USA Tour Autumn 2012 #1

It has been a frustrating three weeks for Greg who has been struggling to recover from an annoying injury to to his left leg. After the Caloundra Challenger tournament, where he played with the injury, an inflammation of a tendon where it inserts into the bone just below his left knee, Greg received a cortisone injection in the area of the injury and had a few days of rest to let the cortisone take effect. After a week off he then headed for Jacksonville, Florida for a training session under the guidance of ex-tour player, former No.4 ranked Todd Martin. Greg was accompanied by fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic, who hit with Greg while Todd provided coaching.

During those four days Greg's injury flared up again and he did not get as much on court training as he would have liked. He and Marinko then went to Delray Beach in Florida for the qualifying of an ATP250 tour event. Seeded No.6 in the qualifying, Greg had a favourable draw but was not able to compete, withdrawing due to the injury. Greg was then forced to watch from the sidelines the whole week while he treated the injury with ice-packs, inflammatories and rest. 

Marinko Matosevic

On the Friday of the third week Greg then left for Indian Wells where he had made the cut for qualifying for the ATP500 tournament, which commences on Tuesday (USA time). He will be joined by Tennis Australia coach Joshua Eagle, with a decision still to be made whether Greg's leg has recovered enough, and also whether he had enough hitting behind him and is fit enough to compete at that level. Otherwise he might just give his leg more time to heal, before a tournament in Mexico next week or return home for more treatment.

Marinko wins semi-final

While Greg was resting up in Delray Beach, his mate Marinko was having the best tournament of his life, qualifying for the Main Draw, then recording victories over big serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic, No.6 seed Alex Bogomolov, last years winner Ernest Gulbis and Israeli Dudi Sela to reach his first ATP tour final. Marinko was on a 12 match winning streak, having won the Caloundra Challenger, qualifying and reaching the final. In a great fighting match Marinko was not able to extend the streak, losing a close final 46, 67 to big serving South African Kevin Anderson. Well done Marinko, who rises to his best ranking at 129.
Let's hope Greg's leg responds to treatment and rest and is able to continue playing this session in America.