Ernests Gulbis has been the surprise of the European clay court season.
He has posted an impressive 11-4 clay court record this year, including his standout 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 second round win over Roger Federer in Rome. The Latvian went on to reach the semifinals in Italy, where he was one of two players to take a set from Rafael Nadal on clay this season and seriously challenged the “King of Clay” in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 loss. In Madrid, he challenged Federer again in the quarterfinals, falling 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Gulbis also reached the quarterfinals in Barcelona, losing to eventual champion Fernando Verdasco and lost to Stan Wawrinka in the second round of Monte Carlo.
Some are picking Gulbis to continue his run of great play at Roland Garros and perhaps make a run at a final four spot.
Harry Cicma, the host of the TV show “World Tennis with Harry Cicma” on New England Sports Network (NESN), recently had a chance to catch up with Gulbis in this feature from his show.
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3m11fLm-0Y[/pro-player]