Ernests Gulbis remains a Latvian sensation. His tennis simply shows itself as sensational on occasion, for the duration of a tournament or a match or two. He was once considered an entitled brat but fended off that distinction (whether fair or not at the time), largely thanks to some scintillating play. But he has since regressed at times to make that appear a rather adept moniker. That said, there was really no excuse for his vexing behavior at the Monte Carlo ATP event, in a match against Argentina's Juan Monaco, who proceeded to scold him after the third movement of his symphony of shame:

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Chris Oddo at Tennis Now documents the match in typically great, readable fashion here. What's your own read of Gulbis's latest example of bratty behavior? For me, frustration means responding as a professional in more than name only, not resorting to smacking a racquet on the umpire's chair. That is conduct that does not become a champion, if ever Gulbis will reveal himself as a true champ for the ages. He's got talent, to be sure. He also has a lot of growing up to do. On both counts, he is hardly alone. Even so, once more, his actions are intolerable at present. It's up to him to decide if he will go down in the annals of tennis as one of the admittedly most entertaining once-and-future brats.

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