Gulbis Doesn’t Like Djokovic And Condemns Players Chasing Dollars

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 18th September 2013

Gulbis Doesn’t Like Djokovic And Condemns Players Chasing Dollars

epa01495955 Latvian Ernest Gulbis returns the ball to Italian Andrea Seppi during their singles match in the Davis Cup encounter between Italy and Latvia in Montecatini, Tuscany Region, Italy, 21 September 2008. EPA/CARLO FERRARO |

Ernest Gulbis has been one of the most outspoken men on tour since he arrived as a full time player in 2006.

As the son of one of the richest men in Latvia, the hard-hitting Gulbis is having one of his best seasons to date, and is currently ranked No. 36. But he is no fan of automatons on tour and has plenty of opinion about the game’s top players In fact, in a recent interview with a Latvian newspaper he took aim at one of his junior rivals, Novak Djokovic.

“I’ve known him since I was 12 years old. We trained and lived together in the same room in Munich,” Gulbis said. I remember he was a normal, cool guy. But when he achieved his first big success then the look in his eyes just changed. You could just feel it. It’s not like we argued or anything, I just feel like he has changed and I don’t like that in people. I like strong characters that don’t change when first success or money appear – that’s the most important quality for me and it’s also important for myself not to change.”

Gulbis seems to be taking aim at other players too often, but he says that he does have friends on tour and does like some other players.

“I’m really happy for some of the guys,” he said. “I’m really happy for [Stan] Wawrinka for reaching (the US Open) semi-final, for (Richard) Gasquet too. I know those guys well, they are cool. Some of the top guys like Novak I don’t like too much.”

While some other players don’t like to publicly criticize their peers, Gulbis has to problem doing so. In fact, it seems like he is more than comfortable in that role.

“To be honest I actually like to provoke others sometimes,” he said. “I said few times about Nadal and other top players that they are boring in their interviews and such. Everybody just acts the same, everybody’s the same. I don’t want to be like all the others, I want to be different.

Top players are money earning machines – if they would say something “not right” then they could lose contracts, sponsors and they are afraid of it. If you have started to act one way then you have to continue to act that way – Roger [Federer] started to act as Swiss gentleman and now he has to continue to act like one, if he did something different, nobody would understand that. I’m all for individualism, I don’t like if everybody’s the same – acts the same way, talks the same way – human beings are different, I don’t like when they act, I don’t like when people achieve something and then suddenly start to act differently.”

While Gulbis may come from money, he seems to have a good handle on what it takes to be a pro player these days especially in an era where most players travel with a coach and a physio.

“It seems like if you play Grand Slam and get 20 000 dollars for losing in first round that you have $20 000 in your pocket, it’s all good,” he said. “If I were from USA or England then if you play well, tennis federation helps, gives money, supports you. [Milos] Raonic, for example, gets like half a million a year from tennis federation to cover all his expenses and everything he wins he gets to keep. It’s just nice that you can keep some money for winning.”

The 25-year-old Gulbis is said to have enough family money where he does not have to play to make a living. He says that he respects players who have to earn money for their families but does not believe that chasing dollars should be a player’s sole purpose in life.

“Someone plays for the fame, others for records or money,” he said. “When you reach your goal, you need to find another reason to continue to play for. Roger definitely played for money for some time. Then he got the money, he played for the fame, got the fame and played for records. Now that he has fallen in the rankings I think he plays to prove that he can make a comeback. I don’t know if he can manage it, but you always have to have some kind of motivation.

And money can’t be the ultimate goal – it’s not right, it’s not a pure goal. If you think about money as a tool for helping yourself being a better person, helping people around you then it’s a pure goal, but if you need money just to buy a new purse, then I don’t understand those kind of people and why they do it.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Ernest Gulbis, Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis

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nycsandygirl says:

September 18, 2013 at 7:46 am

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Jess_Keep_Real1 says:

September 18, 2013 at 7:48 am

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marinvall says:

September 18, 2013 at 7:56 am

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quinnydreddiva says:

September 18, 2013 at 8:14 am

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CoachCColey says:

September 18, 2013 at 4:25 pm

Wow Gulbis never hesitates to speak his mind. Words against Djoker n playing for money. Entertaining http://t.co/HHZj81zW4k #ATP #Gulbis