Ernests Gulbis: ‘I Don’t Care About Money, I Don’t Care About Fame’

Loved it… Looooooooved it!

May 19th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

Oh btw, I’m first. Contador, I beat you! ha ha! :)

May 19th, 2010 at 12:34 pm

“I enjoy having a goal. When you reach a goal, it’s OK, but also an empty feeling. When I won my first ATP tournament this year, I was happy for maybe 10 minutes, and that was it. Then I had an empty feeling.”

That’s a great feeling to have if you’re an athlete. Once you feel “full” you’ll never truly try your best.

I guess this is what keeps Fed motivated after breaking most of the records.

May 19th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Gulbis – what a character! He’s good for the game, his glibness, and his talent. Maybe that “emptiness” will drive him to greater heights. Go Ernests!

“”I enjoy competing. I don’t like practising. When I’m on court and it’s a competition, I enjoy it. I enjoy having a goal. ”

He’s so honest.

His comment about “words mean[ing] nothing” were interesting – i.e., he’s not going to speculate on his tennis potential; he will talk about tennis after he’s accomplished something, or as he says “beat the top players.” He says he is like Safin in that they are both “not tennis freaks”. But yet they are both immensely talented.

I can’t wait to see what Gulbis achieves in tennis. It’s seems like it could be nothing. Or a lot.

May 19th, 2010 at 1:06 pm

You have a different perspective when you’re a trust fund baby. It must be nice. Enjoy it, Mr. Gulbis.

May 19th, 2010 at 1:40 pm

absolute moron. nothing to respect about this person.
fine there’s more to life than tennis etc.
but people that devote themselves to something, to try and achieve perfection to work their arses off, in the tennis world, people like nadal,federer, daydenko, even roddick etc. those are the inspirational people, the people who make you want to do the same in your life.

this guy is a clown, funny perhaps, but a joke. and his steam will run out soon enough and he’ll be back in no man’s land just as before.

May 19th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

well from his perspective he’s not in it to win money, he’s rich! trust fund baby as someone already alluded too. I enjoy watching his big hitting tennis game, he won del ray, florida earlier this year, that was the first time I saw him generally happy/ like the winning monkey was off his back- like he achieved something from hard work (maybe a first for him lol). He came close in Memphis but Querry got em that day’ I think gulbis actually probably has the right attitude if you think about it with his background and all. It isnt about the wealth or fame but i’m sure he still likes being known for something other than being rich. Its a gr8 sport, some people find motivation to play it in different ways from others; his is competition. I wish em the best!

May 19th, 2010 at 5:32 pm

Gulbis’ comments /actions may be cavalier at times, but I don’t see how that makes him a moron or a clown.

And he can’t help it if he was born into money and/or the results of that upbringing.

The point is, tennis-wise, he’s extremely talented and fun to watch. And now he seems to be finally digging in and trying to set himself some admirable goals. Moreover, his blunt and sometimes sardonic tone with the press is a nice change (imo) from the PR-filtered responses or the careful tip-toeing the players sometimes have to employ so as not to ruffle feathers. I like that he takes the press side less seriously, so long as he takes his work on the court more seriously, as he is presently doing.

Anyhow – agree with much of KillerC’s thoughts.

May 19th, 2010 at 5:45 pm

Sounds like a typical spoiled little rich brat. Gulbis may be talented but he makes a mockery of all the hard work put in by other players. He really is a clown. And I doubt he’s going to go very far with that attitude. Well I guess for him there’s always daddy’s money to fall back on.

May 19th, 2010 at 5:53 pm

guy:

What did you exactly mean when you said “nadal,federer, daydenko, even roddick etc.”? Are you for real? You stating ‘even roddick’ is what caught my attention. You sound just as Rodddick is some lesser guy than Davydenko or something! What has Davy done so far that you mention him almost in the same breath as Fed and Rafa, while putting Roddick below him? Well, Roddick has so far achieved things that Davy can only dream of, go figure. Mentioning Fed and Rafa before Roddick is one thing, but Davydenko! Is he more talented or more accomplished than Roddick that you used the expression ‘even Roddick’? Surprising.

