His 2nd round match vs Colombian Alejandro Falla, was also  full of twists and turns,luckily they were of the right variety physically at least,his footing and footwork were reasonable, no untimely slips Ernests went out to a 3-0 lead in final set,then he began to tire,throwing in dropshots at totally inappropriate moments to conserve energy, and totally lost his focus and his way, yet fought back to 5-5, and onto the tie-break losing it 10-8.

Throughout the match, Ernests seemed bothered by the crowd, who seemed pro Falla, though there was a sizeable Colombian contingent cheering Falla’s every winning point. Unfortunately though, Ernests also had several outbursts of temper,taking his frustration angrily out on his racket twice ,and was warned by Umpire Fergus Murphy of Ireland. He was docked a point penalty for the 2nd racket breaking offence. Ernests also threw his racket into the net, and banged it right under the nose of Umpire Murphy but no further action was taken.

Ernests enjoyed some doubles success with ‘Dima’( Dmitry) Tursunov of Russia, saving matchpoints in his 1st round over Rettenmaier and (Santiago) Gonzalez an American/Mexican combination, running out 11-9 winners in final champions tie-break.

A few hours after going out to Falla, Ernests and Dima played the Bryan brothers, and finished with a very respectable scoreline, Ernests played the better of their partnership, and there were plenty of smiles from him. The scoreline was 7-5 6-3 to the Bryans.

Ernests had his usual quips and one liners for the press after his defeat by Falla. Here’s the best of them

Q: What was your mind saying to you on court in the third set?

EG: Don’t die on court. I was so tired. I didn’t feel so tired, never. I think it’s because of the big break I had between matches. First round was also physical but this one was a joke. Like since the third set I got early break but still I was exhausted. It was really tough for me to go all the way.

Q: Is that why you trying to do a lot of drop shots?

EG: Yeah. Because I really physically couldn’t run anymore. I was trying to but I wanted to make the points shorter and I couldn’t make any winners today from any side on the court so basically nothing worked today. I was just running like I don’t know Spanish clay court players staying around on the baseline. Pushing the ball back. Women’s tennis.

Q: Would you say it’s more mental or physical or both?

EG: (pause) I don’t know. Mental physical everything. I didn’t play for two months. If you don’t do something for two months it is really tough. If you don’t fish for tough months then maybe you forget how to fish. Tennis is same way.

Q: On court you played pretty well in your first match so this must be disappointing.

EG: I didn’t play well in first match. I played well in clay court season. In first match also I was not attacking I didn’t play attacking tennis at all. I was falling back on my forehand. So I need to fix that. I play doubles here and play doubles in Washington to get a couple matches to stay on court. Doesn’t matter if I win or lose. Of course I’m upset that I lost but I’m not so upset because it’s first tournament and it’s normal. Coach told me it’s going to be tough first round doesn’t matter. I have to be ready for bigger tournaments Toronto, Cincinnati, U.S. Open.

Q: Are there any positives you can take out this week?

EG: Positive is that I played more than two hours in a match and sweat a little bit also when you practice you cannot lose your weight so fast and when I play I lose a couple of kilos, not much maybe three kilos but it affects your body. But when you practice you cannot. Think I lost maybe half a kilo today so that’s positive.

Q: Surviving all those match points was that also a positive?

EG: Yeah it was really surviving. It wasn’t winning  but it was surviving. What can I say I lost today. Not a positive but there is doubles tonight.

Q: Gulbis when you were given the point penalty for tossing the racquet did it surprise you at all?

EG: No it didn’t surprise me because his only fun in life is to give someone warnings.
This referee his only purpose in life is to give somebody warnings. He is like a police officer when they see a car they stop it and they have so much fun to give you a ticket. In Latvia, I stop where you cannot stop and they have a smile on their face as they give me a ticket, ha. Same with this guy. Whatever I would do I would get a warning. Even before the match I knew so.

Q: Were you concerned about getting another penalty in the tiebreaker?

EG: He wouldn’t do that cause if he did that it would be pretty bad. Come on. People pay money to come to see tiebreak. And then one guy comes and does that. People enjoy it. Come on. Seven six in the third. Doesn’t matter what kind of tennis. They paid money to see the tennis it wasn’t best tennis but it was a good fight. I broke racquets but still I think they booed me but honestly they enjoyed it. People have emotions and everything is positive in that and if you disqualify me in the tiebreaker he would be really stupid.

