Americas in the Spring 2013 #9

Greg's second round opponent in qualifying for the Tallahassee Challenger was another ex-collegiate player 25 year-old American Jean-Yves Aubone, currently ranked 1066. Aubone has a game better than his ranking suggests as he has two Futures titles under his belt, albeit in the past, and knocked off the No.5 seed in the previous round.

Green clay courts

Both players got off to a good start, games going with serve to 2-2. Greg held serve again to go to 3-2 up, then proceeded to bring up break-point, converting opportunity to breaking Aubone's serve mid set to lead 4-2. Greg was dominating with his serve, at 80% for the set, and consolidated the break of serve for a 5-2 advantage. With Aubone serving to stay in the set, Greg struck again and broke Aubone to win the first set 6-2, without facing a break point himself.

Jean-Yves Aubone

It was more of the same in the second set. Greg maintained his focus and momentum, breaking Aubone and then holding serve well to dominate in the second set. He broke the luckless Aubone three times and again did not face a break point, winning 10 games in a row, to win the set 6-0, for a rare bagel, and qualifying for the main tournament with a polished 6-2, 6-0 win.

Greg's hotel in Tallahassee

A confidence boost for Greg who has not won two matches in a row for awhile, but it will be tempered by the quality of the opposition beaten, with much tougher opposition to come. He will be extremely pleased and relieved that he qualified.

Americas in the Spring 2013 #8

Greg spent the last week in Jacksonville, Florida, training with Dave and getting coaching from Todd Martin. Good mate and pro-tour player American Greg Oulette, who lives a couple of hours away, joined them for a hit on a few of the days. Both Gregs were on the alternate list for the next tournament, a $50k Challenger in Tallahassee in Florida, on green clay. Jonesie was the 3rd alternate but he unfortunately just missed out of the Main Draw this time and was the No.1 seed in the qualifying tournament. Tough luck this time.

The green clay Centre Court

Virtue of the draw and his seeding, Greg had a bye through the 1st round and so did not have to play on Saturday. His 2nd round match was against a Wild Card entrant, 25 year-old Artiom Podgainii, from the Republic of Moldova, who is a collegiate player, originally with the University of Tallahassee, who is unranked in the ATP ranking and has never won a Pro-tour main draw match, so on paper a fortunate draw for Greg.

With Podgainii serving first it was Greg who took the iniative, breaking Podgainii in the service game, then holding serve and breaking Podgainii again, to go to a double break 3-0 lead. Greg consolidated his lead, holding serve for 4-0.After that Greg turned off the after-burners and let the match take it's course, Podgainii holding serve twice to get to 2-5, before Greg served out the set 6-2, without facing a break-point in the set.

Collegiate player Artiom Podgainii

Podgainii started the second set well, holding his serve to lead 1-0  and the had Greg facing a break-point. Greg was in danger of losing concentration and giving his opponent a chance to recover, but he rallied to hold his serve and level the score at 1-1. Greg continued the rally as he broke Podgainii in the nex game to lead 2-1, then 3-1. Greg was cruising though and was forced to face six break-points in total in the second set but was able to save them comfortably, taking the socre to to 4-2. He then broke Podgainii for the second time in the set to lead 5-2, then served out the set, winning the match 6-2, 6-2.
Greg said it was comfortable match in which he was not stretched and although his 1st serve percentage was in the low 50%s he won a high percentage of his serves, winning 16 of 19 points on his serve in the first set. So, an easy start for Greg, who no doubt will face a lot tougher opponent in the final round of qualifying. One match down, one match to go to qualify.

Americas in the Spring 2013 #7

Having got into the main draw of the Mexico City Challenger with a bit of luck, Greg good fortune continued with a favourable draw, avoiding a seeded player and drawing a qualifier, which will give him a much better chance of advancing in the tournament given that he was suffering from a bout of diarrhea. His opponent was23 year-old Christopher Diaz-Figueroa from Guatemala, currently ranked 463, with a high rank of just 326 but with three match wins in the qualifying behind him, which may or may not be a benefit. 

The first set was a close affair with the player's swopping a break of serve each, and both also saving a break-point opportunity, in eventually getting to the tie-break at 6-6. In the tie-break it was Diaz-Figueroa who got the valuable mini-break, then brought up set-point and converted to win the tie-break 7-3 and the 1st set 7-6.

Scene at the courts

The second set started badly for Greg who lost a bit of concentration and dropped serve early in the set to hand the advantage to Diaz-Figueroa, who went out to a 3-0 lead. Greg held serve easily for the rest of the set but could not make in-roads into Diaz-Figueroa's serve. Diaz-Figueroa shut Greg out, not facing a break point in the set, and the single break of serve was enough to see him win the set 6-3 and a hard fought match 7-6(3) 6-3.

Christopher Diaz-Figueroa

Another disappointing close loss for Greg in a match he was expected to win. He said he had actually played well, serving bombs but Diaz-Figueroa had returned very well. Greg said Diaz-Figueroa is based in Mexico City so knows the conditions and is used to the altitude and the higher bounce of the balls. Greg said the lack of oxygen at altitude had affected him and he had felt fatigued after just a few games, the effects of the recent stomach ailment not helping the cause.

Still not happy humting for Greg in Mexico, in a tournament where it seemed luck was on his side. He will now head for Jacksonville, Florida for a week of training with Todd Martin before heading off to the next tournament, most probably the Tallahassee Challenger.

