MADRID, Spain — The rematch was no remake: although he won the first set, Latvia’s budding tennis star Ernests Gulbis was pushed out of the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open Friday by world no. 1 Roger Federer.

During the first match “The Gull” looked promising with a 6-3 trounce of the Swiss superstar. But success was fleeting, as Federer crushed Gulbis in the next match 6-1 and then defeated him again 6-4 in the final match.

Gulbis’ gameplay was solid except for one crucial weak spot — break points, where he converted only 30 percent to Federer’s 80 percent and saved only 20 percent to Federer’s 66 percent.

This will be it for Gulbis until the 2010 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 until the Toronto and Cincinnati tournaments in August. The summer will give the young Latvian plenty of time to reflect on the tour’s high points and ruminate on improving his mental discipline on the court.

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