• Delray Beach International

Karlovic hot favourite for Delray final

ESPN staff
February 27, 2010

Ernests Gulbis will compete in his first ATP World Tour final on Sunday but he has the imposing figure of Ivo Karlovic standing in his way.

Gulbis had to wait for a lengthy rain delay to defeat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-4 6-4 in the first semi-final before Karlovic ran over Mardy Fish 6-2 6-3 in under an hour.

Karlovic was unbreakable and he took apart Fish's second serve to earn raging hot favouritism to win his fifth career title here. The 208cm Croatian has more experience, a higher ranking, more titles, and 18cm height advantage over the Latvian youngster Gulbis.

Gulbis was leading 6-4 5-4 when his match was held off for three hours due to a downpour but he held on to his nerve and finished it off and reach his first decider.

"Finally my first final," Gulbis said. "It feels really good. It's a lot of points and I don't have points to defend till the end of the year, so I can make a move in the rankings. I can only go up, I cannot fall out of the Top 100 with nothing to defend.

"I am mentally stronger… I am playing smarter. I warmed up well. I was ready from the first point and I stayed aggressive. I was thinking mentally that I was going on court to win."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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