It was a great final, ending a good 7 days of tennis and entertainment at UCLA. Whether the Farmers Classic will stay in Los Angeles beyond 2012 is a different question. Thousands of enthusiastic fans of men's tennis would appreciate that. We certainly saw renewed excitement and a lot of community support despite more Top Twenty stars going AWOL than ever before. Including the beloved Bryan Brothers who couldn't fit the LA tournament into their busy schedule. Mardy Fish and Del Potro proved bigger draws than expected. And the new champion? He is like a breath of fresh air on the pro tour. Ernests Gulbis has game, charisma, charm, no doubt. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the Top Ten within a year.
So, Ernests Gulbis did it. Won the Farmers Classic Championship by beating Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. I wonder what was going through his head when he lost the first set on a double-fault? At that time I did not think he would be able to pull himself out of this mess. But he did, thanks to renewed strength and confidence generated not only by good match results in LA, but also by his coach former pro Guillermo Canas from Argentina. He impressed me during practice sessions and off the court during photo ops. Real nice guy, and a winning team, if you ask me.
Ernests Gulbis claimed his second career title with the win over Mardy Fish on Sunday. Gulbis is now 2-0 in finals, having also won the title in Delray Beach in 2010. The win by Gulbis marks the 14th time in 85 years that a European has won the Farmers Classic title. He is the first unseeded winning since Radek Stepanek in 2007.
Gulbis Turns It Around: Ernests Gulbis brought a five-match losing streak into the 2011 Farmers Classic. He dropped just two sets while winning the five matches this week in Los Angeles to claim the title.
Taking Out the Top Seeds: Ernests Gulbis is the ninth player in the Open Era at Farmers Classic to defeat the first and second seeds en route to the title, and the first to do so since Wayne Ferreira beat both No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt (in the final) and No. 2 Sebastien Grosjean (in the quarterfinals) in 2003.
I loved the Liveball championships Steve Bellamy put on in between matches. Totally new game for me and I loved it instantly. What a great way of playing tennis. I’ll be writing about it separately.
The ceremony giving International Tennis Hall of Fame commemorative rings to Pam Shriver, Brad Parks, and Tracy Austin was nice, but should have been done when the stadium was fuller, of course. Not always possible, I guess.
Kudos to the Farmers Classic doubles champions Mark Knowles and Xavier Malisse who defeated Somdev Devvarman and Treat Conrad Huey 7-6, 7-6. Good team and all around nice players.
Bravo also to Calabasas Pro Jeff Richards who gave us all a taste of his entertaining creation The Weakest Dink. I sincerely hope the show will become popular during pro tennis events all over the country.
And the last kudos go to one person on the Farmers Classic team who made a difference this year: Andrea Falkenheimer. She opened the door to new opportunities for cooperation and support of the tournament, like with the American Diabetes Association, and Beach Tennis. She was also instrumental in getting a new vendor involved with the event: Bauerfeind Performance Center. Good job, Miss Falkenheimer. Hope to see you on the team again next year.
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