May 19th, 2010 at 5:56 pm

Hi everyone,
Back from my trip to Europe and have a bad case of jetlag. We got caught up in the volcano ash problem and came home a day later with a re-routing to NYC and then on to Chicago. We tried to sleep in the airport but couldn’t so we were without sleep for 40 hours. Aside from that, the trip was great. The Serbia leg included the tennis tournament. I told my husband we should go to the earlier matches in case Novak loses but we went sightseeing instead. Nole, Nole what are we gonna do with you? Anyhow we did see him at the final. We had excellent seats and Novak was sitting with family a bit then headed upstairs to a patio table to eat and drink with Safin. We were more interested in that than the match as it didn’t matter to us which American won. Bought a few souvenirs while there, a Novak mug, t-shirt and cap. It’s a nice venue. Hope to post pics soon on my site. Got to meet up with Duro at the tourney and spent some time together. He is such a nice person; good personality, excellent English. We also took some tours around the city and outlying areas with a guide. Ate at some of the more famous restaurants in Belgrade, Tri Sesira, Dva Jelena and one called Vuk. Gained about ten pounds. Watched the JJ/Martinez final match on TV at Freska outdoor cafe. Watched a football game. We stayed at the Hotel Zira which was excellent. They offered free breakfast and dinners, free intl. calls, free internet, etc. We had never been to “eastern” Europe before and were pleasantly surprised. Then we started the second leg, Ireland. We chose that country because neither of us had ever been there before. We had some cold, damp weather but carried on. Here we had a car and I’m very glad my husband knows how to drive on the “wrong” side of the road. Hit the usual tourist sites with a hop-on hop-off bus in Dublin. We were eager to escape the city and drove to the rocks of Cashel, ring of Kerry, Doolin area, etc. Beautiful country. Heard the Irish language being spoken in the more remote areas. Listened to some good tradional music in Doolin. Not a bargain place like Belgrade but we expected it. All in all it was a great 2 1/2 weeks. After I get my bearings I will be online more.

May 19th, 2010 at 5:58 pm

By the way, I really liked Gulbis interview, may be I am starting to warm upto him a little bit. The guy’s very very talented, but I always disliked him coz of the fact that he never seemed serious about proving his. But right now he sounds positive and as if he’s willing to do something, that makes me so happy! He gave Rafa a real fun for his money in WIM 08, who can forget that! If Gulbis really starts focussing on tennis, then he would become a very good, if not great player. I am sure that proper dedication to his work is gonna pay him rich dividends. He has the abilty to go deep into the slams. But only time will tell.

Nonetheless, today Gulbis won some of my admiration.

May 19th, 2010 at 6:03 pm

Now a few people are already starting to sound as if they’re communists and Gulbis the naturally wicked capitalist. What’s the need for some to attack Gulby’s personality and use almost slanderous language? So sad! :(

May 19th, 2010 at 6:14 pm

huh I agree – it seems that Gulbis has realized that he needs to work hard to make his talent work for him, that it won’t come easily, and that really has shown in 2010 so far, with the win at Del Ray and the clay success in Rome and Madrid. I hope he keeps up the efforts!

May 19th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

Welcome back sar! Sounds like quite the odyssey and that you experienced two fun and very different cultures. Cool. Thanks for sharing with us, and I for one look forward to seeing you around more during the French Open.

May 19th, 2010 at 6:19 pm

Sar, wonderful to read your adventure. And thanks for sharing with us. everything just sounds like you had a blast except for that volcanic ash delays ofcourse.

Its a pity that you did not get to see your favorite novak win the tournament, I am sure that would have been the icing on the cake…

Well, now the big one roland garros is coming, can’t wait. lets hope Djoko is rested and fresh to go again. We need some great tennis.

