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Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian inactive professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 2014. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is an annual ATP Tour tennis tournament that started in 1910. It is the last remaining ATP World Tour-level tournament in the United States to be played on clay courts. The tournament began in 1910 when the ...
, teaming with
Rainer Schüttler Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in double ...
, and in 2010, he won his first ATP Tour singles title in the
Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...
, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final. In total, Gulbis has six ATP titles to his name. His best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the semifinals of the
2014 French Open The 2014 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 118th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June. It consisted of e ...
. He had previously reached the quarterfinals of the
2008 French Open The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 J ...
. Beginning after Wimbledon 2011, Gulbis was coached by Austrian
Günter Bresnik Günter Bresnik (born 21 April 1961) is an Austrian tennis coach. Early years Born in Vienna to two physicians, he did not take up tennis until age 16; he studied medicine for four years at the University of Vienna. As Bresnik recalls, his caree ...
, until his departure the day before the 2016 French Open. Previously, he was coached by Guillermo Cañas, and before that by Hernán Gumy (who before that was Marat Safin's coach), but their partnership ended due to Gumy's schedule; during that time, Darren Cahill served as Gulbis' consultant for several tournaments. Before Gumy, Gulbis was coached by Karl Heinz Wetter, and subsequently by
Nikola Pilić Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tinga ...
, the former professional Croatian tennis player and Croatian and German Davis Cup captain. Since September 2022, Gulbis has been the president of the Latvian Tennis Union, gradually ending his career as a professional tennis player.


Personal life

Gulbis grew up in an upper-class household. His book-collecting parents named him after Ernest Hemingway. His father Ainārs is an investment businessman, and his mother Milēna Gulbe-Kavace is a theater actress. His maternal grandfather Uldis Pūcītis was a popular actor and film director. The second of five children, Gulbis has three sisters and one brother. His younger half-sister Laura Gulbe is also a tennis player. Gulbis comes from a sporting family in general, and his paternal grandfather, Alvils Gulbis, was one of the starting five players on
ASK Rīga ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club). History BK Rīga was then founded in 2004, and it got back the original name of ASK ...
, the Soviet Union basketball team that won the European Championships."An Interview with Ernests Gulbis: Round 4 US Open" 2007
He first started playing tennis with his grandmother. Gulbis married Tamara Kopaleyshvili in November 2017, and they are raising a child in Riga, Latvia. When Gulbis stunned world no. 1 Roger Federer at the 2010 Italian Open after throwing away six match points, he told reporters that "I shit my pants a little bit there...excuse my language" and has bragged about his racquet-throwing "skills" in an on-court interview. On a telecast during the 2010
Western and Southern Financial Group Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
from Cincinnati, broadcasters
Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is a former professional tennis player and an American tennis coach. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles rank ...
, Patrick McEnroe and
Chris Fowler Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for '' Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...
compared Gulbis to former world No. 1 Marat Safin in terms of both playing style and attitude on and off court. Like Safin, Gulbis often comments about his own lack of discipline and/or interest in practising, but is forthcoming about his aspirations for a high ranking. In 2009, Gulbis was arrested in Sweden for soliciting prostitutes. He called it a "misunderstanding". After paying a fine, he was released in time to play in the Stockholm Open. Speaking about the need for more explosive rivalries in tennis (e. g., Connors-McEnroe), in 2013 he said that Federer,
Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finis ...
,
Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
and
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
were "boring" in interviews. The next year, at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, when Gulbis was asked if he would encourage his sisters to pursue professional tennis, he said he believed that women should "focus on family and kids". Gulbis speaks Latvian, English, Russian, some French, and German. He is nicknamed "Lord", "The Gull" or "Ernie".


Tennis career


Early years

Gulbis began playing tennis at the age of 5 with his grandmother. At the age of 12, he attended the
Nikola Pilić Nikola "Niki" Pilić (born 27 August 1939) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia. He was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tinga ...
tennis academy in Munich and trained there until age 18. One of the players he trained with at the Niki Pilić academy was future world No. 1 Novak Djokovic who sometimes practiced with Gulbis when they were at the academy. He refused to play much junior tennis as he only played in three tournaments winning one in May 2004. He mainly played in men's ITF futures events to start his career and officially turned pro in June 2004 at the age of 15.


Professional career


2004–2006: ITF and challenger success and St. Petersburg semifinal

Gulbis' first event at any level was a challenger tournament in Germany in June 2004 after receiving a wildcard into the main draw. He lost in the first round to
Teymuraz Gabashvili Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 4 ...
in straight sets. For most of 2004–2006, he solely played ITF futures events while also occasionally playing in challenger events. At first, he struggled to win matches. But his results started to improve as time went on and he won his first futures title in September 2005. After this win, he made four more futures finals in 2006 winning two. In July 2006, Gulbis made his first challenger final where he lost to
Michal Tabara Michal Tabara (born 16 October 1979) is a former tennis player from the Czech Republic, who turned professional in 1997. The right-hander has won one singles title (2001, Chennai) so far in his career. Tabara reached his highest singles ATP-rank ...
in straight sets. Two weeks later, he made his second challenger final where he lost to top seed Florian Mayer in three sets. Gulbis received direct entry into the 2006 US Open Qualifying, his first Grand Slam qualifying draw. There, he upset 5th seed Dick Norman in the first round in straight sets before losing in the second round to
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
in straight sets. Gulbis made his ATP debut at the 2006 St. Petersburg Open after receiving a wildcard into the main draw. There, he reached the semifinals where he lost to 3rd seed and eventual champion Mario Ančić in straight sets. Because of his result, his ranking jumped 48 spots from 204 to 156. Gulbis ended 2006 with his first challenger title without losing a set defeating Philipp Petzschner in the final. He also won two doubles challenger titles within the year both partnering
Mischa Zverev Mikhail "Mischa" Alexandrovich Zverev (russian: Михаил "Миша" Александрович Зверев, , ; born 22 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player born in Russia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world ...
and another doubles final partnering compatriot
Deniss Pavlovs Deniss Pavlovs (born 15 April 1983) is a Latvian tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. On 20 July 2009, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 263, whilst his highest doubles ranking of 155 was reached on 23 Septe ...
. He ended the year with a year-end ranking of 141. A remarkable jump from his ranking of 418 at the beginning of the year. His results during the year earned him the award for Rising Star of the Year at the 2006 Latvian Sports Awards.


