Gulbis's feet turn to clay in Monte Carlo thrashing

MONTE CARLO (Reuters) - A French Open semi-finalist last year, Ernests Gulbis looked far from ready for the claycourt season when he was thrashed 6-1 6-0 by Austrian Andreas Haider Mauer in Monte Carlo on Monday.

(Reuters)

The unpredictable Latvian, seeded 13th, was never in the hunt as he opened proceedings on Centre Court.

"It's always tough for me to change from hard courts to clay," Gulbis, who was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros semis last year, told a news conference.

"Especially if I had a shitty season on hard court, to come play on clay, it's even tougher."

The top guns, including world number one Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka have first round byes at the first major event of the European claycourt season.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Martyn Herman)