Gulbis and Delbonis Win in France; Will Meet in Title Match Saturday
Ernests Gulbis cruised into the finals at the Open de Nice in Nice, France on Friday, disposing of Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-0, 6-3 in match that took just over an hour.
The Latvian was on his game all afternoon and dominated the match from the beginning. He smashed four aces to Montanes’ none, while winning 96 percent of his first services. Gulbis dictated the tempo and had Montanes running baseline to baseline all match.
Gulbis is enjoying his best season as a pro so far in 2014 and is ranked 19th in the world, hoping to bolster that ranking before the French open.
“He allowed me to play,” said Gulbis. “I felt confident from the first rally on. I had good timing. The first set was one of the best sets I have played.”
Gulbis will now meet Federico Delbonis of Argentina. A day after knocking out top-seeded John Isner, Delbonis followed it up with a semifinal victory over Gilles Simon, who was actually born in Nice, France. The Argentinean had no trouble with the hometown player, defeating him in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to push his way into the finals.
The key to the match came in each player’s first serve. Delbonis picked up points on 27 of his 33 serves compared to just 14 for his opponent allowing the bigger Argentinean to control the match from the onset.
Gulbis and Delbonis will meet on Saturday in the championship match, as Gulbis looks to remain undefeated in ATP World Tour title matches.