2007: Breaking into top 100, Grand Slam debut and US Open fourth round

Gulbis started his season as a qualifier in the Sydney Medibank International, losing in the first round to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. He was subsequently defeated in the first qualifying round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. Gulbis was relatively successful on the Challenger circuit in 2007. He reached the quarterfinals in Bergamo (l. to Fabrice Santoro) and the semifinals in Heilbronn (l. to
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
). Gulbis won his second Challenger title by triumphing over the local favorite, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, at the Besançon Challenger in France, enabling him to break into the ATP Top 100 for the first time in his career. In his next tournament, the Sarajevo Challenger, Gulbis emerged victorious in both the singles and doubles events. In the first week of October, he won the Mons Challenger in Belgium (d.
Kristof Vliegen Kristof Vliegen (born 22 June 1982) is a Belgian former tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001. He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tourname ...
) as the top seed, breaking into the ATP Top 50 for the first time in his career and surpassing Juan Martín del Potro as the highest-ranked player born in 1988. This win also meant a fourth consecutive title. Gulbis announced his arrival on the Grand Slam stage in the
2007 French Open The 2007 French Open (Roland Garros) was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June 2007. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Björn Borg, 1978–81; and maintained his unbeaten run at Rol ...
by defeating the British veteran, Tim Henman in straight sets to advance to the second round. It was heralded by the British Davis Cup captain,
John Lloyd John Lloyd may refer to: Artists, writers, and entertainers *John J. Lloyd (1922–2014), American art director and production designer *John Lloyd (graphic designer) (born 1944), co-founder of design consultancy Lloyd Northover *John Lloyd (journa ...
, as ''"... a brilliant performance from Gulbis, that is just pure and utter talent."'' Gulbis' run was halted in the second round by Spaniard Álbert Montañés in a four-set, rain-interrupted match. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, his second Grand Slam participation, Gulbis again was drawn to face Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. He won the first set before succumbing in four sets. Gulbis debuted in Grand Slam doubles by teaming up with Ivan Ljubičić, with whom he had reached the semifinals of the 2007
Ordina Open The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Open), is a pro ...
. At the 2007 US Open, Gulbis upset 30th seed, Potito Starace, in the first round and eighth seed, Tommy Robredo, in the third round, the latter for the loss of only 6 games. In that match, Gulbis broke Robredo six times and had 39 winners to Robredo's seven. Gulbis' run was finally halted by former World No. 1,
Carlos Moyà Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...
, to whom he lost in four sets.


2008: French Open quarterfinal

In the first round of the
2008 Australian Open The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 throug ...
, Gulbis lost to Marat Safin in straight sets. He reached the second round of the
2008 Pacific Life Open The 2008 Indian Wells Masters (also known as the ''Pacific Life Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 35th edition of the Indian Wells Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of ...
, where he lost a tight match to former Grand Slam finalist David Nalbandian in a final set tiebreak. In the first round of the
2008 Miami Masters The 2008 Miami Masters (also known as the ''Sony Ericsson Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 24th edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP ...
, he defeated Dominik Hrbatý, but in the second round met eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko. After winning the first set 6–3, he lost the following two sets in tiebreaks. His biggest result up to that point occurred when he reached the quarterfinals of the
2008 French Open The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 J ...
. Throughout the tournament he beat
Simon Greul Simon Greul (; born 13 April 1981) is a retired German male tennis player. His career high rank was No. 55, achieved on 22 March 2010. Career His major breakthrough was at the 2006 Nasdaq-100 Open, where after beating Adrián García and Ricar ...
, seventh seed James Blake,
Nicolás Lapentti Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni Lapentti, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés Gómez, Andrés, and cousins Roberto Quiroz, Roberto and Emil ...
, and home-favourite
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
. In the quarterfinals, he lost to third seed Novak Djokovic in three tight sets. In his next tournament, he reached the third round of the
2008 Queen's Club Championships The 2008 Artois Championships (also known traditionally as the ''Queen's Club Championships'') was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 106th edition of the Artois Championships, and was part of the International Seri ...
, beating
Kristof Vliegen Kristof Vliegen (born 22 June 1982) is a Belgian former tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001. He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tourname ...
and 12th seed Andreas Seppi. He lost to sixth seed
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
, after winning the first set 7–5. In the first round at Wimbledon, Gulbis defeated fellow rising star John Isner, but lost in the second round to second seed and eventual champion Rafael Nadal in a four set, rain-interrupted match. Other than Roger Federer, he was the only player to take a set off the eventual champion. At the
2008 Cincinnati Masters The 2008 Cincinnati Masters (also known as the ''Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 107th edition of the Cincinnati Masters, a ...
, Gulbis defeated Jarkko Nieminen, Arnaud Clément, and James Blake, but succumbed in the quarterfinals to third seed Novak Djokovic. The young Latvian then traveled to Beijing to take part in the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, where he lost his first-round match to Nikolay Davydenko. At the US Open, Gulbis defeated
Thomas Johansson Karl Thomas Conny Johansson (; born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish retired professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 7 singles ranking on 10 May 2002. His career highlights i ...
in the first round, before losing to Andy Roddick in the second, again after winning the first set. Coincidentally, it was both his and Andy's birthday on the day they played.


