The year that was... 2010

2010 was a very mixed bag for Greg in Tennis. He started the year well, with a first round win in the Men's Doubles in the Australian Open, followed by a finals showing in the Burnie Challenger and then again in the Berri Futures tournament. Playing the Challenger circuit in the USA, Mexico and Ecuador Greg achieved a singles ranking high of 179 in the first half of the year. He then showed much promise in both the Wimbledon and US Open qualifying by winning his first round at each tournament, beating the No.2 seed at Flushing Meadows.
Greg then had a minor setback with the unfortunate accident between two taxis in New York, which left him with badly bruised knees and unable to play or train for four weeks, forcing him to miss three tournaments and affect his fitness. He bounced back to reach the final of the Men's Singles at the Commonwealth Games, representing Australia and earning a silver medal for his efforts.
Unfortunately he sustained an achilles injury in that match which further impaired his ability to train and get fit. The lack of tournament play and fitness saw his ranking begin to slide, with Greg finishing the year at a lower rank, at 261, than which he started the year, despite having an excellent year of tennis.

Here's to Greg bouncing right back in 2011 and being incident free and fully fit for the whole year.

AO Wildcard Play-off - Update #2

Quarter-final of the AO Wild Card play-off had Greg matched up against the No.2 seed Marinko Matosevic, currently ranked 138 in the ATP. Greg was confident going into the match having lost narrowly to Matosevic in their last encounter and now fitter, having 'touched' Marinko up in a practise match earlier the week.
In the first set, with Matosevic serving first, both player's started strongly and Greg had a few half chances but could not convert them into real opportunities, games going with serve to 2-3. Marinko was starting to pick Greg's serve and forced Greg to break-point but Greg saved the point and levelled at 3-3. Again at 3-4 down Greg faced and saved break-point, getting to 4-4. Marinko held for 5-4 and then applied even more pressure on Greg, bringing up another break-point, this time set point. Greg saved one point but a weak forehand on game-point let Matosevic back in and he forced Greg to face another break-point. Unable to buy a first serve a long rally ensued and a back-hand nto the net saw Matosevic break and win the set 6-4.
Greg then had an injury time-out, rare for Greg, so obviously something was wrong. The callous below his right toe had stripped off and exposed the raw flesh below the toe. The physio repaired the damage as best he could and Greg came out firing. The break in play had cooled off a red hot Matosevic who then missed a few serves and with some good returns by Greg saw him have 3 break-point opportunities. Matosevic responded and three good first serves later the threat was nullified and he held for a 1-0 lead. Games went with serve to 2-2, with Greg saving two break-points along the way. In his next service game, at 2-3 down, he got to 40-15 and had a smash to close out the game but Matosevic guessed correctly and put in a miraculous lob to win the point. He then got to deuce and forced 3 set points. Greg saved 2 of them but could not save the 3rd and Matosevic had a decisive break, leading 4-2. He held comfortably for 5-2 and then forced Greg to match-point, converting at the 1st opportunity to win the match 6-4, 6-2.


Marinko wins WC play-off



Greg was bitterly disappointed and was annoyed by the injury, which he said happened in the 3rd game and slowed him down slightly. Matosevic had played and served well.

Greg will now have to get into the main draw of the Australian Open through the qualifying tournament.

AO Wildcard Play-off - Update #1

After a week training and hitting at Melbourne Park it was down to the serious business of the Australian Open Wild Card Play-off, where the winner of the event receives direct entry into the main draw of the 2011 Australian Open. In knockout format for the first time Greg was seeded 7 and had a bye in the 24 man draw. 

AO Wild Card Players at Draw

His second round opponent was rising star and recent Australian AIS recruit Sean Berman. Born in South Africa but currently listed as USA and having come from New Zealand, Berman now calls Australia home. The seventeen year-old was a finalist at the Australian Open Junior Boys Single in 2010 and last week won the 18s National single title. Ranked 864 in the ATP Berman is definitely a young player of which to be wary. They took to the court at 6pm after waiting all day for the previous match to finish after some atrocious weather and it was still cold and windy when Greg started serving. Berman was quick out of the blocks and returned well, getting Greg to 30-all and then immediately bringing up a break-point.

Greg with Adam Feeney at Draw

Greg countered with an ace to save and then held for 1-0. Greg then attacked the weaker serve of Berman and broke Berman to love to take a 2-0 lead. Greg then quickly reeled off another 3 games, breaking Berman again to go to 5-0. He held three set point at 0-40 but a combination of a lack of concentration by Greg and good play by Berman saw Berman fight back to deuce and then hold for 5-1. Greg was forced to serve for the set which he did.

Sean Berman

In the 2nd set Berman started making a few more balls and getting into longer rallies, getting more aggressive and started to hold serve more easily. Greg countered but went too aggressively and missed a few more shots. Games went with serve to 3-3. Greg recognised that a rhythm was developing and Berman was slowly growing in confidence so decided to be less aggressive but more accurate, attacking Berman's 1st serves and catching him with some good returns. He succeeded in getting Berman to 0-30, then 0-40, breaking Berman on the 3rd break point to get a break up at 4-3. Greg held for 5-3, then failed to pressurise Berman with two serve return errors, for Berman to hold for 5-4 and force Greg to serve for the match.

Greg duly served out the set 6-4, winning the match 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round, t be played tomorrow.