Ernests Gulbis Upsets Roger Federer in Fourth Round of the French Open
The 17-time Grand Slam Champion was defeated by Gulbis in five sets
After ten straight years, 2014 will be the year when the second week of the French Open will be missing Roger Federer. The streak of stellar performances including taking the title here in 2009 was broken on Sunday night by unheralded player Ernests Gulbis from Latvia.
Ernests Gulbis def. Roger Federer (4), 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Ernests who? Ernests Gulbis. Remember that name. No it was not eight time French Open champion Rafael Nadal. It was not Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murray. It was in the hands of Ernests Gulbis, ranked 17th in the ATP tour.
Gulbis fought hard for his victory and secured the game only after five sets in front of a shocked Philippe Chatrier. The 17-time Grand Slam Champion has fallen and his results in recent months have shown chinks in his once invincible armour challenged only by the likes of Nadal.
Last year, Federer also bowed out shockingly early in Wimbledon in the second round. He was also taken out by Tommy Robredo in the US Open in the fourth round. Any defeat outside of the final match comes as an underachievement for Federer whose family used to only come to watch Grand Slams in the second week showing confidence that he will make it to the end.
Understandably though, he is only human and last year came with injury struggles and the poor performances were charged to that. It was this loss, when he felt fit, that weighed heavily on Federer.
"What's done is done. You can't always explain why you lost. I'm not happy. I missed too many opportunities. I did not play like I wanted to play. I had so many opportunities. A lot of regrets here now. But Gulbis did a good job of hanging around. It was big for me to win the first set tiebreaker. Clearly coming back in that second set was crucial for him. I should have put him under more pressure from the baseline, but I just couldn't figure it out for a long time. That's a disappointment. Maybe I lost focus in the fifth for just a second," said Federer in the post-match press conference.
Federer has just recently celebrated the birth of twin boys in addition to his five year old twin girls. He needed to pull out of the Madrid Masters last month in order to be with his wife Mirka, for the birth of the new additions to the family. There is no doubt that the former world no. 1 has had more than a few distractions.
"Mentally I have already switched to the grass. It's been an intense last few weeks. I'm looking forward to playing Halle and Wimbledon now. I do feel I can still win it. I'm very excited about my chances. Clearly first the focus is on Halle. It's nice going back to a place where I have to defend a title," added Federer.
The win did not come easily for Gulbis. He needed to struggle against Federer the entire time. The first set was won by Federer on a tie break and in the second, Federer was up 5-3 and Gulbis had to fight to save two set points until he managed to break back and get back in the game. At one point, Gulbis was so frustrated that he slammed his racket into the cay and proceeded to step on it repeatedly.
Gulbis was also struggling with a hamstring issue and needed to go on a medical time-out in the fourth set which fell before Federer's serve. It caused the Swiss champion to question the integrity of the move.
"They leave the court, go for treatment and then come back. You don't know what they were doing. So that's part of the game. But clearly you don't want anybody to abuse it. I hope that Ernests didn't," said Federer.
"My back and hamstring were getting a little tight. I am honest. I'm not big on medical timeouts. I don't like to take them, only if it's really necessary. Unfortunately it was before his serve. I just had to do it, or else I might have pulled a muscle," said Gulbis in an attempt to explain what happened.
The win against Federer was a big upset and a big milestone for Gulbis. He has now equalled his best appearance in the French Open which came six years ago in 2008. Federer meanwhile, has lost in the round of 16 or earlier in three out of the last four Grand Slams. Perhaps tides are changing and a passing of the torch is in order?
