Americas in the Spring 2013 #5

After the disappointment of Leon and a hard few days training with fellow Aussies Reid, Ball and Guccione, and a few other European players, Greg and David headed for Guadalajara on the west side of Mexico. Greg said it was a nice city and that they were staying in a top Hotel, the Riu Plaza, at a very good rate, so he was on good spirits. Greg had not made the cut for the main draw so had to play in qualifying again. He was seeded No. 4, so, and thus, with four players to qualify, was seeded to qualify. His first round opponent was peer 24 year-old Croatian, Ante Pavic, currently ranked 498, so a good draw for Greg, but against a player he was lost to on their only previous encounter.


Hotel Riu Plaza Lobby

With Greg serving first and he and 6'5" Pavic both serving well, games went with serve to 5-5. Greg did not give up a single break-point and at 6-5 managed to create break point opportunities to bring up set point. Pavic saved one but Greg was able to win the second point, winning the first set 7-5. Pavic hit back quickly in the 2nd set, breaking Greg to go ahead and then serving well to shut Greg out. He then broke Greg again to lead 5-2 and with a double break lead served out the set 6-2, to level the match at a set all.

Hotel Riu Plaza pool at night

The 3rd set was a closely contested affair. Greg was forced to save two break point opportunities in the set but countered that by dominating Pavic's serve in creating 7 break point opportunities. Games went to 4-3, Greg leading. Greg then got Pavic to 0-40. Pavic saved the first two points with aces, then Greg, on a second serve had a great opportunity to break but hit the back-hand return centimetres long. Pavic held for 4-4 and then Greg served a love game to g0 5-4 up. With Pavic serving to stay in the match, Greg and Pavic where in a rally and Greg had the upper-hand when the public audio system, being tested for the Main Draw events, screamed into life. The umpire stopped play and called a let, giving Pavic another turn to serve a first serve and he hit an ace. No big deal at that point but Greg won the next three points, so could have won that game and the match. Greg still had two break-points at 15-40, two match points in fact. Pavic saved the first match point with an ace then missed his next first serve and facing a second point, Greg hit a good return, and then the audio system screamed into life again. Just as Greg hit the winner, the umpire again called a let, and Pavic had to replay the point, hitting another ace to save the second match point, and then level the score at 5-5. Bitter luck for Greg.

Croatian Ante Pavic

At 6-6 in games the tie-break was needed to break the dead-lock. In the end it was Pavic who prevailed, getting a vital mini-break up at 4-3, to go 5-3 up and then going on to win the tie-break 7-4 and a close fought match 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4).
Greg was bitterly disappointed at losing the match in the 3rd set tie-break but he said he had played well, had competed well but had a great deal of bad luck in that 3rd set where he had so many opportunities.
So Mexico has not been a happy hunting ground for Greg, with just two wins in five matches and only a few points earned. But on the positive side Greg has shaken the flu and has regained much of his fitness, and the losses he had were very close matches, with only a few points being the difference. He needs to turn that around now. He is not sure of his schedule for the next few weeks and has to make a decision on where he will be playing and/or training.