Ernests Gulbis surprised everyone by beating the second-seeded Ivo Karlovic 6-2 6-3 at the Delray Beach International Championships on Sunday. Pumped up over his first title victory, Gulbis said “Everything I do it’s the first for my country. I was first one in top 300, first one in top 200, first one in top 100.” Currently, 72nd-ranked Gulbis performed exemplary well throughout the week, as he did not drop a set.

With this win, Gulbis will move to the club of top-40 players. He further elaborated, “I’m never impressed with statistics. I’m impressed I won the title. So I didn’t lose a set, I don’t see that as a big accomplishment. I think winning a title is a big accomplishment.”

Karlovic duly applauded Gulbis's performance, "Everything he touched with his racket today was unbelievable, a clean winner.” Karlovic also praised Gulbis over his cool temperament, as he quoted, “He was really cool, calm, like nothing could impress him. This year he’s going to make a breakthrough.”