USA via Asia 2012 #8

Ningbo, confluence of the rivers

The week in Shanghai did not end well for Greg, who fell ill on Friday with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea and was forced to postpone his trip from Shanghai to Ningbo. He had hoped to go

Ningbo, a coastal city about 3 hours drive south of Shangai on Friday evening but was only well enough to make the short trip without trepidation on Sunday. He managed to rid himself of the nausea and stop the vomiting but was lacking energy from an austere diet of rice and water, with a little bit of plain chicken thrown in. He should have stayed off the chicken as the protein did not help his digestion.

Ningbo suburban street

Greg did manage to get some training in and also got scheduled for a late Tuesday start for his 1st round match, which helped his recovery process. In the 1st round he was up against his peer, 23 year-old German Peter Gojowczyk. Although the same age Peter is a literally a veteran of the tour, having not played on the ITF junior tour but having contested the Men's circuit from an early age, and is enjoying his best season having achieved his high ranking of 182 in June and is currently ranked 204, some 140 places better than Greg.

Ningbo Tennis Centre

Greg got off to a good start forcing Gojowczyk to three deuces on his first serve but could not get abreak point opportunity, Gojowczyk doing enough to take the first game. Greg held serve, as did Gojowczyk, the score going to 2-1, then Greg quickly was facing three break points at 0-40, Gojowczyk converting to go a break of serve up.  He held serve and then again had Greg at 0-40 in his next service game. Greg saved two of those points but was unable to deny Gojowczyk, who broke Greg again to take a decisive 5-1 lead, serving out the first set 6-1.
Greg's serve for the 1st set were good but he was unable to match Gojowczyk off the ground in that set. He started the 2nd set well, going to a 1-0 lead on the back of four good first serves. Gojowczyk held serve and then had Greg facing another break-point. This time Greg prevailed, saving break-point and going 2-1 up in the set. Then Greg had to make a dash for the rest rooms, losing his battle to control his diarrhoea and forced to concede the match, retiring out of the match unable to continue, much to Gojowczyk's delight.

Peter Gojozcyk

And so ended Greg's sojourn through Asia. Not at all what he was expecting from the tour. He won two matches against low ranked players, lost three matches, earned no points and very little prize-money. Life can be very tough on the tour.
Greg is now heading for Jacksonville, Florida, via Shanghai and Chicago, another long haul especially with a dodgy tummy, to spend a couple of weeks training with and getting coaching from former No. 4 player Todd Martin.