Q: Do you know if there’s a rule about if you throw your racquet on match point?

EG: There is no rule there is just there is a rule…actually I don’t know the rules. (audience laughter) No. No. One thing I know if you break a racquet and then you change it immediately without not playing one more point. That’s a warning. But if you throw a racquet that is for the umpire to decide.

Q: We lost count. How many did you break?

EG: Just two. (audience laughter)

Q: Seems like you were getting upset with some people in the stands or something else. Was something else bothering you besides you weren’t playing well?

EG: No. I was not upset but I don’t understand why people have to talk or scream during a service or before service. They have to understand they paid the money to come out and enjoy tennis. But they also have to understand that this is our job we get money for it. It like us going to work. And I’m not going to their work and not when they are writing on their computer or whatever and I’m not screaming in their ear something to distract them (audience laughter). Not that’s there has to be balance. Of course emotions and everything but come on. When I throw the ball up and somebody behind me does like some stupid sound like (burr) or something, of course I get upset because I hear it. If it’s more people you don’t notice it because it’s too many sounds. You hear every single things and moving so sometimes it’s distracting.

Q: You said before you don’t like to spend too much practicing. Is it because you’re having too much fun with your life right now?

EG: Yeah big big fun. I go now to hotel to lay down and then come back here for doubles and then I go back to sleep and then come back out for more practice. Most fun. When you are in tournaments there is no fun. It’s just day by day practice. Of course I don’t enjoy spending time playing practice with my coach because I like competing. More matches I can compete better. For example I was in Buenos Aires training for two weeks and then it was really tough for me because I was really anxious to come here because I cannot spend a lot of time without matches.

Q: How do you deal with fans playing Davis Cup when on the road because they can get more rowdy than in a regular match?

EG: (pause) I get pissed. I break racquets. (mild laughter)

Ernests appointed Michal Novotny to work with him as his full-time physical trainer, he resigned his post with the ATP to begin working with Ernests from this weeks event in Washington, as 9th seed Ernests received a bye, he starts the tournament today against Ilya Marchenko of Ukraine.

Andis and Deniss finished runners-up in Tampere Challenger, losing out to the events No 2 seeds. Andis has reached his career best doubles ranking of 158! Deniss is now ranked 267 in doubles.

Deniss, Mikelis Libietis, and Arturs Kazijevs are competing in Lithuania F1 this week, Arturs in singles and doubles, Mikelis in doubles competition, Deniss returns to singles action in addition to partnering Mikhail Vasiliev of Russia in the doubles event. Artus lost in singles,winning only 4 games against Johan Backstrom of Sweden, Deniss began his singles campaign with a great win over 5th seeded Belgian Alexandre Folie, dropping only 7 games!!

Karlis Lejnieks returned to singles action this week in U.S.A.Futures21 in Illinois as 3rd seed but lost in straight sets to Abraham Souza an American wild-card.

Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan created yet more history in Hamburg yesterday, clinching his first ever Tour title, and the first title ever won by a male player representing that country. He celebrated his 23rd birthday earlier in the week, by defeating the top seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in the 3rd round, his first top 10 win!!  There was no stopping Andrey, he marched on through the draw, toppling friend Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, local surprise of the week the unorthodox Florian Mayer, and finally 3rd seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer, in straight sets 6-3 7-5. 500 ranking points were accumulated by Andrey, he broke into the top 40, having begun Hamburg ranked 82.

In Atlanta, Mardy Fish continues to reap the rewards for a recent tough regime, losing weight in order to gain better fitness and ease the pressure on previous injuries. He won his 2nd title in a row by defeating fellow Americans Taylor Dent, Andy Roddick, and in the title match John Isner.

The heat in Georgia was brutal, on court temperatures in the semi-finals reached over 60c!! Thankfully the temperature didn’t stay at that level through the whole match, unbearably difficult for the players to be out there in such conditions. Alas the heat returned for the final, somehow the players coped, Mardy outlasted Isner 4-6 6-4 7-6(4). Mardy collects a further 250 ranking points and is back in the top 35.

