Day 5: QF Doubles: Gulbis/Kunitsyn d. Murray/Vemic: 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-6. YAY, A WIN!!! Ernie and Kuni looked so impressive today, especially during the first set. Ernie was just killing the other team with his serves. He never lost any of his service games and he was equally impressive at the net, showing lightning reflexes and going toe-to-toe with the other guys on the "wolleys". Kuni was just as good and was the more stable player. At one point, Ernie started questioning a service call and was not letting it go. Kuni came over and told him to stop. Kuni is really growing on me. During the second set, they kind of played loose, particularly Ernie (who else?). He started missing those forehand shots. What the heck is wrong with his forehand that he makes a lot of UE's on that side? It's lethal but so unreliable. Imo, it ain't broke but it sure needs fixin'. But today is not a day to quibble. It's a goooood day! The best part about the match besides the win, of course, was seeing Ernie smile-giggle-laugh. A LOT. That was some eye-candy, I'm telling you. And it's so nice to see him rebound quickly from the loss yesterday. From the get go, he and Kuni looked like two boys let loose in summer camp (particularly Ernie), joking around, doing knuckle bumps, slapping hands, talking between points as though they had a running conversation, and smiling when the other scores a winner. They looked so relaxed together, as though this was just a friendly match in a local club. Of course, during the second set they got serious because they were getting some stiff competition. And during the tiebreak, they really got down to business. And now on to the semis. Sarauj! And oh, one more eye-candy...Ernie sitting cross-legged during the changeover. Have some beer, Ernie?



Let's see, what else. Ok, there was the match between Kuni and Dudi Sela, which Sela won. **sad face** When I say Kuni is growing on me, it's because of having seen him play Andreev and Petzschner, and winning against them from being down a set. He could have won the Sela match, too, but Sela was just very good and accurate on offense today and ran Kuni ragged in the third set. But Kuni is a fighter and a cool head on the court. What's not to like? Besides, whenever he plays, you can be sure of a Gulbis sighting. ha ha. Ms. Vika was there too. And Ainars and KHW. They are one tightknit group.



I also saw the del Potro/Stepanek match. Even though I can't stand watching del Potro's game (not del Potro himself), I purposely watched this one to study his game and understand why Erno could not win over this guy, besides the obvious reasons that we all know already. This was the third match of del Potro's that I've seen this week. Ugh! Btw, Stepanek beat him and I know exactly what he did to win this one. First of all, del Potro's game is nothing but offense. Defending or counterpunching is not for him. He is like a female Vika. Always attacking, always taking it to the other guy. He does this with a killer serve and solid groundstrokes on both sides. He can also track balls down because of his long strides and long arm reach so unless you have a killer dropshot, don't even think about it. So if you pit two offensive players against each other (del Potro vs Gulbis), obviously the one with the most consistency and accuracy wins. We all know how Ernie's game just unraveled yesterday with all the UE's while del Potro was just solid. Today, Stepanek was not anything spectacular, nor is he ever. He does not have a killer shot. But he mixed up his shots often and used A LOT of sliced backhands, all of which he patiently fed to del Potro- who was just waiting to smack them- until he drew an error. It helps that Stepanek is an experienced player who hardly misses a shot. He is a good all-courter and retriever, even on old legs! Sheesh. And he keeps his sense of humor on the court, too. Well he got under del Potro's skin and won in straights. If only Ernie stayed to watch this one.



There are other matches and players to blog about but unless they lead to Gulbis, ain't really worth the trouble. So I'll leave it here. It has been loads of fun blogging and coming to Memphis. Mission accomplished. Thanks a lot for reading.