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I find it almost beyond belief that you would publish Gasquet's absurd claim about how he got cocaine in his system, as if it was a reasonable and acceptable story. But then, I guess it's symptomatic of today's absurd generation, that they will find (and accept) any excuse under the sun, to perpetuate the illusion everyone is a victim and no one is responsible for their actions.

I do not think Gulbis is good enough to seriously compete in the latter stages of grand slam events. Overrated and overhyped.......

Thirteenth appearance in all at slam events with a personal best of one quarter final.
He has an over-inflated ego and does not back it up on court.....

I do not think Gulbis is good enough to seriously compete in the latter stages of grand slam events. Overrated and overhyped.......

Thirteenth appearance in all at slam events with a personal best of one quarter final.
He has an over-inflated ego and does not back it up on court.....

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Agreed, some of these guys are so over-rated, yet they haven't even got the stats to back it up!!! When you're in a Slam, you're playing a different ball game and the very best just simply know how to win. If I imply Murray, then I guess I done my job. :)

Jonathan,

Gulbis isn't the subject of journalists' affections. He's the object of them - as in 'Journalists (subject) like (verb) Gulbis (object). Wouldn't normally mention it, but as you're a professional you ought to know.

Cheers.

Agree with your sentiments Jonathan Re Gulbis. He is young and extremely talented, and now has a few years experience on the Tour. Such attributes, combined with his recent excellent form, made him extremely dangerous going into Rolland Garros. That said, how big a shock is this really? We see it time and time again in Paris, the underdog powering through against the odds to shock a more fancied opponent. It is the red clay of Paris after all. And with the local crowd doing their utmost to cheer on their garcon, it must be quite intimidating for any seed to step onto court in Round One with the burden of expectancy upon them.

Take heed Mr Murray...

"Just a few moments after we were talking up Ernests Gulbis on the radio - "one of the in-form players, a threat on the clay, an outsider for the French Open" - the Latvian was out."

Just emphasises what a bunch of bandwagoners you all are, I guess!

canchaz, I think people are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because it was a recreational drug. Had it been performance-enhancing, it would have been different.

I think people were right to talk up Gulbis before the tournament. The way he played in Madrid and Rome dictated that. A good run was expected here. Unfortunately this loss is somewhat Safinesque - which isnt really a surprise given Gulbis is good friends with him.

What worries me is i dont see Gulbis hurting at this loss. He seems to have just thrown his arms up in the air and said its not his day and so be it. I dont believe he would have won even without the injury either.

The top players hate losing and that ultimately could be what stops Gulbis ever achieving anything big in the game. Yes, its nice to hear of players who think there are more things in life than Tennis but i want to see players with a deep desire to play well in the big events. Gulbis hasnt shown that for me here.

Those claiming that Gulbis shouldn't have been talked up are being rather harsh. Yes he has a less than impressive record in slams prior to this, but he also never came into one in such good form either. Talk of him winning was clearly premature, but he could easily have been a difficult opponent for a top player had he got going.

As for Gulbis not hurting at the loss, he retired hurt, he did not lose. At the point the injury occurred he was probably still thinking he was in the match, after that probably it was obvious he couldn't continue, hardly worth throwing a tantrum over.

Well Gulbis was never really going to get very far and was being comprehensively beaten by JB before the injury. Anyway, Gasquet will pose little threat to Murray and the general 1/2 odds for a Murray victory is generous. Murray has a good chance of at least matching last years' QF and may even go one round further. That would be good for him and a great experience to play Fed on clay over 5 sets! (although that may be painful)

I totally disagree. An American player at the US Open would be given every chance to recover, would be given a night match and bsically just about anything at the tournament's discretion to give their player the best chance possible. Same thing here at Wimbledon, should Murray pick a niggle prior to the start of the Championships, heaven and erath would be moved to accomodate him... wednesday start Andy? sure, no problem. The French would be well within their rights to give Gasquet every opportunity to give his absolute best.

That's what you (salary-earning Tennis writers) get for all copying each other and banging on about Gulbis for the last two weeks. Sport is a fickle mistress and Gulbis is wildly inconsistent. Not a great surprise he floundered (before getting injured) though of course he could have caused big seeds problems if he'd met one. His two good head turning results (taking a set off Nadal and beating Federer) were sadly aberrations (if also indications of his sporadic ability).

He's an interesting character, I suppose, but seems to stubbornly refuse to acknowledge his gifts or realise how fortunate he is -- going on about how boring life on tour is, how boring reporter's questions are, etc, ("oh woe is me!") and how much he's looking forward to hanging out with -- cue Alarm Bells sounding -- Marat Safin in the summer (rather than say, um, Wimbledon!!!), who he totally looks up to and admires (so he says). So his hero is another slothful talent who was often more interested in the good times and ladies (but, yes, at least he won a coupe of slams and always competed (read: played brilliantly or smashed rackets when playing badly). More than you can say for Gulbis who loses interest when losing and flies away claiming he doesn't care, which he possibly doesn't cos his daddy's a zillionaire).