On the womens tour Julia Goerges of Germany clinched her 1st Tour level title in Bad Gastein Austria. She had to work doubly hard  on finals day she had to complete her semi-final against French opposition in Alize Cornet, triumphing 6-1 6-4, and repeating that score in the final over Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.

Julia had previously reached four semi-final stages on the main tour. In clinching her 1st tour title, she advanced 23 places in the WTA Tour rankings to 42, and earned a winners cheque for $37,000.

The WTA event in Potoroz, Slovenia saw a welcome return to form for Anna Chakvetadze of Russia. These days Anna has to compete unseeded, as her ranking had plummeted to outside the top 100, she was almost the last direct acceptance(the cut off was 122).

Anna toughed it out particularly in her quarter-final and semi-final matches dropping the 1st set both occasions, to beat seeded opposition in fellow Russian Vera Dushevina(6) and Slovenian Polona Hercog, recovering from a 0-6 opening set loss!!

The Final was a much easier affair, facing Swede Johanna Larsson who was appearing in her very first WTA Tour final. Chakvetadze overwhelmed her opponent 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour, winning her first title in almost 2 and a half years, her reward for winning is a comfortable place inside the worlds top 100(74).

This weeks tournaments on the WTA Tour take place in Stanford, California, part of the U.S. Open Series, top seed is Australian Samantha Stosur, Elena Dementieva returns to competitive action in this event, she is the 2nd seed. There is also a tour stop in Istanbul. French Open champion Francesca Schiavone is the leading seed there, Wimbledon semi-finalist Petra Kvitova is the leading seed in the bottom half of the draw.

On the ATP Tour main draw action began in Gstaad yesterday(Sunday). There were wins in the opening round for Igor Andreev of Russia, a former finalist in the event,he is making his return to action this week. He advanced in 3 sets over Frenchman Florent Serra, 4th seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes had an even tighter 3 setter against countryman Pere Riba, 4-6 6-3 7-6(5). The event is headed by two top 20 players Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, and Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Umag in Croatia is the 2nd clay court event taking place this week, it features three of the worlds top 20, top seed Davydenko, 2nd seed Hamburg runner-up Jurgen Melzer and home hope Ivan Ljubicic.

The U.S. Open Series events continue in Los Angeles. The entrants are headed by Andy Murray of Great Britain, the top 4 seeds all receive byes into round 2.

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.

She has improved dramatically this year reaching Grand Slam quarter-finals at Wimbledon. It’s a great tribute to her that she was able to readjust to clay so quickly. She played a great match, always in control, winning 6-4 6-3.

Agnes Szavay of Hungary won her 2nd singles title in as many weeks, winning the final WTA Prague Open(next year it will be a combined ATP/ITF(International Tennis Federation) Challenger for men and women.

Local heros qualified for 2 finals on WTA circuit, but sadly Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova faired no better in front of partisan crowd in Prague, though she valiantly forced the final to 3 sets after a poor start. The weather had been blazing hot for the vast majority of the week, conditions were more comfortable for the players come finals day. Barbora made a nervous start, dropping serve at the beginning of the match. Barbora is an interesting player to watch, she has versatility in her game, she uses angles, drop shots and breaks up rallies with competent volleying. She also is never afraid to vent her feelings, always reacting facially, and often screams, shouts in a stream of Czech, and sometimes will take her frustration out on her racquet!!!

Agnes is a much calmer personality, preferring to laugh off mishaps. It showed in key points in the deciding set of their match. Barbora should have been in the ascendancy going into the 3rd set, having fought back so well, but her fragile temperament let her down, along with an ill chosen drop shot at the beginning of the decider!! Although she continued to display fighting qualities, her opponent became more consistent, finding the mark with accurate passing shots and staying cool in rallies. She overcame fatigue in the final stages to clinch the title 6-2 1-6 6-2. Zahlavova-Strycova was appearing in her first WTA Tour final, she can be proud of playing so well in her home country.

WTA rankings show Palermo winner Kanepi rising to 38, finalist Pennetta falls one place to 13. Agnes Szavay champion in Prague climbs to 38, runner-up Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova finds herself immediately behind Szavay at 39!!

