GULBIS ENDS FEDERER GRAND SLAM CURSE BY REACHING FRENCH OPEN SEMIS

Written by: Staff on 3rd June 2014

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

GULBIS ENDS FEDERER GRAND SLAM CURSE BY REACHING FRENCH OPEN SEMIS

epa04238145 Ernest Gulbis of Latvia celebrates after beating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic their quarter final match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 03 June 2014. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA |

Gulbis ends Federer Grand Slam curse by reaching French Open semis

By Ricky Dimon

Before Ernests Gulbis took to court Suzanne Lenglen for quarterfinal action at the French Open on Tuesday, the last eight players who had knocked out Roger Federer in a Grand Slam had lost in the very next round. Not since Novak Djokovic at the 2011 U.S. Open had a player taken out Federer before winning his next match.

The list:

2014 Australian Open – Rafael Nadal d. Federer in the semis, l. to Stan Wawrinka in the final

2013 U.S. Open – Tommy Robredo d. Federer in the fourth round, l. to Nadal in the quarterfinals

2013 Wimbledon – Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Federer in the second round, l. to Jurgen Melzer in the third round

2013 French Open – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Federer in the quarterfinals, l. to David Ferrer in the semififinals

2013 Australian Open – Andy Murray d. Federer in the semifinals, l. to Djokovic in the final

2012 U.S. Open – Tomas Berdych d. Federer in the quarterfinals, l. to Andy Murray in the semifinals

2012 French Open – Djokovic d. Federer in the semifinals, l. to Nadal in the final

2012 Australian Open – Nadal d. Federer in the semifinals, l. to Djokovic in the final

Gulbis, who toppled Federer 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the fourth round on Sunday, finally ended the streak. The red-hot Latvian parlayed what he called the biggest win of his career into a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal thrashing of Tomas Berdych. Gulbis is through to his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal, in which he will face Djokovic on Friday.

“Today everything was good,” Gulbis assured. “I felt physically so good. I felt that I can run forever. I felt that he cannot make winner, you know? That’s how I felt on court. I felt that I covered it really well. If I feel so confident from the baseline, then everything just comes together.

“The way I’m playing now, I never played like this. I never felt like this.”

Djokovic, meanwhile, is two victories away from completing a career Grand Slam after seeing off Milos Raonic 7-5, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals. The world No. 2 is 4-1 lifetime against Gulbis, but they have not faced each other since 2011.

Topics: Ernests Gulbis, Federer, French Open, milos raonic, Novak, Roland Garros, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

June 3, 2014 at 8:36 pm

GULBIS ENDS FEDERER GRAND SLAM CURSE BY REACHING FRENCH OPEN SEMIS – http://t.co/pmfEgj5Z7N @ErnestsGulbis @rogerfederer #tennis #RG14
MumbleLoudly says:

June 3, 2014 at 8:49 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: GULBIS ENDS FEDERER GRAND SLAM CURSE BY REACHING FRENCH OPEN SEMIS – http://t.co/pmfEgj5Z7N @ErnestsGulbis @rogerfederer …
RD_Tennistalk says:

June 4, 2014 at 8:08 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: GULBIS ENDS FEDERER GRAND SLAM CURSE BY REACHING FRENCH OPEN SEMIS – http://t.co/pmfEgj5Z7N @ErnestsGulbis @rogerfederer …