2009: Decline in form and rankings

Gulbis began the year strongly by defeating world No. 3 Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the first round of the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
before falling in the second round to Paul-Henri Mathieu. It would be the first time and one of only two times that Djokovic ever lost in the first round of a tournament with the other instance being against Juan Martín del Potro at the
2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...
. It would also be Gulbis' only victory against Djokovic to date. He lost in the second round of the
2009 Australian Open The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 Janua ...
to
Igor Andreev Igor Valeryevich Andreev (russian: link=no, И́горь Вале́рьевич Андре́ев, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles ti ...
in five sets, after beating
Albert Montañés Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain. He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
in the first round in straight sets. Gulbis was seeded third heading into the 2009
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
, but was defeated in the first round by former World No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis. It was the fourth time he was drawn to face Baghdatis in the first round of a tournament. Gulbis had a poor clay-court season compared to 2008, failing to go deep in any of the tournaments preceding the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. Gulbis also failed to defend his quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, causing his ranking to drop to World No. 67, the lowest it had been since the summer of 2007. At the
2009 Wimbledon Championships The 2009 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 123rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...
, Gulbis, unseeded, defeated Italian Riccardo Ghedin in the first round, before falling to third seeded
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
. Gulbis played in the
Indianapolis Tennis Championships The Indianapolis Tennis Championships was an annual men's tennis tournament played in Indianapolis as part of the ATP Tour. Since its inaugural playing in 1987, the tournament was held for one week in July up until its final playing in 2009. Ori ...
in singles and doubles. He lost to Marc Gicquel of France in the first round. However, he entered the doubles draw with Russian Dmitry Tursunov and won the championship, defeating top seeds
Ashley Fisher Ashley Fisher (born 25 September 1975) is a professional tennis player who comes from New South Wales in Australia. Fisher turned professional in 1998. Fisher has never played a major singles match on the ATP Tour, but has won four notable do ...
and Jordan Kerr of Australia in the final. At the US Open, Gulbis was again drawn to play
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
early in a Grand Slam, losing to the No. 2 seed in the first round. At the 2009
Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships The Japan Open (currently sponsored by Rakuten) is a men's tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally founded in 1915 as the Japan International Cha ...
, Gulbis advanced to the quarterfinals, upsetting sixth seed Radek Štěpánek in the first round as a qualifier, then defeating top-20 player Juan Mónaco in the second in straight sets. He lost to eventual champion and second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after taking the first set. The year saw a general decline in his ranking, with Gulbis failing to go deep in any of the Grand Slams. He momentarily dropped out of the top 100 in August and finished the year ranked 90 and with a win–loss record of 20–26.


2010: First ATP title

To begin the year, Gulbis claimed wins in the first two rounds of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
precursor tournament, the
Qatar ExxonMobil Open The Qatar Open, currently known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals ( ...
, defeating sixth-seeded Spaniard
Albert Montañés Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain. He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
and Italian Andreas Seppi. Gulbis progressed to the third round, where he was defeated in a tight three set match against World No. 1 Roger Federer. At the 2010 Australian Open itself, Gulbis was ousted in the first round by 30th seed Argentine Juan Mónaco in straight sets. In February, Gulbis reached his second career semifinal at an ATP 500 event, the
Regions Morgan Keegan Championships In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
in Memphis, Tennessee. In the second round, he defeated third seed Radek Štěpánek, facing two consecutive Czech players as he ousted fifth seed Tomáš Berdych in the third round in a tight, three set match. He lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Sam Querrey. At the end of February, he then competed in the
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
, an outdoor hard-court tournament, where he won his maiden ATP tour title. In the final, he faced 6' 11" Croatian and second seed Ivo Karlović, winning convincingly. With this victory, his ranking rose back into the top 50. Gulbis' next tournament was the
2010 BNP Paribas Open The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 37th edition of the men's event (22nd for the women), known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour ...
, an ATP 1000 Tier tournament. Gulbis defeated Swiss player Marco Chiudinelli in the first round, but succumbed to fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko in the second round. Davydenko later withdrew from the tournament due to a wrist injury exacerbated during the match. Gulbis did not compete in the
Sony Ericsson Open The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, instead returning to Europe to train for the clay season. At his first clay-court tournament of the season, the ATP 1000
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, Gulbis again defeated Swiss Marco Chiudinelli in the first round, this time in straight sets, but lost to 13th seed
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
in the second round, also in straight sets. At his next tournament, the ATP 500
Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell The Barcelona Open (currently sponsored by Banc Sabadell) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event has been held in Barcelona, Spain every year from 1953 (except for its cancellation in 2020), and is played on clay c ...
, Gulbis reached the quarterfinals, defeating Peter Luczak, Jérémy Chardy, and Albert Ramos-Viñolas, all in straight sets. He lost to in-form, eventual champion Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals. With this result, Gulbis' ranking rose back into the top 40 and also pushed his career win–loss record past 50% for the first time in his career, his year-to-date win–loss record at 15–7. At his next tournament, the
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia The 2010 Italian Open (also known as the 2010 Rome Masters and sponsored title 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia) was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event ...
in Rome, Gulbis was drawn to face Marcos Baghdatis in the first round of a tournament for the fifth time in his career, although for the first time on clay. He defeated Baghdatis for the loss of only four games, which set up a match with top seed and World No. 1 Roger Federer. After losing the first set, Gulbis rallied to win the match 7–5 in the third, converting his seventh match point for his biggest career win to date. In the third round, he backed up his win over Federer, with a battling final set tiebreak victory over Italian qualifier
Filippo Volandri Filippo Volandri (born 5 September 1981; ) is a former Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri is a right-handed player who reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and has earn ...
. In the next round, Gulbis defeated Feliciano López to reach his first semifinal at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in a tight, three-set match, hitting 50 winners and 59 errors throughout. This made Gulbis the first player to take a set off Nadal on clay in 2010. With his semifinal appearance, he assured himself a seeded position at the
2010 French Open The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...
. At the
2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open The 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Madrid Masters (also known as the ''Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was played on outdoor clay courts at the Caja Mágica, Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from May 7–16. It was the ...
, Gulbis got off to a winning start in the first round against 2010 Estoril Open champion
Albert Montañés Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain. He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
. He carried on his good vein of form, defeating 10th seed Mikhail Youzhny and Feliciano López. In the quarterfinals he again faced World No. 1 Roger Federer, which ended in the opposite result: Gulbis losing after taking the first set. Expectations were high for Gulbis as the former quarterfinalist came into the
2010 French Open The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...
seeded 23rd (ranked World No. 27), after having an incredible clay-court season. However, Gulbis retired during the first round citing a hamstring injury against the veteran Frenchman and World No. 38, Julien Benneteau. Due to his injury sustained during the clay-court season, Gulbis withdrew from
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
and its precursor tournaments, effectively missing the entire grass season. Gulbis returned to the ATP in July, first competing in the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, California. He defeated Lukáš Lacko in the first round in straight sets, but lost to the in-form Alejandro Falla in the round of 16 in three sets. He next played in the
Legg Mason Tennis Classic The Washington Open (known as the Citigroup, Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ...
, where he received a first-round bye, but quickly retired in the second round to Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, citing fatigue. His next tournament was the ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
. He defeated World No. 26 Thomaz Bellucci in the first round easily, but fell to World No. 5 Robin Söderling in the second round in a tight match. He then played the ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Western & Southern Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, defeating Donald Young in the first round and 13th seed Jürgen Melzer in the second, both in close matches. However, he fell in the third round to World No. 4
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
in another tight encounter, decided by a final set tiebreak. Gulbis who was the 24th seed, lost in the first round of the US Open to Jérémy Chardy of France in three sets, marking the fourth consecutive first-round lost at a Grand Slam tournament. Gulbis then took three weeks off to play for the Latvian Davis Cup team against Poland, winning both of his singles rubbers against
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
and
Michał Przysiężny Michał Przysiężny (; born 16 February 1984) is a former Polish professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of St. Petersburg in 2013, achieving a career-high singles ranking of World No. 57 in January 2014. Career He started his ca ...
. His next tournament was the PTT Thailand Open. He received a bye through the first round, and defeated
Rainer Schüttler Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in double ...
in three sets, advancing to the quarterfinals, where he fell to Guillermo García-López, also in three sets. He then played the Japan Open Tennis Championships, but suffered an upset defeat at the hands of World No. 432 Dmitry Tursunov. Gulbis suffered two more consecutive first-round losses at the hands of Richard Gasquet, at the
Shanghai Rolex Masters The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
, and Novak Djokovic, at the
Swiss Indoors The Swiss Indoors is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. History The historical precursor event to this tournament was called the Swiss International Covered Courts th ...
. However, in his final tournament of the season, he bounced back at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 even in Paris, where he dispatched World No. 40 Juan Ignacio Chela and World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny, both in straight sets. He then fell to Andy Roddick, also in straight sets. Gulbis ended the year at a then-career-high of World No. 24.


