USA Tour 2011 #2

The second round of the Challenger tournament in Winnetka saw Greg up against the No.3 seed, old adversary and peer 22 year-old American Donald Young. currently ranked 11 with a high rank of 73. Greg and Young have played each other a few times over the years, starting in the Juniors, and Greg has yet to record a win against him. Hopefuly he can achieve that in this match.
The match did not start well for Greg who struggled to cope with the different spins that Young plays with and he went an early break down. He could not read Young's serve and was struggling to hold his own serve, wth Young returning extremely well. Young went another break up and the Greg managed to hold his own serve, but could not deny Young winning the 1st set 6-1.

Donald Young

The 2nd set continued in much the same manner, Young breaking early again to get Greg on the back foot. Young again dominated the set, winning the crunch points and this set denied Greg gettining a game, delivering a "bagel" 6-0 win, with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-0 win.

Not a good match-up of styles for Greg, who also did not serve at his best, and was unable to cope with the left-hander's unconventional game, especially Young's second serve. Not a good day at the office.

Greg will now travel to Rhode Island to compete in the qualifying of the Campbell's ATP tournament on grass, in Newport.

USA Tour 2011 #1

In the Challenger tournament in Winnetka, Chicago, Greg's 1st round match up was against 28 year-old Amer Delic, brought up in the USA but recently converting to play under the Bosnian flag, his family nationality. Currently ranked 248, Delic boasts a high ranking of 60, so will be a tough nut for Greg to crack.
With Delic serving first it was a very evenly contested first set. Greg held serve well, not allowing Delic to get past 30 on any service game, but was unable to convert the two break point opportunities he created.
 Games went with serve to the tie-break at 6-6. The tie-break was just as close, with Greg getting a mini-break and serving for the set at 6-5 but inexplicably served his only double fault of the set. On serve Delic was able to save at 6-7 down and then at 9-8 up Delic converted on his own set point opportunity to pouch the first set tie-break 10-8 and the set 7-6.
Greg did not let the close first set loss get to him and showed good mental toughness, serving first in the 2nd set and getting an early break of serve. He started reading Delic's serve, which was a cannon, better as the match went on, breaking Delic again and serving out the set 6-2. Match level at one set all.
With Delic serving first in the 3rd set Greg hung in to get the score to 2-2. He then broke Delic to get a break up at 3-2 and consolidated, holding his own serve to go 4-2 up. Games went with serve to 5-4, with Greg serving for the match, which he did winning the 3rd set 6-4 in a come-from-behind 6-7(8), 6-2, 6-4 win.
Well done Greg. He will play his second round match on Wednesday.

UK Tour 2011 #6

After the disappointment of losing in the second round of qulaifying, Greg elected to stay on in London and train there, as there where plenty of fellow Aussies around like Ben Mitchell, James Lemke and his good mate Adam Feeney with whom he could hit. He also had the services of the AIS physiotherapist Ian Prangley who helped him with the ongoing rehabilitation and strengnthening of his injured leg. He had good accommodation at a B&B in Wimbledon and also had use of indoor courts in Sutton when it rained, as it did this summer in England. Wimbledon being Greg's second best place in the world, he was very happy.
He also got to watch the Championships of the hallowed grass courts at Wimbledon, spotted in the stands chatting to the Tennis Australia personnel watching Marinko Matosevic's 1st round match. After a week of R&R, hitting and gym, Greg departed England last Thursday bound for his next tournament, a $50k Challenger at Winetka, Chicago in Illinois.

UK Tour 2011 #5

Good weather greeted the players at the Bank of England Club in Roehampton for the second round of Wimbledon Qualifying, sunny and clear, albeit a bit cool. The ladies matches were on first and Greg's match was fourth match on, late in the afternoon. He was up against the experienced 29 year-old Irishman, Conor Niland. A late bloomer, Niland had only recently in his career reached a high of 129, and was currently ranked 184. Whilst Niland would start the favourite Greg stood a very good chance of winning the match.
Unfortunately the live-scoring on Court 4 stopped working during the first Ladies match and no scores were available on Greg's court for the remainder of the day. Most frustrating.

Conor Niland

Greg got off to a good start, matching Niland and then getting the decisive break of serve to win the first set 6-4. In the second set, with Niland serving first, games went to 5-5. Niland then held serve to lead 6-5 and apply the pressure to Greg's serve. He brought up a break point opportunity and Greg was unable to save, Niland winning the set 7-5 to level the match at 1 set all.

Going with the momentum and serving first again in the third set it was Niland who got the first break of serve to put all the pressure on a tiring Greg. Niland  consolidated again by holding serve, then managed to get another break of serve, going on to win the 3rd set 6-2 and the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Greg said he was bitterly disappointed in losing a match he came close to winning in the 2nd set. But he said he felt the effects of the three set match the previous day and not being at full fitness due to his battle with a leg injury. He is hoping that the injury is close to being fully healed and he is looking forward to getting back to full fitness and working with a coach to continue to improve his game.

UK Tour 2011 #4

The 1st round of qualifying for Wimbledon, held on the courts at Roehampton saw Greg matched against the No.11 seed, 29 year-old Italian Paolo Lorenzi, currenly ranked 120, with a high ranking of 83. Whilst very experienced, Lorenzi is a stereotype clay court player, so Greg may be able to match him on the grass if he serves well and backs it up with solid all-court play.

