CINCINNATI, Ohio (AFP) - Former tennis camp companions Novak Djokovic and Ernests Gulbis set up their second battle in as many months by reaching the quarter-finals of the ATP Cincinnati Masters on Thursday.
Third seed Djokovic, riding his best run of form in the steamy American Midwest, swamped his second straight Italian opponent as he crushed Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 a day after beating Simone Bolelli in two tie-breakers.
Serbian Djokovic, 21, and Latvian teenager Gulbis hung out as kids when they attended the tennis academy of Niki Pilic in Munich, with Djokovic always refraining at elaborating on any of their off-court adventures.
Gulbis reproduced his French Open form over luckless James Blake, sending the veteran US seventh seed down to a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 upset.
"I haven't played against top 10 players so much in my career, so beating one of them gives me more confidence," said the world number 53, who still seeks his first career ATP final.
"I knew that he's a tougher opponent on hard court than he is on clay, so I was a little bit nervous, but as the match went on I played pretty well in the beginning, though I lost my concentration in the second set."
Djokovic, who won the Australian Open and a pair of spring ATP Masters Series titles, has gone off the boil in recent months as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer lift the tight rankings race for number one to a new level.
Spaniard Nadal, winner of seven titles his season, trails the Swiss by 300 points, his narrowest margin in years.
Swiss Federer is fighting to retain in Cincinnati title and put some traction into his season with the Beijing Games his next date on court.
Djokovic owns a flawless 4-0 record over Seppi, whom he also beat in California in March. The Serb fired eight aces and broke five times to dominate in 59 minutes.
Spain's Carlos Moya finished off a match interrupted in the second set by rain overnight, putting out Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 6-2.
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hey, hannah, would have to disagree a little bit, the guys are great and not stuck up! rhymes, james, ralph and the rest, as i've said before, it's a really nice crowd!
now, although i know everybody is in a frenzy over the Federer loss and, to a lesser extent, Nadal's win over Haas, i'd like to return to the Gulbis - Blake match. as i've said since Wimbledon, i have big expectations from the kid. i'm happy to see him in the quarters again. defeating nieminen, clement and blake one after the other is no small feat! (these three, i dare say, weigh more than nadal's opponents in this cincy edition, haas included) so i do believe he does have what it takes, but also a long ways to go and a lot of skill-honing to do in order to reach the instinctual play at Djokovic and Nadal's level. i'm going to be adventurous, like never before, and say he will get in the Top 10.
now, to the match, i started watching with the second set, just as Gulbis was "getting comfortable" in the 6-1 slump. his first serve was appalling, simply appalling. he couldn't sustain a longer rally, he was impatient, twitchy, and Blake simply drove him to almost bury himself. however, by the end of the set, he won a couple of balls, came attacking at the net, a sign he hadn't given up. he probably remembered who had defeated to get here and also that he had defeated Blake before.
in the last set, the service was back, strong. almost against the flow of the match, though, he managed to break Blake's serve. Blake looked a little astonished that it had happened. In the last game, however - and this is where he needs to put in some serious work - Gulbis was back at it again, losing four match balls, or more. eventually, ironically, it was a second serve ace that clinched it.the Serb's game has been hesitant these couple of weeks. we'll just have to wait and see! he's done great so far anyway, coming out of nowhere to rattle the seeds.
ok, i'm done! my longest post, i think.
Hi Helen H - Guess what: Federer did loose - now all hell is going to brake loose. Go see my blog on the article "Tennis Ace Federer falls......" glad to have found a like-minded girl on the net...Looks like most of these guys on here donīt ever talk to us. Who cares - not ME! Take it easy and keep loving the game. Ciao. Hanna43
Hi Helen H - Guess what: Federer did loose - now all hell is going to brake loose. Go see my blog on the article "Tennis Ace Federer falls......" glad to have found a like-minded girl on the net...Looks like most of these guys on here donīt ever talk to us. Who cares - not ME! Take it easy and keep loving the game. Ciao. Hanna43
Don't worry Hannah, i'm in the same frustrating situation. i can only see repeats the following day. ok, with one lucky exception i did get to see Gulbis's match live!
I see we're like-minded in our support ;-).
BTW, this blog is going to catch FIRE with Federer's loss to Karlovic! just wait till they post the article!
toodles!
lisa, no need for bad words. ;)
i only said that, by form and quality of the game only fed, nadal, djokovic and murray deserved their spot in top 10. other guys that are in the top 10 do not show any of the top ten tennis. :)
take it easy next time please.
Unfortunately I am not able to see any of the Cincinnati matches (not broadcast on Eurosport International here in Portugal) and just follow them on the internet and over the live broadcast there. I am thrilled, Moya won - good to see Gulbis win as well and that against Blake - Go Ernest, go! His match against Djokovic should be interesting - and I am on the cherub's side!
Hanna43
You are full of @#$%!You wanna tell me that only the jocker and Murray deserve to be in top 10??better watch another sport because you have no idea what you are talking about!
well, Noles game looked pretty good tonight. though, his body language was still not promising he was in the shot. tough test tomorrow. don't know how not consistent players like davydenko and ferrer are still in top 5? generally looking, top ten not including top3 and murray
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