2011: Second ATP title

To begin the year, Gulbis claimed wins in the first two rounds of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
precursor tournament, the
Qatar ExxonMobil Open The Qatar Open, currently known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals ( ...
, defeating Victor Hănescu and
Antonio Veić Antonio Veić (born 18 February 1988) is a Croatian former professional tennis player and current coach. His highest singles ranking is 119, which was reached on 14 May 2012. Tennis career 2009 Veić received a wild card for Zagreb Indoors an ...
, both in straight sets. Gulbis progressed to the quarterfinals, equaling his 2010 run, where he was defeated in a tight match against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Gulbis next played in the
2011 Medibank International Sydney The 2011 Medibank International Sydney was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 119th edition of the Medibank International Sydney, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the WTA Pr ...
. He received a bye through the first round due to being seeded third for the tournament and defeated Russian
Igor Andreev Igor Valeryevich Andreev (russian: link=no, И́горь Вале́рьевич Андре́ев, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles ti ...
in the second round in three sets. He then defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky in the quarterfinals, before losing to eventual champion Gilles Simon of France in the semifinals, citing fatigue as a cause for his low intensity. His next tournament was the
2011 Australian Open The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players wer ...
, where he lost in the first round to unseeded German Benjamin Becker in straight sets, again citing fatigue and illness for his poor showing. It marked his fifth consecutive loss at a Grand Slam event. Gulbis then withdrew from his next three tournaments, his ranking momentarily rising to his personal best of World No. 21 due to Marin Čilić failing to defend his points from the 2010 Australian Open. Gulbis returned to the tour in late February. His next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships, an outdoor hard-court tournament, which was held simultaneously with the
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...
, the tournament at which Gulbis attained his first ATP title. In the first round, seeded 8th, Gulbis won against wild card entrant and former doubles partner Michael Berrer, despite having trouble with his first serve, giving away seven double faults throughout the match. Gulbis fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in the second round in three sets. Gulbis' season did little to improve as he next played in the
2011 BNP Paribas Open The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 38th edition of the men's event (23rd for the women), known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters ...
, receiving a bye through the first round, before struggling with Lu Yen-Hsun, but ultimately prevailing, with the first two sets going to tiebreaks. In the third round, he was swiftly defeated by eventual winner Novak Djokovic, winning one game. He then proceeded to play the
2011 Sony Ericsson Open The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open (also known as 2011 Miami Masters), a men's and women's tennis tournament, was held from March 22 to April 3, 2011. It was the 27th edition of the Miami Masters event and played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Cen ...
, receiving a bye through the first round, but losing in the second round to World No. 72 Carlos Berlocq. Ranked World No. 30 going into the Monte-Carlo Masters, he defeated the Ukrainian World No. 21
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
in his first round in straight sets, before losing to Milos Raonic in the second round, also in straight sets. Gulbis proceeded to lose in the first round of the
2011 Serbia Open The 2011 Serbia Open (also known as ''Serbia Open 2011 powered by Telekom Srbija'' for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. The third edition of the event, hosted by current Serbian player Novak Djokovi ...
to Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, in straight sets. From late April to mid-May, Gulbis took three weeks off due to fatigue before competing in the
2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur The 2011 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur was a men's tennis tournament play on outdoor clay courts. It was the 27th edition of the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at th ...
. In his first two rounds, he defeated Fabio Fognini and Denis Istomin, both in three sets, before falling to World No. 6 Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals. From there, Gulbis' playing deteriorated further as his ranking dropped from No. 30 to No. 85 during the clay-court season, failing to defend his deep runs in 2010. He proceeded to lose his next four matches in a row: against
Blaž Kavčič Blaž Kavčič (born 5 March 1987) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. He was the highest ranked Slovenian male player ever, achieving a career-high of World No. 68 in August 2012, until Aljaž Bedene began to play for Slovenia a ...
at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, against Adrian Mannarino at the Queen's Club Championships, against
Dmitri Tursunov Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
(which marked his seventh, consecutive first-round exit at a Grand Slam, and after which he took nearly a month off from tennis to train with his new coach), and against former World No. 4 James Blake at the
Atlanta Tennis Championships The Atlanta Open (known for sponsorship reasons as the Truist Atlanta Open), is a professional men's tennis tournament that has been played in the Atlanta area in the United States since 2010, usually during July or August. The tournament is pl ...
. However, Gulbis won his second ATP title at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, where he snapped his five-match losing streak by defeating fifth seed Belgian Xavier Malisse in a final set tiebreak in the first-round. He then defeated American qualifier Daniel Kosakowski in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Juan Martín del Potro with relative ease, before defeating Russian
Alex Bogomolov Jr. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bogomolov Jr. (russian: Александр Александрович «Алекс» Богомолов; born April 23, 1983), nicknamed Bogie, is a Russian-American retired professional tennis player. Tennis caree ...
in the semifinals. He faced top seed and World No. 9 Mardy Fish in the finals; after double-faulting to hand Fish the first set, he rallied to win the championship match in a close three setter. Gulbis received a wildcard entry into the 2011
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
. He defeated former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in three sets in the first round, and proceeded to defeat
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
in the second round after Llodra retired, trailing in the second set. In the third round, he fell to eventual finalist Mardy Fish, whom he had recently defeated, in another tight three-setter. He then qualified for the 2011
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, where he lost to Croatian Ivan Dodig in two sets. Gulbis reached the second round of the US Open, but lost to Gilles Müller in the third round. He was later fined for improper coaching by the USTA. Gulbis played five more tournaments that year – all hard court – but had four first-round exits and one second-round exit.