May 19th, 2010 at 6:23 pm

love gulbis, love his personality and now even great he is starting to appreciate hard work. hope he continues to work hard, tennis needs somebody like him..Go Gulbis.

May 19th, 2010 at 6:33 pm

does any1 know how rich Gulbis is….? And wh@ business is his father in…?

May 19th, 2010 at 6:39 pm

Sar,

Nice read. Love Ireland, I’m Irish, but alas, don’t live there. Thanks for the interesting stories of your trip :)

May 19th, 2010 at 6:45 pm

Actually like what Gulbis brings to the game. The game sorely misses some fire, wackiness, some wildness to the game. Sometimes it gets to “Gentlemenly” and the boring normal fist pump stuff. Bring back some shenanigans! Shaaammooon!

Oh….and just so you know the kid has a monster game…:)

May 19th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

Too bad for Soda pop..3 back to back loses not good just before the grand slam. First grandslam of the year was really bad, needs to do well at RG..c’mon Soda… You can do it.

May 19th, 2010 at 6:55 pm

Naderer, nobody knows how rich Gulbis his. Even Gulbis himself has no idea how rich his dad is!

Gulbis: “I don’t know if (my father) is very, very, very rich. Yes, he is very wealthy but I have no idea how much money he has.”

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/SPORTS/Tennis/Top-Stories/Rich-kid-Gulbis-eases-towards-big-time/articleshow/5882276.cms

May 19th, 2010 at 7:00 pm

lol, he is a funny guy gulbis. everytime i read quotes from him, they are just classic.

well, if he does not know how rich his dad is, at least his dad is giving him enough not to care about chasing money in his life.

May 19th, 2010 at 7:14 pm

@Ezorra,

Re: Gulbis quote

That means “he has so much money ( VIA Dad ) that he doesn’t have to worry” which equals.. A LOT, lol…….I think you answered Naderer ( cool name )

Talented and already rich? Has is voice lowered yet? Whoa! :)

May 19th, 2010 at 7:23 pm

just saw the other day that Nalbandian will not play at RG..how unlucky this guy is. He just got injured at the AO, he had to pull out..and now RG. hope he is good for wimbledon. Always enjoy watching nalbandian..he was slowly starting to play well too. :(

May 19th, 2010 at 7:59 pm

Huh:

“What did you exactly mean when you said “nadal,federer, daydenko, even roddick etc.”? Are you for real? You stating ‘even roddick’ is what caught my attention. You sound just as Rodddick is some lesser guy than Davydenko or something!”

Bravo for you! I saw that earlier on but didn’t comment — you know lone Roddick fan, not wanting to be the squeaky wheel and/or in the mood to be scolded, but *even* the writers, or more specifically, especially the writers, on this blog site find it necessary to add the *even* when talking about Roddick, as though he’s some kind of *also ran* in the thoroughbred field. Don’t you know that Roddick is the Rodney Dangerfield of the tennis media — I get no respect. LOL.

As of this writing, Roddick is only about 1,800 points away from the No. 3 player, so anything could happen. What a pity he got sick and couldn’t play Madrid.m All he needs is a good run, and he’s back in the top 4, where he rightfully belongs IMO. So *even* roddick can be in the top 4. I wonder how the *even Roddick* crowd would like them apples?

May 19th, 2010 at 8:13 pm

Gulbis is good, but I think at Roland Garros “the pressure” will get him. He’s not immune to it, no one is and he has “played well” but 3 out of 5?

No one wins a slam until they win it. I don’t see Gulbis winning Roland Garros.

May 19th, 2010 at 8:32 pm

Poor David Ferrer. He may go down as “the Spaniard that should have won Roland Garros once.” My advice to Spaniards: enjoy other kinds of courts. The armada is as strong as ever, and JC Ferrero, Verdasco, Ferrer, Moya, Nadal, Flopez and TRobedo have shown that they are not allergic off the clay.