On the manicured lawns of the Bank of England Club in Roehampton it was Greg who served first and confidently held serve. Games went with serve in the 1st set to 5-5, with Greg having the only break-point opportunity but not converting. Greg held a nervous game to 30 to lead 6-5 then managed to get Lorenzi to 15-40 with two break-point/set-point opportunities. This time he converted to snatch the set 7-5 and serve first in the second.



The Bank of England Clubhouse



A determined Lorenzi fought back immediately but Greg saved three break points in the first game of the 2nd set before holding. At 1-1 Greg again faced break-points but this time Lorenzi coverted his opportunity to lead 2-1, then 3-1. At 4-2 Greg was forced to 15-40 but this time saved the break-points and held serve after 5 deuces. He was unable to make in-roads into Lorenzi's serve and games went on serve to 4-5, with Lorenzi serving. Greg upped the pressure and had an opportunity to break back but Lorenzi responded and held, serving out the set 6-4 and levelling the match at one set all.

Paolo Lorenzi

Greg served first again in the third set. Both players held confidently to 2-2. Then Greg came from behind in the game to go 3-2 up, a critical hold for him, In the next game he returned very well and forced Lorenzi to 0-40, converting at the first point to lead 4-2. He held his next service game to lead 5-2 and force Lorenzi to serve to save the match. Greg again got Lorenzi to 0-40 to have three match points. Lorenzi saved one point, then another, to get back to 30-40 but could not deny Greg on the 3rd point and Greg won the game, set and match 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
A great fight from Greg who showed composure and courage against a higher ranked opponent on the day.

UK Tour 2011 #3

Greg has spent the last two weeks in London recuperating and training for the qualifying for the Championships, as Wimbledon is known. Hampered somewhat by some miserable English summer weather, he has been able to train at an indoor centre in Sutton, albeit on hard court not grass. Along with his compatriots Lemke, Mitchell and Look and AIS head coach Brent Larkham they have also had some time on grass courts at Chiswick, when it was not raining.
Greg says his leg is much better and not troubling him at the moment but will only know if it has repaired fullyimbledon in six weeks time when the effects of the cortisone injection wear off. He is being looked after by the AIS Physio who provides massages, training regimes and advice. Greg says he is playing well and his serve is improving but is still quite underdone when it comes to match time and court time on grass.
The draw for the Qualifying tournament for Wimbledon, which is actually played at the Bank of England Club in Roehampton, a couple of suburbs away from the Wimbledon Centre, was done on Sunday and threw up a challenging prospect for Greg, the No.11 seed, Italian Paolo Lorenzi.
Play commences on Monday 13th June 2011.

UK Tour 2011 #2

First event back for Greg after his ten days of recovery was the Qualifying for the ATP 250 tournament at Queens Club in London. It was not a favourable draw for Greg, as he was up against the No.1 seed, 28 year-old American Bobby Reynolds, currently ranked 109 with a high rank of 63 in 2009. A tough assignment first up for an under-done Greg.
Serving first Greg managed to hold his own serve with games going to 3-3, although his 1st serve percentage was not good. At 3-3, the last game before new balls, Reynolds forced Greg to 0-40 and converted at the first opportunity, taking a decisive 4-3 lead. Reynolds held easily and though Greg managed to serve 3 aces to get to 4-5 down he was unable to make in-roads into Reynolds serve, and Reynolds served out the set 6-4.

In the 2nd set Greg's serving woes continued, struggling with his first serve and only winning a low 35% of those 1st serves he did make. Fortunately he was playing well enough on his 2nd serve and after saving a break point against him in the first game managed to get to 3-2. Greg then got Reynolds to deuce and his advantage, a rare break-point opportunity. Reynolds responded and saved the point, and then again faced break point but saved again, and games went to 3-3.  

Then it was Reynolds turn, bringing up a double break point opportunity but this time Greg was able to save the points, courtesy of a 2nd serve ace and get to 4-3. His serving improved slightly but was still below 50%. Games went to 5-5 when Greg again faced a 0-40 score and 3 break points against him. Reynolds broke and went ahead 6-5, serving for the set. But Greg was not done yet. He returned the pressure on Reynolds and broke serve, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking the set into the tie-break.

Bobby Reynolds

Greg's 1st serve returned in the tie-break but it was unfortunately to his detriment, Reynolds winning two of the three 1st serves Greg served and with Greg unable to gain a point of Reynold's serve it was Reynolds who won the tie-break 7-4 and a close match 6-4, 7-6.

Greg was disappointed with the result but will be pleased with his effort despite his first serve not being there on the day. Ironically he lost 49% of the low 51% of 1st serves he served, but won 82% of his 2nd serves. Perhaps he should have served less 1st serves on the day!

Greg will now spend the week training and preparing for the Wimbledon qualifying tournament, hopefully working on his serve and his fitness, whilst still trying to give his leg more time to recover.

UK Tour 2011 #1

After a gruelling trip from Fergana, Uzbekistan via Tashkent and Istanbul, Greg arrived in London with a severe cold and a still troubled injury to his left leg. The cold was cured quickly but it took a few more trips to the Doctor before Greg was given a cortisone injection in the troubled location of his leg and then had ten days of inactivity to rest the leg and give it some time to heal.

Luckily he was staying in Wimbledon, his second best plave in the world, and was able to chill out and smell the roses. But it did mean he missed some invaluable time training on grass, he lost a bit of fitness condition and also missed the qualifying for the Nottingham Challenger. After the ten days he began hitting again but no serving or fitness training. Good news is that his leg is feeling good. Not quite right yet and not yet fully tested but a promising result.