What an incredible match.
Gulbis devastated Rafa in the first set to get a set point when he was leading 5-0 in 23 minutes. Everybody was stunned as bagelling the King of Clay on his surface in 23 minutes, well… that’s not normal!
But that was it! Finally Gulbis won the opener 6-1 displaying unbelievable tennis to then face a Rafa’s comeback. The Spaniard found a way to control the Latvian to win a tight 3 setter in 2 hours and 38 minutes.
From Rafa
“If you hit as hard as you can and hit every ball at 216 or 220 and that means being the best player, then perhaps he was the best player,” commented Rafa.
“For me, the best player finds solutions against the other player. When I served for the second set and I lost and also in the third, I still was fighting and I found solutions, so the best player won.”
Next vs. Ferrer
Rafa will play the quarters once again vs. Ferrer. Head to Head is 18-4 for Rafa that has already defeated Ferrer twice this year and the only time he lost a match against him on clay was in 2004.