The local heroes didn’t fare well on the mens tour either. Robin Soderling was expected to retain his Bastad Open crown against Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. In front of a capacity crowd Soderling started slowly once again and dropped a tight first set 7-5. The fact that he had struggled for consistency all week wasn’t helping him in the title match. However, he bounced back to the delight of the sun-baked crowd in Bastad to level the match, taking the 2nd set 6-3, but the hopes of completing a come back with another crown were to be dashed. Almagro broke Soderling’s serve two successive times, to clinch the 3rd set 6-2, a 6th title of Almagro’s career, and his 1st in 2010.

In Stuttgart the final was a curtailed affair, due to an injury late in the 1st set to Gael Monfils, he turned his right ankle. Consequently Albert Montanes only had to play just over a set to win the title. Gael tried to continue after having strapping put on the injury, but he couldn’t use his usual athletic mobility and against such a retriever as the Spaniard, it was going to be too difficult to prolong the match.

ATP Rankings released today(Monday) reveal Nicolas Almagro, Bastad winner at 18th, Soderling remains in the top 4 at 5. Stuttgart winner Albert Montanes climbs to a new career high of 24. Finalist Gael Monfils remains 17th.

This week the tour moves onto Atlanta (the first US Open summer Series for the men – Andy Roddick is a wild-card entry and is top seed, Hamburg (sadly downgraded from a Masters Series to an International Series ’500′ event this year), has Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Spaniard David Ferrer as its leading seeds, WTA events continue on clay in Europe – in Potoroz, Slovenia, where Jelena Jankovic is top seed, and also in Bad Gastein in Austria, Andrea Petkovic of Germany defends her title.

Pics from EstoniaF1 - in action – Mikelis Libietis, Arturs Kazijevs, Rihards Emulins Andis Juška, and Deniss Pavlovs

The two most recognised Latvians to take part in Estonia Futures tournament enjoyed a fine week!

Andis seeded 4 reached the semi-finals, recording  a straight sets wins over Axel Michon of France, then demoralising Yannick Vandenbulcke of Belgium conceding only one game, reaching the semi finals by defeating Aleksandr Agafonov of Ukraine (who had beaten fellow Latvian and doubles partner Deniss Pavlovs in the very first round!)

In the semi-finals Andis finally bowed out with a straight sets defeat to No 1 seed Inigo Cervantes-Huegun of Spain, losing 1-6 6-7(4). Nevertheless, Andis justified his seeded spot, taking his expected place in the semi-finals. The Spaniard is ranked exactly 100 places higher than the Latvian, so a good effort in set 2, and a confidence boost for him as he bids to break into the Top 300, this is the first time he has won more than 2 matches in singles, since an indoor Futures event in March of this year, in Switzerland, where he reached the final.

Andis currently stands at 317 in singles, his highest ever career ranking was achieved at the end of October 2009, (226) when he reached France Futures 17 final.  However, he was to end 2009 outside the top 350, because the points won on Czech Republic Futures circuit that he had amassed at the end of 2008 dropped off his ranking.

Andis earns 10 ranking points as a reward for his fine showing in Estonia’s Saaremaa Island this week!

In the doubles event he and Deniss Pavlovs had a straightforward route to the title, beginning with a win over local pairing Mikk Irdoja and Vladimir Ivanov, routine score 6-4 6-4, in the quarter-finals they defeated French/Chilean combination of Axel Michon and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6-3, 6-2. The semi-final proved an even easier affair, Andis and Deniss dropped just 3 games in drubbing Swiss/Belarus pair Jannis Liniger and Andrei Vasilevski.

In the Final the top-seeded Latvians took on 3rd seeded Finnish/Swedish pair, Harri Heliovaara and Michael Ryderstedt. It was a tight affair, Andis and Deniss won the title with a 7-5 7-6 (8-6) scoreline!

Aspveicu!! Malacis!

Congratulations, well played!!

Unfortunately Mikelis Libietis, Rihards Emulins, Arturs Kazijevs, Oskars Vaskis lost in the qualifying competition. Mikelis and Arturs are trying to become established players on the next level from the junior circuit, Emulins formerly represented his country in Davis Cup, Oskars has done some coaching but is yet to establish himself at international level on any circuit.