2012: Lack of consistency and form

Gulbis began the year with three first-round losses at Doha, Melbourne and Memphis, but in between won two singles rubbers for the Latvian Davis Cup match against Egypt. He also represented Latvia against Hungary, winning one of his two singles rubbers. Prior to that, Gulbis reached the quarterfinals at Delray Beach, defeating Alejandro Falla and Steve Darcis before going down to Marinko Matosevic. Gulbis' only wins during the clay court season were first round wins at Munich and a challenger event, losing in five sets to Mikhail Kukushkin at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. During this time, Gulbis was transitioning to a new coach, Gunter Bresnik, the former Austrian Davis Cup Captain who had previously worked with Becker and Leconte. Guilbis reached the second round at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
by dispatching World No. 7 and sixth seed Tomáš Berdych in three tiebreak sets. He lost in the second round in 5 sets to rising star
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
. Gulbis lost to Fernando Verdasco in a topsy-turvy match in the second round of the
Croatia Open The Croatia Open (currently sponsored by Plava laguna) is a men's ATP tennis tournament held in Umag, Croatia that is part of the 250 series of the ATP Tour. The tournament began in 1990 when it was part of Yugoslavia, and is the oldest tennis t ...
. Gulbis then reached the quarterfinals in Gstaad, losing to Paul-Henri Mathieu. He qualified for Winston-Salem, reaching the third round, before falling to
Marcel Granollers Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
. Gulbis won the first round of the US Open over Tommy Haas, but crashed out in next round against the American Qualifier Steve Johnson. He finished the year by playing some Challenger tournaments. He took a break due to a leg injury. He came back for the Vienna indoor tournament, where he fell in the second round to Janko Tipsarević. Gulbis didn't manage to qualify for Basel, but reached the final of the Challenger in Eckental, where he lost to Daniel Brands. Later on he had to skip the last two Challengers of the year due illness. He decided to take a longer off-season in order to prepare best for next season.


2013: Third and Fourth ATP titles

Gulbis skipped the Australian Open to have a longer off-season and played two Challenger tournaments, where he went out in the second and first rounds. In Rotterdam, he qualified for the maindraw. It was his first ATP tournament of the year, he defeated Robin Haase in the first round, but lost to Juan Martín del Potro in the second, after a first-set tiebreak. For the ATP tournament Marseille, he received a wildcard. After a win against Nieminen, he lost a tight match against Tomáš Berdych. He went to Florida to qualify for the Delray Beach ATP tournament. After winning seven matches to reach the final, including wins against Sam Querrey and Tommy Haas, Gulbis won his third career ATP title by defeating Édouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets to claim his first title since 2011. Gulbis continued his excellent start to 2013 with a great run at the
BNP Paribas Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
in Indian Wells. After winning his two qualifying rounds, he beat Spaniard Feliciano López in straight sets, crushed ninth seed Janko Tipsarević for the loss of only two games, and then defeated 20th seed Andreas Seppi from a set down to set up a fourth round meeting with the returning Rafael Nadal. Gulbis lost in a tight three setter after taking the first set 6–4, ending his win streak at 13 matches. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Gulbis lost in the second round to Gaël Monfils despite taking the first set. At Wimbledon, he defeated Édouard Roger-Vasselin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but was beaten by Fernando Verdasco in the third round. Gulbis defeated Feliciano López, Fabio Fognini, and
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
to make the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup, losing to finalist Milos Raonic in three sets. He lost in the first round in Cincinnati and at the US Open to Mikhail Youzhny and Andreas Haider-Maurer, respectively. Gulbis won his fourth career ATP tournament in the
St. Petersburg Open The St. Petersburg Open (russian: Открытый Санкт-Петербург) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tou ...
, defeating Guillermo García-López in the final. He came back from being down a set and 1–4 to reel off 11 straight games to take the match. It was the first time Gulbis had won more than one ATP title in a single season. As a result, Gulbis rose to No. 27 in the ATP World Tour rankings, improving this season's positive overall match record to 34–15. Gulbis was absent from the 2013 China Open and the
2013 Shanghai Rolex Masters The 2013 Shanghai Rolex Masters was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the fifth edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2013 ATP World Tour. It took place at ...
due to illness. He made his next appearance at the
2013 If Stockholm Open The 2013 If Stockholm Open was a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 45th edition of the tournament, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2013 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Kungliga ten ...
where Gulbis made it to the semi-final stage, losing to David Ferrer in three sets. During the tournament, Gulbis defeated Jérémy Chardy,
Igor Sijsling Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of Australian Open Do ...
and
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
. Gulbis finished his season with two first round defeats by John Isner and Fernando Verdasco at the 2013
Valencia Open 500 The Valencia Open, formerly known as Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, was a professional men's tennis tournament played in Valencia, Spain. It was part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. The tournament was first played in ...
and the
2013 BNP Paribas Masters The 2013 BNP Paribas Masters was a professional men's tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts. It was the 41st edition of the tournament, which is part of the 2013 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Palais omnisports de Par ...
respectively.


