Ernests Gulbis blasted Canadian fans, calling them “stupid” and saying they conspired against him on Friday in his quarter-final loss to crowd favorite Milos Raonic.
“They’re used to hockey here, it’s okay,” Gulbis said of the jeers he received throughout his 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4 loss at the ATP Tour Rogers Cup. “But I don’t understand why you need to clap for a double fault. There can be emotions, but I think it’s stupid.”
“I can’t call a thousand people stupid, but it’s something that I don’t understand. That’s why all the Canadian players, they play always very well in Canada,” he added.
Latvian Gulbis, who is ranked 38th in the world, criticized some of Canada’s professional players for only playing well at home and not traveling outside of the country to compete very often. He said world No. 13 Raonic is the exception.
“Honestly some of them — I guess you know who — they don’t play really nowhere else,” the 24-year-old Gulbis said without naming names.
“Milos is a great player, but the rest of the guys, they play great in Canada because it’s like Davis Cup every match. People are clapping after a double fault, before a second serve to provoke a double fault. I don’t think it’s nice,” he added.
“The crowd is very well-educated. They know exactly what to do in the right moment to screw up the other player’s game,” he said.
A record five Canadians made the second round in Montreal. Raonic’s win set up an all-Canadian semi-final featuring Raonic against Vasek Pospisil. It would be the first meeting between Raonic and Pospisil in an ATP Tour tournament.
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