Nepean Tie-break Shoot-out

The inaugral Nepean Tie-break Shoot-out, held in Penrith over two days on Christmas Eve, offered the winner $10,000, a huge incentive for money poor young tennis professionals. The final day event was a knock-out format, with matches being the best of three 7-point tie-breaks. The first day was a round robin for unseeded players, with the top players in each pool advancing to the 32 round knock-out on Saturday. The top 8 seeded players played each other in a single 10 point tie-break to determine their ultimate seedings in the 32 man draw. Sounds like easy money for the winner but each match was a nerve-jangling experience for the player, and the spectators.
Greg was the No.1 seed and won six of his seven tie-break matches on the first day, thus remaining the No.1 seed for the knock-out phase of the event. The other seeded players were Sadik Kadir, Adam Feeney, Matt Barton, Dane Propoggia, Nick Lindahl, Isaac Frost and Jonathan Cooper, the only player whom Greg lost, in his final round robin tie-break.
Greg started a bit nervously in the knock-out phase, losing the 1st tie-break in his 1st round match against David Barclay 3-7. But he recovered to win the next two tie-breaks 7-0, 7-4. Greg then handled semi-reired former top Aussie player Goran Kovacevic well, winning 7-4, 7-2 before facing NSW's Simon Ede who knocked out seed Issac Frost. Greg served 5 aces in winning 7-2, 7-5.

Nick Lindahl and Greg

In the semis he was up against No. 3 seed Adam Feeney. Greg won a very tight 1st tie-break 7-5, getting the break on the last point, before Feeney evened the match at 1 tie-break all, winning the 2nd tie-break 7-3. The third tie-break was keenly contested, greg getting a mini-break to go 3-2 up, then serving an ace to consolidate the break. Serving well Greg maintained the advantage and ended the match on another ace to win 7-4 and advance to the final.
The final, with $10,000 for the winner and $500 for the finalist, was against Nick Lindahl, who overcame the No.2 seed Sadik Kadir in the quarter-finals, then knocked out Matt Barton in the semi finals.
It was Greg who got the early beak but Lindahl levelled, before Greg again broke to lead 2-3, winning 5 points in a row to win the first tie-break 7-2. The second tie-break again saw Greg get an early break but Lindahl levelled at 3-3, then went 4-3 up. An ace saw Greg get to 5-4, then he broke Lindahl to go 6-4 up, serving out the tie-break 7-5, winning the final 7-2, 7-5 and his second biggest pay-check in his career.
Greg returned superbly during the day, improving with every tie-break play, keeping the pressure on his opponents. He also served very well, mixing up his serve with some bomb aces and good sliders and kick-serves and deserved the win for his play and his professionalism.
Surprisingly the winner's prize-money offered in this event is the fourth highest in Australia.