Australian Summer 2012 - #8

It was hot 32 degree day when Greg took to court for his Australian Open singles debut match on the Margaret Court arena against the No. 13 seed Ukranian Alex Dolgopolov.
Serving first Greg started confidently, getting to 2-1 in games when, returning superbly, he managed to bring up break-point against Dolgopolov. Greg converted to go 3-1 up and then won a long hard fought service game to extend the lead to 4-1. Greg then broke Dolgopolov again and served out the set strongly, to surprisingly win the first set 6-1 against the 14th ranked player.

Dolgopolov held serve and so did Greg to begin the 2nd set. Greg then broke Dolgopolov again and held serve to go to a 3-1 lead. Playing aggressively and going to the net as often as possible Greg was volleying well and forcing Dolgopolov to miss, and took the score to 4-2 up.

13th seed Alexander Dolgopolov

Dolgopolov stepped up his game and forced Greg to 30-40 and then managed to break back, serving to level the score at 4-4. Greg was not done. He held his nerve, served and played well, and held serve to get to 5-4. He then broke Dolgopolov again to win the second set 6-4 and take a deserved two sets to love lead in the match.
Both players took a toilet break and then came back firing. Greg did not restart well and Dolgopolov pressurised Greg into a few errors, breaking Greg's serve and then holding his own serve again to go to a 2-0 lead. Greg then had an injury time-out to get treatment for a small blister and continued unhindered, holding his serve for 2-1. Dolgopolov was getting into his stride and hitting the ball a lot better as Greg's intensity dropped slightly, He took advantage of a small momentum switch and broke Greg to get to a 5-1 lead, eventually winning the third set 6-1.
Now into the fourth set, where Greg had never been before, this being his first best of five sets match, Greg again fell behind to the 13th seed, quickly going a break down and going 3-0 down, Greg was not moving well, especially to his right side and Dolgopolov was able to hit more winners with Greg not being able to retrieve as well as he had previously.
At 5-1 down Greg needed to hold serve to force Dolgopolov to serve out the serve and allow Greg to serve first in the deciding fifth set. Greg could not land a 1st set and appeared in some discomfort, and lost his serve, Dolgopolov winning the fourth set 6-1 and levelling the match at two sets all.

Unbeknown, Greg was cramping and that soon became evident in the fifth set. Greg was physically handicapped, especially on serve and moving to his right, and quickly fell behind a break of serve. He bravely played on and started shortening the points in an attempt to not have to run, but that is a risky game and errors became more prevalent. Dolgopolov could see Greg was not moving well and was able to take advantage of that, getting a double break up and getting to 5-1 up.  
Somehow, serving with just his arm, Greg managed to crack a few good serves, Dolgopolov missed a few returns and Greg won another game, to get to 5-2. But he could not stop Dolgopolov serving out the set and the match, winning the contest 1-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

Greg had played superbly but unfortunately, not experienced in five set matches, was not able to last the distance, the tension and anxiety contributing with the heat and intensity of the first three sets, to have him cramping at the end of the match. Greg can draw many positives from the match and will bu bouyed by his performance against a top ranked player.