in three), Denis Istomin, and Joao Sousa. The 74th-ranked Spaniard is an even 19-19 for the year, with recent results including a competitive U.S. Open first-round loss to Juan Martin Del Potro and a semifinal showing at a hard-court Challenger event last week in Turkey.
“Tomorrow is always special as a final,” Garcia-Lopez assured. “Gulbis has a good serve and on this surface it will be difficult to break him. I hope I can do it. It would be really nice to win another tournament.”
He has won two of them–Bangkok in 2010 preceded by Kitzbuhel on clay in 2009. Garcia-Lopez is 2-2 in ATP finals after finishing runner-up a few months ago in Bucharest. Gulbis is 3-0 lifetime in title matches (Delray Beach in ’10 and ’13, Los Angeles in ’11). Based on that history and the benefit of playing on a fast surface with his powerful serve and backhand, the sixth seed should have a slight edge.
Pick: Gulbis in 3
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Gulbis is on a tear this week. I can see GG-Lopez making it competitive but not taking it to three sets.
Gulbis in 2
GGL had 6-3, 4-1.
now going into a third set.
Come on GGL!
Bum, just checked the result 🙁
Oh well, the good news is Gulbis couldn’t get more arrogant so this result is unlikely to make any difference…..;)
Got that one wrong 🙁
^^^^^^Google NPD and tell me his personality isn’t a perfect match.
Lol ed., after googling and reading the first link….. I realised “National Democratic Party of Germany” wasn’t what you had in mind….;) Yes, agree NPD is a pretty good match.
Knew you would get there Deucy 😉
Good comeback from Gulbis. He will be happy with this result. This has been by and far away his most consistent season of tennis in his career.
well my pre-tournament picks were awful, but most of my match picks were on the money all week!
well let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t place my bets early based on your predictions 🙂
I’m glad Gulbis won 🙂
True, he’s an arrogant Brat but he plays good tennis and it’s funny to see his self-imploding style.
I’m glad you’re glad 🙂
But I’m glad I’m not a fan of his. Although there is always that sense of frisson wondering if and when he is going to self-destruct 😉
“The main key why I’m not yet a top player is the consistency. Everybody knows I can play well for a tournament or a match and then I go downhill. I just need to bring this consistency to bigger tournaments, especially Grand Slams. Then I believe I am a Top 20 player for sure, and not so far from Top 10.”
Talk about chutzpah. Breathtaking.