Ernests set to return at Farmers Classic, Andis, Anastasija consistent

24 Jul 2010 2 Comments

by tennisfanlatvia in Anastasija Sevastova, Andis Juska, Ernests Gulbis, Futures Tournaments, Hernan Gumy, WTA Bad Gastein

 

Ernests Gulbis is all set to make his return to professional tennis at the Farmers Classic 250 event in Los Angeles, having prepared for the event by practising on hard courts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (His coach Hernan Gumy lives there, and has recently become a Father for the 2nd time.

As one of the top 5 entrants in LA 6 weeks ago, Ernests was going to be seeded there, the question was exactly how high? The plot thickened hours before the draw when top seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia withdrew for ‘unspecified personal reasons’. Also newly married Radek Stepanek pulled out shortly before the draw was made.

At that stage it looked certain that Ernests would be seeded high enough to receive a ‘bye’ into the 2nd round. However, the tournament was to receive a boost and an instant replacement for their original top-seed when Brit Andy Murray was offered and immediately accepted a wild-card invitation.

This meant that Ernests was allocated 5th seeding, and would not receive a bye into round 2. To put it in perspective though, that was where he would have been seeded anyway, in order of ranking at the time of entry, 6 weeks ago. Ernests needs the match practice and ultimately I don;t think its a bad thing for him to play from the ‘get-go’.

He has been drawn to face Lukas Lacko, an emerging young talent from Slovakia, 22 years old, he has reached quarter-finals in Chennai, Zagreb, Memphis and Halle on the ATP Tour this year, and is currently ranked 76. His best wins this year have come against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.  An all-court player, his game is still evolving, certainly he should not be taken lightly.

Should Ernests progress beyond the opener, he should face either Alejandro Falla of Colombia (the man who so nearly defeated Roger Federer in the very 1st round of Wimbledon) or another Slovakian Karol Beck. His projected seeded opponent in the last eight would be Andy Murray. Murray is playing his first event since Wimbledon.

As long as Ernests is physically 100% I think his results are of secondary importance right now. He doesn’t have many ranking points to defend over U.S. Summer Hard-court season (64).

Ernests will also once again team-up in doubles with Dmitry Tursunov, they won in Indianapolis last year(sadly now defunct – this weeks Atlanta tournament is its replacement). They also plan to play in Washington DC.

Andis Juska moved onto the next leg of the Futures Tour in Estonia’s capital Tallinn. Seeded 3 he defeated Vladimir Ivanov of Estonia, and then Jonas Luetjen of Germany in three sets. Sadly he could not take up his place in the quarter-finals against Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden, he withdrew from their contest without striking a ball, reasons were not specified.

In Bad Gastein in Austria, Anastasija Sevastova was seeded 8, she easily defeated Spanish qualifier Laura Pous-Tio 6-2 6-4, following that up with a win over Simona Halep of Romania who retired at a set all, and 0-5 down. Anastasija could not prevent Yvonne Meusberger of Austria from recording a straight sets win, going down 5-7 4-6.

Anastasija had an Austrian partner for the doubles competition, Sandra Klemenschits, they beat Renata Voracova and Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 7-5 7-6, before losing to top seeded Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova also of the Czech Republic.

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