May 19th, 2010 at 8:35 pm

with respect to Gulbis, I guess I’ll be the odd one out and say I don’t like his supposed candor about his dad’s money. I don’t believe him when he states that he’s unaware of his father’s wealth, as that kind of information is globally published, and I’m sure it’s public knowledge in his country as being p;art of public records. Everyone who reads Fortune 500 has a fair idea of how rich the wealthy are in terms of dollars. It appears to me he’s just trying to convey to the tennis media that he’s not at all influenced by his father’s money and is the same as all the guys, or one of the guys, and would like to be known as his own person instead of dad’s rich little boy. And, only he knows if he’s being honest about this or not, none of us can say for sure.

The part about being in jail definitely makes him sound like a clown. More power to him if that’s how he feels about that scenario, but there again his dad’s money can offset the blemish on his character.

__________________
skeezer: Yes, tennis needs some fire and bad boy behaviour, but when it’s done by some players just look at how much they are criticized for so doing, viz., the fiery American who’s ridiculed for not rolling over and playing dead. It’s a catch 22 situation.

May 19th, 2010 at 8:35 pm

Poor Nalbandian must be hitting his head against the wall knowing that he’s the #2 in Argentine tennis behind Delpo and that he’s slamless. He probably will be upset if he doesnt win a big one by the end of his career.

May 19th, 2010 at 8:36 pm

Well clearly no matter how much he wants to project the lazy playboy image/attitude Gulbis has worked very hard to be as good as he is. It’s not as if he just picked up a tennis racquet and decided to play, then went out and beat Federer.

So take his carefree self-representation with a grain of salt, guys.

May 19th, 2010 at 11:51 pm

@Andrew Miller, May 19th, 2010 at 8:32 pm

no one says gulbis will win french open in near future.. but he can very well win other slams.. if he keeps this form, starting with us open, he will be a legitimate contender..

May 20th, 2010 at 12:37 am

I like Gulbis. He is very honest and I respect that. He has one more fan, that’s for sure. Go, Gulbis! Don’t ever change, tennis needs players like you! :)

sar, I’m soo glad that you had a great time in Belgrade! It is normal that you gained 10 pounds. ;) Everytime I go home, same thing happens to me. ;) You chose very good restaurants. Parents of my sister’s boyfriend work in “Vuk”. It is a very very nice place. :) Thanks for sharing the story cause Duro didn’t want to say anything except it was very nice. :P Hope to see you more often here from now on.

About Nole..ahh. :( I read on his official site that his appearance in French Open is, allegedly, still not sure. One of the fans said that he watched on German TV interview with Gebhard Phil-Gritsch and he says that Novak will do his best to be at FO, but allergies are still giving him hard time so he can’t breathe at night etc… :( Oh, I hope this is not true. We’ll see tomorrow. Go, Nole!

May 20th, 2010 at 1:59 am

Naderer,

Gublis’s father is in media, the film industry.

Sar,

so lovely to hear of your adventure! intrepid traveller that you are! And how wonderful to actually meet each other (you and duro), that must have been strange and awesome at the same time –

I am still holding ollyk to meeting up in dubai next summer! (you hear me Ollyk!!!!).

and jane and Margot and contador on our girlie weekend to Miami for next year! go girls!!!!

French Open nearly here….

May 20th, 2010 at 6:00 am

maxi, next summer? you won’t be here during Dubai Open in February? :)
Btw, have you seen this pic? :)

http://www.rolandgarros.com/fr_FR/news/photos/2010-05-19/201005191274278263423.html?glryid=2010-05-19/201005191274263098566

May 20th, 2010 at 6:11 am

Other players have a wealthy background as well.

I wish Gulbis that he can enjoy his life on tour. So many guys came into Top 10 and faded away. James Blake comes to my mind.

It also must be depressing to work hard and it’s still not enough. Look at Andy Murray.

