Ernests Gulbis is in the first ATP final of his career, more than three years after reaching the semifinals in his ATP debut at St. Petersburg in 2006. He defeated Jarkko Nieminen and the rain 6-4, 6-4 in Delray Beach to set up a final against Ivo Karlovic.
"Finally my first final. It feels really good," said Gulbis, who has gone 7-1 in the last two weeks after going over a year without winning more than two ATP matches in a row.
"I think I'm mentally stronger now. I feel different on the court now, I'm playing a bit smarter, I hope."
Gulbis ascribes part of the improvement to his coach Hernan Gumy, with whom he began working at the end of last season. "He made big improvements in every aspect of my game, but mentally maybe I'm getting a little bit older," said the Latvian.