2014 Best season: Fifth and Sixth ATP titles, top-10 ranking and first Grand Slam semifinal

Gulbis started the new season in Doha, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal for the seventh time in his career, in straight sets. Gulbis was seeded at the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, and defeated Juan Mónaco in the first round in four sets by coming back from losing the first set. Gulbis ended the tournament in the second round by losing to Sam Querrey in straight sets. Gulbis reached the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open, defeating Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Martín del Potro along the way. He lost the semi-final to the eventual champion Tomáš Berdych. Gulbis won his fifth ATP title at the
2014 Open 13 The 2014 Open 13 was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 21st edition of the Open 13, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2014 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Palais des Sports in Marseille, France, ...
in Marseille, beating 3 Frenchmen in succession without losing a set – Nicolas Mahut, then world No.9 Richard Gasquet in the semi-final, then No.10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. With this victory, he entered the ATP Top 20 for the first time in his career, at No.18. Gulbis then played in
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
where he was seeded seventh, beating Yen-hsun Lu and David Goffin, then losing two sets to one to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. Next, in March, he played at Indian Wells. He beat João Sousa, Grigor Dimitrov and
Roberto Bautista-Agut Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in singles, which he first achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista ...
, but then lost in two tie-break sets to John Isner in the 1/4-finals. At Indian Wells, he also played in the doubles with partner Milos Raonic. They beat Serbia's wildcards Novak Djokovic and Krajinović in round 1, but then lost to Swiss duo Federer and Wawrinka in the second round in two tie-break sets. Gulbis then played in Miami, where he was seeded 21st and had a bye into the second round. In an almost two and a half hour match, Gulbis lost in three tight sets to veteran Julien Benneteau, having conceded a match point during the match. Gulbis started his clay-court season in Monte-Carlo but was defeated in the first round by
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
in straight sets. Gulbis also played in the doubles tournament with Milos Raonic, but lost in the first round to Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah. His next tournament was the Barcelona Open. Along the way to the semifinals, Gulbis defeated
Daniel Gimeno-Traver Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
,
Albert Montañés Albert Montañés Roca (; born 26 November 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain. He first entered the top 100 in 2001. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010 and has won six singles titles and two ...
, and
Teymuraz Gabashvili Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 4 ...
. Gulbis was eventually defeated by Kei Nishikori. Gulbis performed well in the Madrid Masters 1000. In the first round, Gulbis defeated
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
in three sets. Then, in the second round, Gulbis outmatched
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
in two sets followed by a round of 16 win against Marin Čilić in straight sets. All these tennis players were ranked among the top 30 in the ATP rankings at that time. In the quarter-finals, Gulbis lost in straight sets to David Ferrer. Following the tournament, Gulbis reached a new career-high ranking of No. 17. Gulbis reached the quarterfinal stage also in the Rome Masters 1000, defeating Alejandro Falla and Stéphane Robert in the process. However, Gulbis then lost to David Ferrer again in straight sets. In May, Gulbis won his sixth ATP title, beating
Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 33 achieved on 9 May 2016. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 achieved on 22 July 2019. Pro ...
in the final of the ATP Nice Open. It was Gulbis' first ATP singles title on clay. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Gulbis reached the quarterfinals for the second time courtesy of a five-set victory over world No. 4 and 2009 champion Roger Federer. He followed this up with a straight-set win over Tomáš Berdych to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. As a result of this run, Gulbis entered the ATP's top 10 for the first time in his career. Gulbis' form dropped in the second part of the season, evidenced by his 9–10 win–loss record, following Roland Garros. Gulbis lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the round of 64 at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
and to Julien Benneteau and Steve Johnson in the round of 32 at the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
and
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
respectively. Gulbis also struggled with a shoulder injury in the later part of the season. At the US Open, Gulbis crucially lost to Dominic Thiem in five sets, losing the final three, what seemed to have a negative impact on his confidence and physical condition for the rest of the season. Despite reaching the semifinals of the Malaysian Open, Gulbis retired in the round of 16 of the China Open, lost in the round of 64 of the Shanghai Masters, and was defeated in the round of 32 by Borna Ćorić at the
Swiss Indoors The Swiss Indoors is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. History The historical precursor event to this tournament was called the Swiss International Covered Courts th ...
in Basel. Gulbis finished the season early due to concerns over his shoulder and illness. Nevertheless, Gulbis finished his best career season as No. 13, which became his highest year-end ATP ranking.


2015: Struggle with form and fall in rankings

Gulbis started his season in Auckland as second seed. He lost his first match of the year to the Czech qualifier
Jiří Veselý Jiří Veselý (; born 10 July 1993) is a Czech professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 35 on 27 April 2015. He is currently the No. 2 Czech tennis player in singles, as he lost his previous ...
2–6, 6–3, 1–6. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Gulbis was seeded eleventh, but was defeated by the Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round. At the Open 13 in Marseille, Gulbis failed to defend his title from 2014, falling to Jérémy Chardy in two sets in the round of 16. Gulbis took his first win of the season against
Daniel Gimeno-Traver Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
at the
BNP Paribas Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
in Indiana Wells. It was the latest first win of the season in ATP level tournaments for Gulbis since 2007. Afterwards, he fell to Adrian Mannarino in two sets in the round of 32. Gulbis also failed to defend his title from 2014 at the ATP Nice Open, losing to Dominic Thiem in two sets in the quarter-finals. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Gulbis lost in the second round to Nicolas Mahut, having won in the first round against
Igor Sijsling Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of Australian Open Do ...
. As a result, Gulbis dropped outside the top 75 in the ATP rankings, having failed to defend the ranking points for his semifinal appearance in 2014. Gulbis then lost in the first round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
to Lukáš Rosol in three sets. Having recorded a dismal 1–3 win–loss record at the first three Grand Slams of the season, it was the worst performance for Gulbis at these tournaments since 2012. Gulbis showed signs of revival at the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, reaching the quarter-finals. Despite having 2 match points against world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the second set, he went on to lose the match. Gulbis had reached the quarter-final stage of at least one Masters 1000 tournament for a third season in a row. At the US Open, Gulbis retired in the first round match against Aljaž Bedene due to injury.