Deniss Pavlovs has fallen dramatically down the rankings this year due to poor form and injuries. He has had to compete exclusively on the Futures circuit this year. He played for Latvia in Davis Cup against Ukraine in an away tie in February, losing to their top player Sergiy Stakhovsky. Latvia were without their highest ranked player Ernests Gulbis who was preparing for 1000 event in Indian Wells.

Andis Juška will join Deniss in the Main Draw of Estonia F1. He and Deniss are also teaming up in Doubles. Arturs and Mikelis have played together at Futures level and will do so again in Estonia.

Updates to follow.

Deniss Pavlovs

Top 25 in mens rankings remain unchanged. Ernests Gulbis moves up one place to 28, because others around him lost points. Ernests has 1,414 points.

Newport winner Mardy Fish moves up 30 places from 79 to 49. Runner-up Olivier Rochus advances 4 places to 61. Surprise semi-finalist Richard Bloomfield leapt from 552 to 292!! Congratulations Richard!

What of the other Latvians? Andis Juška is currently ranked 317, a slight drop of 5 places. Karlis Lejnieks making a successful comeback after injury stands at 539, Adrians Zguns 626, Deniss Pavlovs at 937.

In Doubles Latvia have 3 players in the top 320, Andis at 169, Ernests at 220, and Deniss 312.

The WTA rankings show Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki swapping places, Venus at 3, Caroline at 4. Bastad winner Aravane Rezai of France moves just inside the top 20. Finalist Giselka Dulko rises to 43. Agnes Szavay defended her Budapest points and title successfully, and remains at 49.  Runner-up Patty Schnyder remains at 56th.

Latvia’s top player Anastasija Sevastova falls to 64th (-5 places).

In Budapest q/f stage Alexandra Dulgheru overcame Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-7(1) 6-2 7-6(5), the final set fluctuated wildly, Sevastova fell an early break behind, then went ahead 3-1, from there she was hanging in almost every game, her effort was in vain.

The tournament was won by local hero Agnes Szavay of Hungary, she retained her title with a 6-2 6-4 win over Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. ‘Agi’ as she is known, is now coached by Karl Heinz Wetter, who took Ernests Gulbis to his best Grand Slam result so far (q/f at Roland Garros in 2008). Agi teamed up with Wetter this time last year achieving instant success in front of adoring fans in Budapest.

Bastad in Sweden was won by one of the most improved players on the WTA circuit this year, Aravane Rezai of France. In the final she defeated Gisella Dulko of Argentina 6-3 4-6 6-4.

On the mens ATP circuit, the surprise of the week has been Brit Richard Bloomfield. Norwich born Richard, qualified for this event and then stormed through the Main Draw to the semi-finals, defeating Christophe Rochus of Belgium, No 2 seed in the tournament Santiago Giraldo(who almost defeated Roger Federer in opening round of Wimbledon this year), in straight sets, U.S. wild card Ryan Harrison before going out to No 5 seed Mardy Fish in 2 tight sets. The other finalist in Newport is Olivier Rochus of Belgium.

In the World Group of Davis Cup there was expected to be a lot of tight ties, but in reality only 2 of the 4 quarter-finals were ‘live’ going into the 3rd and final day of matches (today).

The biggest surprise came in the tie between France and Spain. Spain were defending champions and although they were away from home and not on their favourite clay surface, they were expected to give the French all they could handle. Spain were represented by Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer in singles, Feliciano Lopez teaming up with Verdasco for doubles.

The first rubber of any tie is usually pivotal, and it was no exception here. Gael Monfils opened up the tie facing Ferrer, on a hard indoor surface in Clermont-Ferrand. Gael roared into a 2 set lead, but David showed all of his renowned fighting qualities to square the match at 2 sets a piece. Gael drew inspiration from the rapturous crowd and took the final set 6-4 to win the opening rubber and lay sound foundations for his French team going into the 2nd rubber of the day.

The next combatants were both lefties, Michael Llodra, and the highest ranked of either team, Fernando Verdasco ranked 10 in singles. The first set went to a tie-break, perhaps surprisingly it was Verdasco who took it.

