Mornin' everyone. Meet Ernests Gulbis, a Latvian lad who will be playing Albert Montanes of Spain later today at Roland Garros, on Court 17, third match of the day. Don't know much about Ernests, but he's 19 and coached by Nikki Pilic, the former German Davis Cup squad captain and one of the finest male players produced by mini-power Croatia (although it was still Yugoslavia in Pilic's era). PIlic was, among other things, the guy who made geek cool in tennis; on court, he wore his all-white, 3-button Fred Perry tennis polo buttoned all the way to the top. Like it was too rare and precious a garment to wear in a casual manner, with a couple of buttons rakishly left open. And he stayed buttoned up, even in the heat of August in New York during the U.S. Open.
Pilic is also the the guy who defied the late and unlamented Yugoslavia Tennis Federation by refusing to play Davis Cup, a move that ultimately led to his suspension by the ITF - and a swift response by the budding ATP pros (Pilic was one of the "Handsome Eight", the ATP founding members). His case triggered the historic Wimbledon boycott of 1973. Seventy-nine players refused to play at Wimbledon, including 13 of the 16 seeds. Pilic is also the first captain to win the Davis Cup for two nations (Germany and Croatia).
If Pilic is coaching this kid, he must be decent. Any intel, Tribe?
Gulbis hasn't won a match on the main tour (he's played two International Series events, losing to Tobias Summerer (Munich) and Arnaud Clement (Casablanca). He's got tough match, Montanes may be a mere tugboat in the Spanish Armanda, but the guy is a seasoned clay-court veteran, so Gulbis has his work cut out for him. Pretty soon the tournament will belong to the Big Dogs, so let's celebrate the pups and acolytes while we still have them around. And, what the hail, anything can happen, right?
This will be your match-call thread for today; for OT discussions, use the latest Suicide Pool update (From Crisis To Suicide) and for OOT (off-off topic, meaning drink recipies, IRS problems, movie reviews) you still have The Locker Room.