2016: Continued struggle with form

Having lost in the qualifying rounds of the first two ATP tournaments of the season in Australia in Brisbane and
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Gulbis went on to lose in the round of 128 at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
against Jérémy Chardy. Gulbis won his first match of the season against world No. 171 Quentin Halys at the
2016 Open Sud de France The 2016 Open Sud de France was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 29th edition of the Open Sud de France, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2016 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Arena Montpellier in ...
, but lost in the round of 16 to Richard Gasquet in straight sets, who went on to retain his title from the previous year. Gulbis went through qualifying at the Rotterdam Open, but then lost in the round of 32 to Gaël Monfils. Gulbis lost to Richard Gasquet for a second consecutive time in 2016 at the Open 13 in Marseille in the round of 16. Following this came a string of losses in the first rounds of four consecutive ATP tournaments: at the
BNP Paribas Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
in Indian Wells, at the
2016 Miami Open The 2016 Miami Open presented by Itaú (also known as 2016 Miami Masters) was a professional men and women's tennis tournament being played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 32nd edition of the Miami Open, and was part of the Masters 1000 cate ...
, at the
2016 Barcelona Open The 2016 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (also known as the ''Torneo Godó'') was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 64th edition of the event and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2016 ATP World Tour. It ...
, and the
2016 BMW Open The 2016 BMW Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 101st edition of the event, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2016 ATP World Tour. It took place at the MTTC Iphitos complex in Munich, Germ ...
in Munich. After that, Gulbis failed to qualify for the
2016 Mutua Madrid Open The 2016 Mutua Madrid Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from 30 April to 8 May 2016. It was the 15th edition of the event on the ATP World Tour and 8th on the WTA To ...
, losing to
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
in qualifying. Gulbis managed to break the losing streak at the 2016 Rome Master by getting through qualifying and beating Ivo Karlovic in three sets in the round of 64, but went down to Pouille in the next round for a second consecutive time (and tournament). Gulbis defeated Lithuania's Ričardas Berankis in the first round of the
2016 Geneva Open The 2016 Geneva Open (also known as the 2016 Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 14th edition of the Geneva Open and part of the ATP World Tour 250 serie ...
, but lost in the round of 16 to
Marin Cilic Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...
in straight sets. Gulbis appeared resurgent at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
by beating Andreas Seppi, João Sousa and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, losing his first set of the tournament only to the latter. Tsonga pulled out of the match due to injury, the second time Tsonga had to retire from a Grand Slam match against Gulbis. Gulbis then lost in the round of 16 to David Goffin in four sets. During the tournament, Gulbis cited injury of his shoulder as the cause for poor performances since 2015, having never fully recovered from it and refusing to have surgery. Before the tournament, Gulbis had split with his coach since 2012, Gunter Bresnik. Gulbis lost to Benjamin Becker in the first round in
Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...
and at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
to Jack Sock in straight sets.


2017: Wimbledon Third round

Gulbis did not play in the 2017 Australian Open and lost in qualifying in Rotterdam, Indian Wells, Miami, Barcelona, and Estoril. He lost in the first round of the 2017 Roland Garros to Marin Čilić, but made it to the third round of 2017 Wimbledon, beating
Juan Martin del Potro ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
in the second round before losing to Novak Djokovic. He made it to the second round in Bastad and the quarterfinals in Gstaad, losing to Fabio Fognini. He made it to the second round of the US Open, where he fell to Kevin Anderson. The rest of 2017 saw little success.


2018: Wimbledon Fourth round, Seventh ATP final

Gulbis reached the fourth round of
2018 Wimbledon The 2018 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main tournament began on Monday, 2 July 2018 and finished on Sunday, ...
as a qualifier by defeating 4th seed
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
in a five set match in the third round, before losing to Kei Nishikori in four sets. This was his best showing at this Grand Slam in his career. Gulbis made his first ATP Tour final in four years at the
2018 Stockholm Open The 2018 Stockholm Open (also known as the Intrum Stockholm Open for sponsorship purposes) was a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 50th edition of the tournament, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 serie ...
, losing to
Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
. This was his first loss at a final, having previously won six singles titles and two doubles titles. In 2018 Gulbis made his way back to Top 100 men's singles rankings, for the first time since the summer of 2016.


2019: Dip in form and rankings

Gulbis started off his 2019 year with a quarterfinal appearance at the Maharashtra Open and an
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
match against
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
where he won the 1st set 6–3 but retired in the 2nd set due to back issues. Throughout 2019, he would post a 6–17 record and his ranking would drop to 226 by the end of the year.


2020–2024: Australian Open third round, severe loss of form after COVID-19 break

Gulbis started off his 2020 season with a 3rd round appearance at the
2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. T ...
losing to Gaël Monfils in straight sets and his first challenger title since 2012 at the Pau Open. After the COVID-19 pandemic had suspended tennis from March to August, it would seem that Gulbis had lost his form from early 2020. From September 2020 to February 2021, Gulbis failed to win an ATP qualifying match or even a challenger match. Gulbis reached the third round of the qualifying competition at 2021 Wimbledon qualifying after he defeated
Dmitry Popko Dmitry Yevgenyevich Popko (russian: Дмитрий Евгеньевич Попко; born 24 October 1996) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. Popko has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 162 achieved on 25 October 2021. He ...
in the first round and then 3rd seed
Andrej Martin Andrej Martin (; born 20 September 1989, in Bratislava) is a Slovak professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 93 in February 2020. Career 2016: Best season: French Open third round, first ATP fin ...
where he lost only three games. He lost to
Brandon Nakashima Brandon Nakashima (born August 3, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 43 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved on 17 October 2022. On the same day, he ...
in straight sets. He repeated this feat at the 2021 US Open qualifying where he defeated 26th seed
Marc Polmans Marc David Polmans (born 2 May 1997) is a South African-born Australian tennis player. Polmans has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 116 achieved on 12 October 2020. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 68 a ...
and
Filip Horanský Filip Horanský (; born 7 January 1993) is a tennis player from Slovakia. Junior career Filip, with partner Jiří Veselý, won the 2011 Boys Doubles Australian Open. He also won the bronze medal in doubles at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, part ...
before losing to Quentin Halys in straight sets.