In that sense, in a sporting world of spoiled brats, he is at least in some way competing for No 1 in the world.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I should have written 'Overend' and not 'Ledgard' in my previous e-mail. Apologies Mr. Overend.

errmm, Gulbis was injured.
That's all there is to say, I'm mystified as to why posters - and even journalists who should know better - regard this as some kind of failure. It betrays a complete lack of understanding about high level sport, you can't just "play through" with a pulled hamstring.

Lets be honest; there was no reason to hype up Gulbis because slams are a different animal; i've been saying this on 606. Well it seems i was right and the journalists, along with many 606ers, were wrong.

If Gulbis can't be competitive against a journeyman like Benneteau, i think that shows he's miles away from being a threat in the slams.

Never knew much about this guy but like him after reading this!!

Is that true about daddy鈥檚 Learjet? 鈥淵es, and I have a helicopter, a submarine and a spaceship.鈥�

Brilliant!!

Perfect match for Murray for a variety of reasons:

- Gasquet is tired. 10 matches in under a fortnight, all on clay, are tough on you. 2 days rest since an exhausting final will really start to tell on his body if the match goes deep.
- Gasquet has injury problems. Pulling up with a groin injury mid-match and still carrying on days before a home slam is signs of poor decision-making. Even though he won the tournament, it shows where his priorities lie, and that's not slams.
- Gasquet is playing at home. For all Gasquet's technical brilliance, the one thing he hasn't and will never have is an ability to perform under pressure. Once in his career has he reached the last-eight, this out of over 20 slams for an all-courter, and never in the second week of Roland Garros.
- Murray must raise his game. The biggest problem Murray had in the 3 or 4 tournaments after Melbourne was his motivation to perform, he was struggling. Against Ferrer in Madrid, he looked mentally there on court. Against Gasquet in Paris, he knows he'll have to step it up another notch to win and that is just what Murray needed. It would have done him little good to draw a journeyman like Lorenzi or Andujar in R1 who Murray would have struggled to get up for, Gasquet was one of the best players he could have faced and that will work in his favour.
- Five sets work in Murray's favour more than Gasquet, even if he loses the first set, he's still likely to be favourite as the pressure notches up on Gasquet.

Everything points to a Murray win and I am uber, uber confident :)

Shame that Gulbis is out, aside from his media antics, he is a pretty entertaining and flashy player and could have caused problems to the favourites. The hope is that this latest injury isn't evidence of a Safin-esque attitude towards his fitness regime, but I rather fear it is.

One further thing going for Murray today is the fickleness of the Parisian crowd. They will be behind Gasquet at the start, but if Murray gets on top and the Gasquet body language goes negative, the boo-boys will take over. The Roland Garros regulars know what sort of talent is being squandered, and they will turn on Gasquet if they see he's not giving it his all.

Don't get me wrong, Gulbis is a good player, but I think the whole tennis world, fans and journalists alike, went a bit nuts during this clay court season.

The boy has received so much hype for very modest reasons in my opinion. Only by beating Federer and taking a set off Nadal. Great, those two are behemoths in tennis, but did he win a title? Did he go deep in most of his tournaments? NO!!

Instead, guys like Verdasco who've played superb tennis in this clay court season have been overlooked by all of us. SHAME ON YOU TENNIS FANS AND OVEREND!! Instead you went for an inconsistent boy who doesn't always give the goods on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, he had to retire, and I'm sort of glad that we won't be hearing his name for the next 2 weeks, at least sanity will sort of return.

Just on the Gasquet scheduling issue, it's funny how his request to play on Tuesday (?)was turned down, but I recall Federer (2009) being allowed to switch his first round match to a day earlier to avoid forecasted rainfall (at the time)that could have potentially delayed his 1st round match. I think Gasquet has a much more valid reason for wanting a switch on this occasion and shame he's not been allowed too.

"did he win a title? NO!"

Yes he did, in the States.

"guys like Verdasco who've played superb tennis in this clay court season have been overlooked by all of us."

The same Verdasco who tries to gain all of his points in smaller tournaments these days ? The Verdasco who plays his heart out the week before a slam, playing with injury, and losing in the process ? I'll enjoy seeing him being taken out.

Gulbis is a name for the future, there's no doubt about that. He has the weaponry that is almost essential in the modern game, big serve and big forehand. There are really not many weaknesses to his game technically when he's playing well, but it's obvious that mentally is where he's got to get everything sorted out. He's done that to some extent this year but perhaps needs a big run in a slam, and then in the next year or so gain consistency, maybe like a Cilic.

"Instead, guys like Verdasco who've played superb tennis in this clay court season have been overlooked by all of us."

Complete rubbish. Guys like Verdasco and Ferrer and Almagro have been given their dues as people likely to do well at the French. Overend in fact named each of them in his previous post, so much for the SHAME ON YOU invocation.

None of those three however are close to being the type of players likely to beat Nadal, Federer too if he is on his game.

Gulbis poses very different problems, that's why he was picked out as a dark horse. For my money, Djokovic is the one who has flown under the radar, he missed Madrid with illness, and he shouldn't be ruled out.

@18

So, so predictable. This is Richard Gasquet, ladies and gents.

All credit to Murray for his grit and determination - a close fought match should stand him in good stead for later in the tournament.

Murray has a tendency to wilt in the lateer stages of the slams - hopefully he will build up his stamina before Wimbledon.