Gulbis doesn’t want to become a marionette of the business. I can’t blame him. He is a great player to watch and we should be happy to have him around and not judge him for being honest. Sometimes I have to think about Agassi. I am sure he would agree with Gulbis.

May 20th, 2010 at 6:52 am

Tom- many thanks!

everyone knows- i am an EG fan, win or lose. on his roller csoaster for 2 years even when last year it appeared he might go nowhere with his tennis. but.. i love this gulbis classic,

“I woke up one morning with a hangover, I clicked my fingers, and decided, ‘right, now I go for it.’”

to those who think he is a moron, the above is a joke, hello? even though you may literally think that’s what he did. he’s not being a clown, he’s having fun with the media. why go into some boring detail at this point about what seriously happened inside his head to motivate him and hire Gumy, when he can make light of what happened instead and have some fun with us. in essence, he calls his own shots when asked a question. to me, aside from his wit, a couple other things about Gulbis make him great:

1) his incredible natural talent (* watch his serve* oo-lala* ) and watch the final from del ray. erno picked apart karlovic’s serve with an uncanny ability to anticipate and react. imo gulbis is so under rated as a returner. that charisma and stage presence are also natural gifts and top players have ‘it.’ federer, nadal, djokovic…

2) he arrived on the scene with delpo and cilic. they worked hard and emotionally matured faster. EG was obviously out of shape last summer. Perhaps he got a clue after losing miserably to murray at wimbledon and the us open and everywhere else and decided that if he was going to do anything with his ability to be reach the top ten and win a slam he sums, “right now, i go for it.” : D

that’s right, erno! he turned 21, during or right after the US Open and obviously started working hard. every week this spring he moved up the rankings and it paid off and proved that he could do it. he has to be feeling the confidence he needs to confirm what he already knows ( me too ) about his ability to win. motivation for keeping up the hard work, maybe.

i hope so. and agree with x-ray about how great he is to watch and likewise think i’ll appreciate him while i can. he’s enormously entertaining and a refreshing change from the boring rehearsed interviews. i love his glib style with the press and the way he laughs at himself and shares his inner musings about how he missed a smash, got mad at himself on court, tossed a racquet, cursed himself and then let’s us inside his head, “i’m thinking i should quit tennis,” post f-lo match in rome, or “so many rallies, it’s too much for me” after beating montanes in madrid…hahahaa “we were going rallies, i was up a set, up a break 4-1….” not remembering the rest of the exact quote but calls it straight up explaining that montanes was trying to break his rhythm, which is what i thought too, since nothing at all was wrong with how montanes was moving. then, as natural and honest as he explains montanes calling a MTO, ernie compliments montanes tennis by sincerely saying the spaniard will be tough to beat at the FO! great stuff.

GO GULBIS! or….whatever makes him happy. he certainly doesn’t need to play to get endorsements or to please anyone. however, his tennis and natural talent does make him exciting and pleases me a lot!

EG plays well on any surface, which says lots about his ability to adjust his game, naturally and intentionally. i remember some predicting he would not do well playing hc outdoors but he won the tournament in the wind and rainy conditions delay in del ray. and, remember: federer , ultimate tennis watcher and ‘tennis freak,’ is the one who says gulbis has one of the fastest 2nd serves in the game and it works best on hc. go ernie!

having such a great clay season, it’s easy to forget how well he plays on hc and i think grass too this year. he gave nadal trouble at wimbledon in 2008? wasn’t it? that’s scary. nadal was at 100%, wimbles 2008. erno was 19.

May 20th, 2010 at 10:46 am

I respect him a lot for his comments. Remember, tennis is his job…and god knows I wouldn’t want my life to be ALL about my job. I’m sure he’s enjoying it or I expect he wouldn’t be doing it. When it all comes down to it…it’s just a tennis match, win or lose it is really insignificant.

May 20th, 2010 at 11:12 am

Federer sounds always like a Gulbis Fan, when he talks about Ernests.

