World No 14 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia is yet to win a match this year and concedes his form, even in practice, has worsened. Ali Haider / EPA
World No 14 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia is yet to win a match this year and concedes his form, even in practice, has worsened. Ali Haider / EPA
World No 14 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia is yet to win a match this year and concedes his form, even in practice, has worsened. Ali Haider / EPA
World No 14 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia is yet to win a match this year and concedes his form, even in practice, has worsened. Ali Haider / EPA

Ernests Gulbis says he is not ‘feeling his shots’ as he bows out in Dubai


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DUBAI // Ernests Gulbis believes he needs a couple of weeks off to set his game right after the No5 seed was knocked out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship by Uzbek Denis Istomin.

Gulbis, ranked No 14 at the moment, has yet to win a match in 2015 and his 7-5, 6-2 defeat by the world No 65 yesterday means the Latvian has now lost seven matches on the trot since beating Andreas Seppi to reach the semis in Moscow last October.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” said Gulbis, who had won two titles in the first half of 2014 and reached the last four at the French Open to climb to a career high No10 before the slide started. His win-loss record since Roland Garros is 9-14.

“I’m not in good form right now. I’m not feeling my shots at all. I have no timing. In practice I have been playing worse than in the match.

“I moved well in the beginning of the match, but somehow it’s tough when you don’t have the feeling for the shots.

“Every player is different, but for me it’s very important to have feeling of the racquet when I contact the ball. It is a purely technical thing. If I have it, everything slowly starts to put together, the moving, the serve, everything. As soon as I lose the feeling of the racquet, of the contact of the ball, everything else collapses.”

Gulbis’ problems started with a shoulder injury in the second half of last season and since then he has been struggling to get that familiar feeling with the racquet.

“I have really struggled since, including the US Open,” Gulbis said. “I just went and played because I knew that injury cannot get worse. I needed time to fix it and I needed my offseason time to fix it.

“So in the off-season, I couldn’t practice 100 per cent because for two weeks I was fixing my injury. So all these things, they come together.

“Two weeks would be good for practice, for good practice, and then I can change something.

“To go from tournament to tournament and to try to change things in two, three days, it’s almost impossible for me.”

arizvi@thenational.ae

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Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

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SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.

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Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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RESULT

Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')