Mal en el día, bien en la noche
Escrito el 01 May 2010 | 02:10 am
 
Si bien Juan Martin sigue con el problema en su muñeca y su vuelta cada vez es mas incierta, él mata sus "angustias" saliendo de noche y disfrutando como un jóven de 21 años. Se lo vio bailando en una disco junto a dos chicas, sí, dos. No solo no pierde el tiempo, sino que arrasa por las noches. Mientras tanto, su manager dijo que no es problema anímico la demora del regreso, sino que cada vez más se plantea la opción de una operación en la muñeca.

Gulbis's thoughts
 
After dazzling on court and in the press room all week, Ernests Gulbis finally bowed out, but not without a flourish
 
His performance against Rafael Nadal, No.3 seed, four-time Rome (and Roland Garros) champion was above and beyond what everyone expected, taking him to 4-4 in the final set before finally succumbing in a tie where he matched the king of clay blow for blow, winner for winner, for nigh on three hours.
 
“I started bad and in the first set I was a little nervous against him. In the second set I got into the game and I was playing much better. I got my backhand working, my forehand and my serve too, and I think he was pretty frightened to play on my forehand because I was pushing the ball quite hard and I was also dictating the pace. On clay it's tough to hit my backhand because the ball comes higher. I did my best, I lost but it was good.”
 
“Honestly I expected a little bit more from him today,” he continued with his usual frankness. “I thought he was going to be much tougher on my backhand against his left-handed forehand with spin so I thought that was going to be tough, but actually I got into the game and didn't have any problems in going into rallies with him. I knew it was going to be tough because it doesn't really matter who is serving in the end. The last game of the match, I would have preferred him to serve. It was a little bit of extra pressure for me and I rushed things and tried to win the points too early or too fast. He just kept the ball in the court and he really didn't do much in the last game. I made some mistakes – you don't wait for him to make mistakes.”
 
“I hope I'll be in form for the French Open and Wimbledon and I hope I don't have to play against the top players right away because it's the first matches which are the toughest ones,” he said of the forthcoming European Grand Slams. “I think I have a good chance in these tournaments if I'm stable enough, if I don't go out of my mind and if I don't take a holiday when I shouldn't be taking one.”
 
The latter quip was a return to his trademark humour which is never far away in the press room, leaving fans and journalists alike counting the days until he is in action again in Madrid. When asked about the fact that Victoria Azarenka, Daniela Hantuchova and Melanie Oudin were watching his match today, a smile broke out. “Who was watching me play today? I'm becoming popular with the girls now! I'm flying home tonight and there in Latvia it is Saturday night...! (laughter) Vika is just an old friend and I think she likes the way I'm playing. I think she might want to learn something from me!”
 
After this week’s sterling performances, there will be plenty of players, WTA and ATP alike, who can learn from the Latvian

RAFA SHRUGS OFF BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE
Through to fifth Rome final despite 'one of my worst days'
To defeat Rafael Nadal on clay, you have to play your very best tennis and hope that the Majorcan is below par. And sometimes even that is not enough
 
Unseeded Ernests Gulbis pushed Nadal all the way in Saturday’s semi-final, and even though he saw off the challenge of the man who put world No.1 Roger Federer out at the first hurdle earlier this week, Rafa was relieved at getting through and in self-critical mode.
 
“I think I played worse than I played in the last few days. Gulbis’ serve was unbelievable. I had a break in the first game of the match and then I got another one in the last game but all the time he was serving at 200, 210, 215 km/h – very difficult to return. In the second set I played bad and probably I played better in the first. In the end I won the match but it was difficult in the third set and he was playing well from the baseline. I was happy that I won the first set because that gave me much more confidence to win the third set.”
 
The victory seemed to give Nadal a real sense of satisfaction, with fists pumped, knees bent and lungs filled as he roared his delight and relief at the end of the match. Was he pleased that his reputation on clay was still intact? “I was happy because when I go on court I don't think about invincibility or these things - you think much more about these things than me – I was happy because I'm in the final of one of the most important tournament in the world and winning a very hard match. For some moments I had problems and I had some chances also. Perhaps I had more chances than he did but it was a difficult match. I wasn't thinking about losing on clay. It was a good match and a difficult opponent and it was a lot of points for me, and I'm going to try to win one of my favourite tournament in the world.”
 
“You cannot play very well every day,” he continued. “I have been doing so for a lot of matches and today was the first day that I didn't play very well. It is impossible to play at this level every day and the important thing is that today, I had a difficult match also mentally and so I stayed focused from the first set. It wasn't easy to play against Ernests because he plays so aggressive, and the thing is that I put too much pressure on myself with the serve and so I started to play more defensively and stayed a good two or three metres behind the baseline. This is dangerous against a player like him who can pack a lot of power in the ball and you are in his hands. That is what happened for a long time during the match and I'm going to have to be much better tomorrow if I want to win.”
 
Nadal will start as hot favourite against David Ferrer, whom he has beaten 10 times in 13 occasions, but as always, the reigning champion was remaining humble and taking nothing for granted against his Davis Cup team-mate. “We know each other and we have played each other many times. He was playing well today and he had a very good victory and I'm happy for him because he deserves to be in the final after Barcelona and Monte Carlo. It's always the same – I will play my best tennis and this type of match you can only win if you play your best and this is what I'm going to try and do tomorrow. I hope to do it and that's the way – no more chances if not, it's going to be impossible to win.”

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