Remember the name: Ernests Gulbis.
Just like Novak Djokovic was slowly making a name for himself a couple of years ago, this young man from Latvia has the powers-that-be in the ATP afraid, very afraid.
Rafael Nadal had to play very, very well to beat him in the second round at Wimbledon (5-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-3) and his post-match conference displayed that he was taking this very seriously:
"[O]ne of the worst opponents who I can play in the second round - very aggressive, very good serve, very young."
Hopefully he doesn't go the way of other young can't miss-es that didn't quite pan out (the names Tomas Berdych and Joachim Johansson come to mind, though the name that really comes to mind was the nickname hoisted on the latter: Euro-Roddick!), but if you get the chance, check him out.
BTW, kudos to Nadal for bearing down and putting away an extremely dangerous opponenet, which is something the other favorites Andy Roddick (going down in four hard-fought sets to Janko Tipsarevic), Novak Djokovic (losing to the mercurial Marat Safin), Maria Sharapova (listless in a loss to 154th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva), and James Blake (losing to one-time Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler) were unable to do.
I think Roger Federer should be nervous.
But, in the meantime, keep an eye on young Gulbis.
LINKS
Story: Nadal Beats Gulbis
Wikipedia: Ernests Gulbis
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