Ernests Gulbis dispatches Andrew Paulson 7-5 5-7 6-4 in the 2nd round in the Prague Challenger on Tuesday. Gulbis will try to keep the momentum against Aslan Karatsev in the 3rd round.
Score, report, and key facts
Ernests won the set after he broke the Czech in the 5th (3-2) and in the 11th (6-5) game. The Czech tried to stage a comeback breaking in the 10th (5-5) game. Yet, Ernests maintained the focus to conquer the set 7-5.
Ernests converted 66% of his break points (2/3). He had 3 break points opportunities in the 5th (2-2 30-40) and the 11th game (5-5 30-40 and 40-A). Moreover, on the other side, Paulson converted 50% of his break points (1/2). He had his opportunities in the 10th game (4-5 15-40 and 30-40).
They contested 64 points. The Latvian was the one to win the set after conquering 6 points more than the Czech (35-29). Gulbis surrendered 8 points on serve (22-8). On the other side, Paulson conceded 13 points on serve (21-13).
The set was pretty even as both players managed to hold serve with the notable exception of 1 break that the Czech conquered in the 12th game (7-5).
The Czech wasted a good opportunity to break the Latvian in the 4th game when he had 3 consecutive chances (0-40).
Andrew was unable to convert any of the 6 conquered break points. He had 6 break points opportunities in the 4th (2-1 0-40, 15-40 and 30-40), the 8th (4-3 30-40) and the 12th game (6-5 0-40 and 15-40). On the other side, Gulbis wasn’t able to convert 1 break point in the 11th game (5-5 40-A).
They played 73 points. Paulson was the winner of the set after clinching 9 points more than Ernests (41-32). The Czech conceded 8 points on serve (26-8). In addition, on the other side, Gulbis conceded 15 points on serve (24-15).
Both players managed to hold their serve for the entire set. The only difference was just 1 break that Gulbis clinched in the 7th game (4-3) prior to finally winning the set (6-4).
Ernests converted 25% of his break points (1/4). He had 4 break points opportunities in the 7th game (3-3 0-40, 15-40, 30-40 and 40-A). On the other side, Andrew was unable to convert any of his 4 break points. He had 4 break points opportunities in the 6th (3-2 15-40 and 30-40) and the 10th game (4-5 30-40 and 40-A).
They played 63 points. This was a hard-fought set and finally Ernests won just 1 point more than the Czech (32-31). The Latvian lost 12 points on serve (23-12). On the other side, the Czech conceded 9 points on serve (19-9).
Gulbis will add to his prize money € 860 after winning this match. He has won already € 2,180 after this win. If he wins the next match, Gulbis will add € 1,530 to his earnings to earn € 3,710 in total.
Match Statistics
Ernests won this match even if he scored less points than Paulson (99 vs. 101).
Ernests served extremely well to win 80% of the points (36/45) behind his first serve, and he won 56% points (33/59) on his second serve. Gulbis won this match even if he was struggling to find the solution in converting his break points after he converted only 38% (3/8) of the procured opportunities. On the other side, the Czech was battling in converting his break points (only 17% – 2/12). That was one of the key issues for his demise.
After this encounter, the head to head between Gulbis and Paulson is 1-0 for Ernests.
Draw and next match H2H: Ernests Gulbis vs. Aslan Karatsev – stats
Gulbis will play Karatsev in the 3rd round.
There is no head to head record between Ernests Gulbis and Aslan Karatsev since this will be the first time that they will play each other in the main tour.
Tennis Scores in Prague Challenger
- Ernests GulbisGulbis – Andrew PaulsonPaulson (7-5 5-7 6-4) – Stats and score progression
- Michael VrbenskyVrbensky – Steven DiezDiez (7-5 6-3) – Stats and score progression
- Henri LaaksonenLaaksonen – Jan SatralSatral (6-3 3-6 7-5) – Stats and score progression
- Philipp KohlschreiberKohlschreiber – Mats MoraingMoraing (6-1 7-63) – Stats and score progression
- Oscar OtteOtte – Arthur RinderknechRinderknech (6-2 6-3) – Stats and score progression
- Jiri LeheckaLehecka – Blaz RolaRola (6-4 7-64) – Stats and score progression
- Tomas MachacMachac – Ilya IvashkaIvashka (6-0 7-5) – Stats and score progression
- Stan WawrinkaWawrinka – Roman SafiullinSafiullin (6-1 4-6 6-1) – Stats and score progression
- Pierre-Hugues HerbertHerbert – Jonas ForejtekForejtek (2-6 6-4 6-3) – Stats and score progression
- Jozef KovalikKovalik – Adrian Menendez-MaceirasMenendez-Maceiras (4-6 6-1 6-2) – Stats and score progression
- Tallon GriekspoorGriekspoor – Kimmer CoppejansCoppejans (5-7 6-4 6-3) – Stats and score progression
- Zdenek KolarKolar – Sebastian OfnerOfner (7-67 7-5) – Stats and score progression
- Sumit NagalNagal – Jay ClarkeClarke (6-3 5-7 4-1 ret.) – Stats and score progression
- Aslan KaratsevKaratsev – Jiri VeselyVesely (6-3 6-4) – Stats and score progression
Upcoming matches
- Philipp KohlschreiberKohlschreiber – Michael VrbenskyVrbensky (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Stan WawrinkaWawrinka – Oscar OtteOtte (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Ernests GulbisGulbis – Aslan KaratsevKaratsev (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Martin KlizanKlizan – Elias YmerYmer (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Arthur De GreefDe Greef – Yannick MadenMaden (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Jozef KovalikKovalik – Tallon GriekspoorGriekspoor (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Zdenek KolarKolar – Pierre-Hugues HerbertHerbert (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Jiri LeheckaLehecka – Sumit NagalNagal (0-0) – H2H details and stats
