Back in Oz in March - Update #1

Having completed the three day ATP University course in Miami Greg took advantage of the ATP paying for his flight to anywhere and returned to Australia, as there were no viable alternatives for tournaments elsewhere. After a few days hitting and training with Todd Woodbridge at Melbourne Park, it was off to Ipswich, Brisbane to play in a Futures tournament, on clay, courtesy of a TA wild card.
The bad news though is that in training Greg had developed an injury to his left calf, which despite constant treatment, was not going away. He was perfectly normal off court but when loading up the leg, which happens multiple times every point, he had severe pain in his left shin. After getting a late start and then having play delayed for a day by rain, he was able to give the leg a few days rest before taking to court for his 1st round match.

Seeded No.2 for the tournament, it was a good opportunity to go deep into the draw and get some valuable points. His first round opponent was 23 year-old Australian Joshua Crowe, who has struggled at Senior level after being a promising Australian Junior, currently ranked 1105. Greg got off to a god start and was untroubled in the first set, getting a break up and the breaking again to close out the first set 6-3.
Due to his injury, which gave him trouble again throughout the match, Greg was unable to move properly. Some bad play by Crowe coupled by some good serving and returning by Greg, saw Greg deny Crowe any opportunities, taking a stranglehold on the match with another break of serve. Greg then served out the set, again 6-3, to win the match and proceed to the second round.
Good, gutsy work, keeping the points short, but Greg will have to take the tournament match by match and see how his leg progresses in the next round.