Australian Summer 2012 - #7

Preparing hard for the Australian Open qualifying tournament on the day prior to the tournament commencing, Greg received the good news that he had so anxiously been awaiting: that he had been awarded the last wild card direct entry to the Australian Open Singles.

Melbourne Park Tennis Centre

 It has long been a goal of Greg to play in the Main Draw of the singles and he has now been given the opportunity by Tennis Australia to do so, without the grind of attempting to win three qualifying matches, on the back of a solid performance last year, where he increased his ranking from 299 during the year to be ranked 196 at year end, as the No. 4 ranked Men's player in Australia. Well done Greg. Go for your dreams.
The draw has not been the kindest one for Greg, as he has drawn the No.13 seed, 23 year-old Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, currently at his high ranking of 14. Dolgopolov, son of a former player and coach, is currently coached by Australian Jack Reader, who has overseen Dolgopolov's rapid rise into the top 100 and then top 20 over the past 18 months.
Greg has hit with Dolgopolov on a few occassions, so they do know a bit about each other's games, but it will be a mountain to climb for Greg, who will take to the court on the first day of the tournament on Monday.