Davis Cup

Gulbis played in three
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
ties for Latvia (four singles; three doubles with
Deniss Pavlovs Deniss Pavlovs (born 15 April 1983) is a Latvian tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. On 20 July 2009, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 263, whilst his highest doubles ranking of 155 was reached on 23 Septe ...
). His participation in the tie against Monaco in September helped Latvia to qualify for the Europe/Africa Zone Group I tier of Davis Cup for the first time in its history. In 2010, Gulbis continued to participate on the Latvian Davis Cup team, playing against Poland, where he won both of his singles rubbers. In 2011, 2012, and 2013, he continued to play in Davis Cup competition for Latvia.


Playing style and equipment

Gulbis primarily employs an offensive baseline playing style. Gulbis' most consistent shot is his backhand, which is taken with rapid pace, relatively flat execution, and is difficult to read. Gulbis is also known for his finesse shots, including the offensive topspin
lob Lob may refer to: Sports * Lob (pickleball) * Lob (tennis) * Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football * Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket People * Lob Brown, American college football player * L ...
and drop shot, both of which he can strike from any position, including from deep in the court. Gulbis employs the drop shot consistently and often, sometimes to the point of derision. Gulbis plays an extremely aggressive, winner-driven game, which often leads to a high
unforced error This page is a glossary of tennis terminology. A * Ace: Serve where the tennis ball lands inside the '' service box'' and is not touched by the receiver; thus, a shot that is both a serve and a winner is an ace. Aces are usually powerful and ge ...
count, making his consistency an issue in tough matches, often causing him to be likened to Marat Safin. Despite playing a style more attuned to fast surfaces, his strong showing at the
2008 French Open The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 25 May until 8 J ...
,
2010 Rome Masters The 2010 Italian Open (also known as the 2010 Rome Masters and sponsored title 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia) was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event ...
and
2014 French Open The 2014 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 118th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June. It consisted of e ...
are attributed to his powerful and flat strokes which can play through the surface. His aggressive baseline game is coupled with an extremely powerful serve, often reaching the upper 130's and low 140's in mph; however, Gulbis has struggled with his second serve, and often has high double fault statistics across the ATP leaderboard. Other weaknesses are his consistency and his nerves; despite a strong serve and return, Gulbis has poor break point conversion, break point save and tie-break statistics. On numerous occasions he has had strings of uncharacteristic unforced errors when serving or returning for sets or matches, as well as hitting numerous "easy" smashes well out in tough situations, something he has become known for and often jokes about in interviews. However, to his credit, he has a good record in ATP finals, winning 6 of the 7 finals he has been in for ATP events. As of February 2013, Gulbis uses a
Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...
Steam 99 paintjob racquet after switching from
Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
. His strings are Luxilon ALU Power 16L strung at 59/57 lbs. Gulbis uses Tourna grip on a white Hydrocontrol grip. He endorses
adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
for his attire.


Performance timelines


Singles

''Current through the
2022 ATP Tour The 2022 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2022 tennis season. The 2022 ATP Tour calendar comprised the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by the In ...
.''


ATP career finals


Singles: 7 (6 titles, 1 runner-up)


Doubles: 2 (2 titles)


ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals


Singles: 14 (8–6)


Doubles: 4 (3–1)


Record against top-10 players

Gulbis' match record against players who were ranked world No. 10 or higher at the time is as follows, with those who have been No. 1 in boldface: * Radek Štěpánek 4–0 * Fabio Fognini 4–2 * John Isner 4–3 * Roberto Bautista Agut 3–1 * James Blake 3–1 * Juan Martín del Potro 3–3 * Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–3 * Tomáš Berdych 3–4 * Mikhail Youzhny 3–5 * Joachim Johansson 2–0 * Nicolás Massú 2–0 * Grigor Dimitrov 2–1 * Jack Sock 2–1 * Janko Tipsarević 2–2 * Roger Federer 2–3 * Tommy Haas 2–4 * Marcos Baghdatis 2–5 *
Juan Monaco ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
2–5 * Tim Henman 1–0 * Hubert Hurkacz 1–0 *
Nicolás Lapentti Nicolás Alexander Lapentti Gómez (; born 13 August 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Ecuador. His brothers, Giovanni Lapentti, Giovanni and Leonardo, uncle Andrés Gómez, Andrés, and cousins Roberto Quiroz, Roberto and Emil ...
1–0 * Jürgen Melzer 1–0 * Tommy Robredo 1–0 *
Rainer Schüttler Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in double ...
1–0 * Denis Shapovalov 1–0 * Nicolás Almagro 1–1 * Mario Ančić 1–1 * Kevin Anderson 1–1 * Félix Auger-Aliassime 1–1 * Arnaud Clément 1–1 * Juan Carlos Ferrero 1–1 * Nicolas Kiefer 1–1 * Carlos Moyá 1–1 *
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
1–1 * Mardy Fish 1–2 * David Goffin 1–2 * Marin Čilić 1–3 * Dominic Thiem 1–3 * Richard Gasquet 1–4 * Fernando Verdasco 1–4 *
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
1–5 * Novak Djokovic 1–7 * Matteo Berrettini 0–1 * Guillermo Cañas 0–1 * Fernando González 0–1 * Karen Khachanov 0–1 * Ivan Ljubičić 0–1 * Casper Ruud 0–1 *
Diego Schwartzman Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist, his be ...
0–1 * Robin Söderling 0–1 *
Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
0–1 * David Nalbandian 0–2 *
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
0–2 * Marat Safin 0–2 *
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
0–2 * Nikolay Davydenko 0–3 * Gaël Monfils 0–3 * Kei Nishikori 0–3 * Andy Roddick 0–3 * Gilles Simon 0–3 * David Ferrer 0–4 * Milos Raonic 0–4 * Rafael Nadal 0–7 :''* Statistics correct as of 3 October 2023.''


Wins over top-10 players

*Gulbis has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.


Records


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gulbis, Ernests Living people 1988 births Latvian male tennis players Sportspeople from Riga Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players for Latvia