May 20th, 2010 at 11:43 am

Ainars Gulbis (Ernests’ father) made his wealth from a consortium of companies in Latvia that are involved in various energy related ventures, including building of pipelines, exportation, management of port facilities and transport. He is also invested in IT component supply business with contracts to Siemens and IBM. I haven’t seen anything indicating he’s a media mogul, although I know his wife (Ernests’ mother) is an actress, so it may not be out the realm, so to speak.

The exact extent of his wealth is not publicly known.

May 20th, 2010 at 12:04 pm

Ollyk,

here is a link i found this afternoon, slightly different to yours, roger and novak practising together!

Also for sar and duro. I’ll post on the federer thread as some pics of roger just practising – and they videolink is really, really clear – looks like fed is running around the court but having fun and being a lil silly. nice.

http://www.menstennisblog.info/2010/05/roger-federer-to-play-guinot-mary-cohr.html

May 20th, 2010 at 12:10 pm

@madmax,May 20th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
he had rather too much fun. he lost a set to scheuttler..

May 20th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

Thanks Madmax. Excellent news that these two are ok together.

May 20th, 2010 at 1:17 pm

Yes, thanks for posting that link. It’s good to see Nole back on the tennis court; fingers crossed that he can have a decent run at the F.O. this season. I haven’t a clue what to expect at this point!

May 20th, 2010 at 1:20 pm

I don’t think Federer is actually practicing with Djokovic, only that they are shaking hands on the court – they could be exchanging pleasantries as one enters and one exits.

I only point this out because in the videos they appear to be hitting with other partners.

May 20th, 2010 at 1:24 pm

I always wonder whether people who call others morons are geniuses.

May 20th, 2010 at 1:37 pm

its all abt da game Says:
@madmax,May 20th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
he had rather too much fun. he lost a set to scheuttler..

May 20th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
It’s all… (your name is tooooo long!). I know, but it was an exhibition and do you honestly think that Federer is not going to want to be practising stuff and have the opportunity to really enjoy himself?

I wish there was a link to the exho, will keep searching. someone must have youtube out by now!

Sar and Jane.

you are welcome. I love the picture where they are “almost” holding hands. It’s so nice. We rarely see pictures like this, so when they are caught unguarded, just makes it special.

MMT, they were on the same practise courts and they were “together”. That’s good enough for me.

C’moon Federer!

May 20th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

@madmax
you can call me game.. i’m new around here :)
well fed was actually too casual..
i did not see the match as i thought it was after murray fish match, but by the time i tuned in, this match was over..
really i thought, he would finish off scheuttler in 2 easy sets.
scheuttler is no clay court expert but the match was quite tight.
the reason was he was way too casual (can’t think of any other reason)
and really he should be a bit more serious if he has to defend fo.
but maybe i’m reading too much into this.

May 20th, 2010 at 2:22 pm

maxi, thx for the link. Great to see Nole practicing..

May 20th, 2010 at 2:43 pm

great picture of Nole and federer. i saw it this morining and thought it was a good gesture from federer whatever they were saying to each other. loved it.

May 20th, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Gulbis: Safin, 2010?

May 20th, 2010 at 9:02 pm

Draw on Friday
The draw ceremony for the 2010 French Open men’s and women’s singles will take place on Friday 21 May at 11.30 am at the French Tennis Federation museum. It will be ladies first, with the unseeded players allotted slots in the draw electronically before reigning men’s champion Roger Federer draws the 32 women’s seeds by hand. The men’s singles draw will follow immediately afterwards, with 2009 women’s champion Svetlana Kuznetsova doing the honours with the 32 men’s seeds. Follow the draw live on rolandgarros.com

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2010-05-19/201005191274294469154.html

May 20th, 2010 at 9:32 pm

can’t post the link for some reason, so i will post what they say about the RG draw ceremony.

