Slumping Gulbis a stranger to stress amid disaster season

Monte Carlo: Laid-back Latvian Ernests Gulbis refused to bow to stress on Monday as the 13th seed exited timidly from the Monte Carlo Masters, a 6-1, 6-0 first-round victim of Austria`s Andreas Haider-Maurer.

The admittedly slumping world number 17 suffered his eighth loss from nine matches played this season, which began with a shoulder injury carried over from 2014 which disrupted his 2015 preparation.

Nevertheles, the 26-year-old who shocked the sport with a Roland Garros semi-final last spring, is far from panic stations.

With supreme logic, the loveable outsider quickly analysed the situation: "Have I ever won more than two rounds in this tournament? No. Is it something new? No.

"I`m still ranked in the top 20 in the world. I have a lot of points to defend, but no problem. Listen, I won two tournaments in south of France (in 2014), Marseille and Nice. I always play well in south of France. It`s nothing.

"I focus every match, every place. Maybe it doesn`t look like it, but I`m trying to give my best on every point.

"Unfortunately today was different reasons why I played like this. But, you know, no excuses. The guy won and that`s it. I don`t see the big problem. I`m playing well in practice."

Gulbis lasted for less than an hour against Heider-Maurer, who plays Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round at one of the most picturesque venues in tennis.

The Latvian, son of one of his Baltic country`s major industrialists, finished last season in the ATP top 20 for the first time in his career. He played quarter-finals 11 times and won a career-high 41 matches, adding two more titles to comprise a total of six and a flawless 6-0 record in title matches.

But Gulbis remains calm as he works through his current situation.

Said the player now coached by former Swedish great Thomas Enqvist: "It`s a lack of preparation, it`s always tough for me to change from hard court to clay. Especially if I had a shitty season on hard court, to come play on clay, it`s even tougher.

"I need couple weeks, I need this week, I need matches. I need to go to Barcelona next week. I need to practise."

In another first-round match, German Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-4.