source ibtimes
By James Patrick Quizon | June 12, 2014 11:13 PM EST
Roughly two weeks after beating a top five player for the first time in his career, Ernests Gulbis lost big in a Latvian casino saying that he “gambled away a percentage of my winnings.”
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Ernests Gulbis of Latvia reacts during his men's singles match against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris June 1, 2014.
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Gulbis admitted the casino loss in an interview with a BBC Sport reporter (video courtesy: Sport Feed YouTube):
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“Not really party, I went to casino to gamble away a percentage of my winnings so I need to get it back this week,” jokingly admitted Gulbis who won north of half a million dollars in the Paris grand slam.
“I was a big loser.”
Gulbis is considered “one of the villains” in tennis or rather one of the most outspoken players in the men’s tour and he’s also coming from one of the wealthiest families in his country, Latvia so it’s highly probable that he spent most of his French Open winnings in a casino.
Seeded No. 18 at Roland Garros, Gulbis upset No. 4 and former world number one Roger Federer, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the fourth round of the recently concluded 2014 French Open.
Gulbis beat Tomas Berdych in the quarters, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 before falling to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.
For his efforts in Paris, Gulbis climbed to No. 10 in the ATP rankings.