“”Draw on Friday
The draw ceremony for the 2010 French Open men’s and women’s singles will take place on Friday 21 May at 11.30 am at the French Tennis Federation museum. It will be ladies first, with the unseeded players allotted slots in the draw electronically before reigning men’s champion Roger Federer draws the 32 women’s seeds by hand. The men’s singles draw will follow immediately afterwards, with 2009 women’s champion Svetlana Kuznetsova doing the honours with the 32 men’s seeds. Follow the draw live on rolandgarros.com””

May 20th, 2010 at 9:34 pm

Super nice photo of Fed-Nole. :) :D

Sorry Mirka, but Fed-Ivanovic photo looks stunning!

However, I am surprised to not find any Rafa photo on RG official site. Seems the French don’t like Rafa at all, unfortunately. :(

May 21st, 2010 at 4:38 am

In the interest of equality following request that Hingis/Kornakova skip the tennis and pose for Playboy….

Can someone please introduce Gulbis to Dolgopolov and beg them to play doubles (soon and often and on every possible surface). Now that would be a Playgirl layout any red-blooded American girl would pay good money to see.

Regarding alleged Gulbis prostitution charge in Sweden, I’d do him for a dollar and give him change back…. Just sayin!

May 21st, 2010 at 6:17 am

“However, I am surprised to not find any Rafa photo on RG official site. Seems the French don’t like Rafa at all, unfortunately. :(”

C’mon huh. There was photo of rafa walking in to the center court yesterday and this morning he looked like drawing the names for the draw…i thought federer and kutzy doing it. Anyways, my point is rafa is in the photos big time.

May 21st, 2010 at 7:05 am

The FO draw is out. I’m sure staff will be coming out with a preview shortly.

May 21st, 2010 at 9:01 am

After a quick glance at the draw:

In Fed’s quarter: Tipsarevic, F-Lo, Wawrinka, Gael Monfils, Cilic, Gulbis, Montanes and Soda. Verdict: Very tough draw. Montanes and Gulbis just beat Fed recently, and Gael, Marin and Soda are no slouches either.

In Murray’s quarter: Matheiu, Baghdatis, Isner, Berdych, Youzhny, Robredo, Troicki, Kubot, Tsonga. Verdict: The way I see it, only Tsonga can do some damage to Murray’s chances, but they would only meet in the quarters.

In Djoko’s quarter: Roddick, Monaco, Malisse, Ferrer, Ferrero, Querry, Korolev. Verdict: With the exception of Ferrer, pretty easy draw. Nole should be alive at the semis.

In Rafa’s quarter: Verdasco, Seppi, Kohlschreiber, Almagro, Gonzalez, Lubicic, Fish, Bellucci, Hewitt, Chardy, Becker. Verdict: No draw is tough for Rafa on clay. Verdasco, Almagro and Gonzalez can play on the dirt, but they can’t play Rafa. Smooth sailing all the way to the semis.

May 21st, 2010 at 9:14 am

Just one more thing I wanna add. Despite Fed’s tough draw, I don’t think anyone in his quarter can take three sets off of him. Fed’s just too sharp at the slams or that. He might have the occasional bad serving day or mid-set rough patches, but that won’t be enough to take him out. He should be through to his 24th straight semi.

May 21st, 2010 at 9:33 am

“Smooth sailing all the way to the semis.”

Only to the semis???!!! Nadal should breeze through the draw to win his 5th title. The question is how many sets or games he is going to lose on his way. I doubt he has ever been in better form on the surface. To me,he looks like an even more improved player than he was in 2008. He seems to have even more options now especially with respect to his offensive game. He is flattening out his shots a lot more and is finishing the points much more quickly. With the amount of match play he has had, his confidence is sky-high and he appears unstoppable

May 21st, 2010 at 9:34 am

Kimo, think possibly Berdych could challenge Murray? He does have the girlfriend to cry over. Grow a pair, n’est ce pas?

May 21st, 2010 at 10:09 am