In Israeli tennis news, on Monday Shahar Pe'er climbed three places to No. 21 in the world after reaching the final of the Maryland Open.
By REUTERSShahar Pe'er 311(photo credit: REUTERS)
LOS ANGELES – Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis survived a few anxious moments in the final set to upset top-seeded American Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and win the Los Angeles International on Sunday.Initially serving for the match at 5- 2, Gulbis was broken by Fish and he then trailed 30-40 on serve while leading 5-4 before sealing victory.The tousled-haired Latvian set up match point with a delicate forehand drop shot before clinching his second ATP title with a rasping forehand winner down the line.Gulbis, who had knocked out second seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the quarterfinals, pumped his right fist in celebration after becoming the first unseeded champion in LA since Radek Stepanek in 2007.In Israeli tennis news, on Monday Shahar Pe'er climbed three places to No. 21 in the world after reaching the final of the Maryland Open.Pe'er will play in the Rogers Cup in Toronto next week before competing in Cincinnati ahead of the start of the US Open in New York on August 29.Dudi Sela dropped five places to No. 86 in the ATP rankings, while Amir Weintraub reached a new high of 195 after moving up five places.Allon Sinai contributed to this report
