LONDON: Former top-10 player Ernests Gulbis has won a match for the first time in more than a year, while the score was about as lopsided as can be.
Gulbis beat Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in less than one and a half hours to reach the second round at Wimbledon. It was the Latvian's first tour-level, main-draw victory since the 2016 French Open.
After that, he went 0-5 in such matches — until Tuesday at the All England Club. He also failed to get out of qualifying at five tournaments in that span.
The 28-year-old Gulbis once was considered an up-and-coming talent in tennis. In 2014, he reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, beating Roger Federer along the way, and got to a career-best No. 10 in the rankings.
But a series of injuries followed, and Gulbis' ranking has fallen all the way to 589.