Juan Martin del Potro is out of Wimbledon after a sensational display from world No 589 Ernests Gulbis, who sealed a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win.
After his first round match here former French Open semi-finalist Gulbis had said: ‘In my brain I’m still No 10 in the world’ – and this was top-10 tennis from the Latvian as he dismantled the No 29 seed with a near-faultless performance.
Since his return he has continued to pick up niggling injuries and failed to build up any momentum – until this week.
Against a strangely under-powered Del Potro, who has himself had a terrible time with wrist injuries, the Latvian’s numbers were astonishing: 60 winners, 22 unforced errors and 20 out of 24 points won at the net.
Del Potro battled back to force a tie-break. Perhaps this was the moment when his opponent would show a crack in his defences? But Gulbis’ nerve held and he sealed the upset with another superb first serve.
– Bowale Odutola
