NEW YORK — A recent slump in form has seen Latvian tennis pro Ernests “The Gull” Gulbis drop significantly in world tennis rankings. It’s left him exposed to the top-seeded players at the US Open earlier than he would have liked, drawing the world’s no. 2 Andy Murray in the first round which starts Monday.

The Gull lunges to hit the ball at last year's US Open. Photo by Charlie Cowins.

After a strong 2008, a year which saw The Gull rise to as high as 35 in the world rankings, many sports analysts predicted that 2009 would be a year that would see him challenge for the world top 20. Instead Gulbis has disappointed those high expectations with a number of early round exits in events leading up to the US Open that sent The Gull’s world ranking diving to 95.

Gulbis and Murray have met three times before, the last time being earlier this year at Wimbledon when crowd favorite Murray disposed of The Gull with relative ease (6-2, 7-5, 6-3). Leading up to that match much was made in the British media of Gulbis’ claims that when the pair had met a year earlier at the Queens tournament in London, Murray won the match by employing gamesmanship. This has lead to the British press this week to hype the game as a meeting of  “old foes” regardless of the fact it’s only been the fourth time they’ve faced each other.

Before his recent slump, Gulbis was known for his ability to push higher-ranked opponents without being able to dispose of them. If Gulbis is to regain his form and stand up and be noticed, then this is the perfect chance to do so. Heavy pressure is being placed on the shoulders of newly-ranked world no. 2 Murray, who is under the constant surveillance of the British media, desperate to see a Brit claim a grand slam. The Scot will not be particularly happy to have drawn Gulbis with the other top seeds having drawn qualifiers or relative unknowns in the first round.

Expect more coverage of The Gull’s progress in the US Open here at balticreports.com.