Llodra, a recent winner of Eastbourne on grass, was in no mood to slip into further trouble. He reeled off the next 3 sets 6-4 6-3 7-6 (conceding only 2 points in the 4th set TB) to put France in a very commanding lead of 2-0 after day 1.

In the doubles on Saturday Michael returned to court partnering Julien Benneteau. Feli and Fernando paired up for the Spaniards.  In the first two sets the Spanish could not cope with the superior volleying and sharp groundies, the French pair conceded only 3 games within those two sets!!

The Spanish pair rallied to take the 3rd set on  a tie-break, taking it 8-6. ‘Bennet’ and Llodra ran out winners after another tie-break in the 4th set, by 7 points to 5, and with it the tie and the match!!

The French then made it a whitewash, winning ‘dead’ rubbers (played over best of 3 sets), Gilles Simon defeating Nicolas Almagro in two tie-break sets, and Julien Benneteau rounding the tie off with a straight sets win over Feliciano Lopez.

The French will play hosts to Argentina in September in the semi-finals. Argentina defeated the Russians in Moscow, David Nalbandian returning from injury in spectacular style, defeating Nikolay Davydenko(Russian No 1) and Mikhail Youzhny.

The other semi-final is between Serbia and Czech Republic. The Serbians have reached the semi-finals of Davis Cup for the first time in their history. They defeated Croatia in Split. Led magnificently by their No 1 player and World No 2 Novak Djokovic, the Serbian team won the tie 4-1, Djokovic had straight sets wins over leading Croatians Ivan Ljubicic and Marin Cilic, though the tie was level after day 1, Marin Cilic had beaten Serbian No 2 Viktor Troicki in the 2nd rubber on the opening day.

The Doubles went to the Serbians, Nenad Zimonjic the only specialist doubles player in the entire tie, teamed up with Janko Tipsarevic. Serbia won with ease in straight sets over Cilic and Ivan Dodig.

The key match on the final day was the meeting between Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic. Cilic was expected to provide a severe test for Nole, but it never materialised. Cilic could only manage 8 games, Novak collapsed on his back at the moment of triumph, was mobbed by ecstatic team-mates and Captain. They will be at home to Czech Republic in September.

The Czechs travelled to Chile, fielding their reserve team of Ivo Minar and Jan Hajek. (Berdych, recent Wimbledon finalist withdrew with exhaustion), Radek Stepanek has been injured for a while now. The Czechs had the tie won inside 2 days, Minar defeating former Olympic champion Nicolas Massu in straight sets, Jan Hajek triumphed over Paul Capdeville also in straight sets. The doubles pairing of Lukas Dlouhy and Hajek sealed the tie in 4 sets over Massu and his partner Jorge Aguilar.

Britain won a tie for the first time since 2007, defeating Turkey on grass at Eastbourne, 5-0, Jamie Baker, James Ward and doubles pair Colin Fleming/Ken Skupski the winning GB team. They have staved off relegation and will remain in Euro-Africa Zone Group II for the 2011 Davis Cup competition.

A look ahead to the next round of tournaments and updated rankings will be outlined here tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!!

Di

In Budapest Anastasija Sevastova has beaten Anastasija Yakimova of Belarus in the 1st round, and 5th seeded Shuai Peng of China to reach the last 8, of the GDF Suez Grand Prix. Peng was forced to miss the grass segment of the season with illness, so perhaps this was not such a big surprise. In her quarter-final Sevastova will face the winner of the match between Anna Chakvetadze of Russia and Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru seeded 2.

Andis  Juška meanwhile, entered the 85,000 Euro Challenger event held in Pozoblanco in Spain.  He first competed in doubles with George Bastl of Switzerland (they were wild-cards into the event). However, they were beaten in a deciding Champions Tie-break by French pair Brezac and Stouff, going down 11-9.

Unfortunately Andis didn’t fare any better in the singles, losing to Gero Kretschmer of Germany, winning only 6 games, 3 in each set.

Top (Anastasija Sevastova) Bottom (Andis Juška)

I will keep you posted regularly on Latvian players on Tour, and also anything of note happening elsewhere on ATP Tour/WTA Tour.

Thank you for reading!

Di