Gulbis Reaches St. Petersburg Final

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Gulbis Reaches St. Petersburg Final

By Chris Oddo/ Saturday, September 21, 2013

Ernests Gulbis reached the finals of the St. Petersburg Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Michal Przysiezny.

Photo Source: St. Petersburg Open

Ernests Gulbis booked a spot in his fourth career ATP final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Michal Przysiezny of Poland on Saturday. The Latvian fought through a tense and competitive beginning, saving a break point in the seventh game of the first set. He then moved ahead 5-3 when Przysiezny played a sloppy service game that left the Pole tossing a racquet in frustration.

Gulbis held serve for the one-set lead when he nailed a backhand passing shot down the line with Przysiezny flat-footed at the net.

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“On the whole, I enjoyed playing more today than on the previous days,” Gulbis, who has now won a career-best 33 matches in 2013, said. “I feel comfortable playing at the St. Petersburg Open, with this surface and these balls, although I am not playing the type of tennis that I am used to.”

The sixth-seeded Latvian cruised in the second set, losing only three points behind his serve, not facing a break point, and breaking the World No. 112 twice in five opportunities.

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Gulbis will bid to win his first title on non-American soil in Sunday's final. The Latvian has a 3-0 career record in ATP finals, with all victories coming in the U.S. “To win a Russian tournament is very important to me,” Gulbis said. “A quarter of my blood is Russian blood, I speak and read fluent Russian, so I feel here almost like I feel at home in Latvia.”

Gulbis will face Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Sunday's final. The 30-year-old reached his second final of 2013 with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 beatdown of Portugal's Joao Sousa.

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Garcia-Lopez has split two previous meetings with Gulbis, losing in St. Petersburg in 2008 and defeating the Latvian in a three-setter at Bangkok in 2010.