Americas in the Spring 2013 #6

Greg and David decided to play the last Challenger Tournament in Mexico City even though Greg had not entered, as he thought his chances of winning were better here than in the Sarasota Tournament. He had not planned on playing Mexico City so had not entered, and therefore had to go through qualifying, though he would have made the Main Draw cut if he had entered. At an outside chance, as the highest ranked player to sign in for qualifying, there was a chance Greg may move up into the main draw if a main draw player withdrew after the qualifying sign-in commenced. Not sure of the exact rule but Greg was lucky and a player did withdraw (Aussie Sam Groth I think) and Greg took his place in the main draw, so did not have to play qualifying.

View of Mexico City

Greg also snuck into the double draw, playing with Aussie Matt Barton, as the last acceptance, so lets hope his luck continues this week. On the health side it was a different story as Greg was afflicted with yet another lurgy, this time chronic diarrhoea, and it was touch and go whether he would recover enough to take the court. Again luckily he was not scheduled to play his singles on Monday, but did have to play in the doubles.

Taipei's Hsin-Han Lee

The first round opponents for the doubles was the unseeded Taipei pairing of 24 year-old Hsin-Han Lee and 23 year-old Hsien-Yin Peng. Lee has a very good rank of 102 in doubles, whilst Peng is a creditable 167, although both players are ranked worse than 850 in singles.


Hsien-Yin Peng

In the sudden death deuce format, both teams faced five break points in the first set and, whilst Greg and Matt could not get the decisive break, Lee and Peng managed to snaffle a break of serve, going on to win the 1st set 6-4. In the second set Greg and Matt managed to break Lee and Peng but then, with a low percentage of 1st serves, struggled to hold their own set, and lost their serve twice, eventually losing the set 6-4, and a disappointing match 6-4, 6-4.
Greg said although he did not feel very well, with his ailing stomach still giving problems, he had played well  but unfortunately Matt's serve was not firing well at all and that dragged down the 1si serve percentage and contributed largely to the final result. Greg is hoping he continues to improve health wise and that he will be much better to take the court in the singles on Tuesday.

Americas in the Spring 2013 #5

After the disappointment of Leon and a hard few days training with fellow Aussies Reid, Ball and Guccione, and a few other European players, Greg and David headed for Guadalajara on the west side of Mexico. Greg said it was a nice city and that they were staying in a top Hotel, the Riu Plaza, at a very good rate, so he was on good spirits. Greg had not made the cut for the main draw so had to play in qualifying again. He was seeded No. 4, so, and thus, with four players to qualify, was seeded to qualify. His first round opponent was peer 24 year-old Croatian, Ante Pavic, currently ranked 498, so a good draw for Greg, but against a player he was lost to on their only previous encounter.


Hotel Riu Plaza Lobby

With Greg serving first and he and 6'5" Pavic both serving well, games went with serve to 5-5. Greg did not give up a single break-point and at 6-5 managed to create break point opportunities to bring up set point. Pavic saved one but Greg was able to win the second point, winning the first set 7-5. Pavic hit back quickly in the 2nd set, breaking Greg to go ahead and then serving well to shut Greg out. He then broke Greg again to lead 5-2 and with a double break lead served out the set 6-2, to level the match at a set all.

Hotel Riu Plaza pool at night

The 3rd set was a closely contested affair. Greg was forced to save two break point opportunities in the set but countered that by dominating Pavic's serve in creating 7 break point opportunities. Games went to 4-3, Greg leading. Greg then got Pavic to 0-40. Pavic saved the first two points with aces, then Greg, on a second serve had a great opportunity to break but hit the back-hand return centimetres long. Pavic held for 4-4 and then Greg served a love game to g0 5-4 up. With Pavic serving to stay in the match, Greg and Pavic where in a rally and Greg had the upper-hand when the public audio system, being tested for the Main Draw events, screamed into life. The umpire stopped play and called a let, giving Pavic another turn to serve a first serve and he hit an ace. No big deal at that point but Greg won the next three points, so could have won that game and the match. Greg still had two break-points at 15-40, two match points in fact. Pavic saved the first match point with an ace then missed his next first serve and facing a second point, Greg hit a good return, and then the audio system screamed into life again. Just as Greg hit the winner, the umpire again called a let, and Pavic had to replay the point, hitting another ace to save the second match point, and then level the score at 5-5. Bitter luck for Greg.

Croatian Ante Pavic

At 6-6 in games the tie-break was needed to break the dead-lock. In the end it was Pavic who prevailed, getting a vital mini-break up at 4-3, to go 5-3 up and then going on to win the tie-break 7-4 and a close fought match 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4).
Greg was bitterly disappointed at losing the match in the 3rd set tie-break but he said he had played well, had competed well but had a great deal of bad luck in that 3rd set where he had so many opportunities.
So Mexico has not been a happy hunting ground for Greg, with just two wins in five matches and only a few points earned. But on the positive side Greg has shaken the flu and has regained much of his fitness, and the losses he had were very close matches, with only a few points being the difference. He needs to turn that around now. He is not sure of his schedule for the next few weeks and has to make a decision on where he will be playing and/or training.

Americas in the Spring 2013 #4



Typical Plaza scene in Leon

Expecting to play a seeded player in the second round of qualifying in Leon, Greg was greeted instead by 26 year old Frenchman Antoine Benneteau, who had knocked off the No. 7 seed in the first round. Former USA College player and brother of top 100 player Julien Benneteau, Antoine is a late comer to the circuit and is ranked 375, currently his highest ranking, so obviously playing well at the moment, but a good chance for Greg to progress to the final round of qualifying.
Greg said Benneteau played "off his face" in the first set, serving at over 70% and not giving up a single break point opportunity. In contrast Greg, although serving at a decent percentage, was forced to break point twice, saving one point but not the other, Benneteau breaking Greg just the once in winning the first set 6-4.

Antoine Benneteau

Benneteau continued his good form into the second set, breaking Greg's serve in the opening game. Greg fought back and forced Benneteau to save face two break points but could not convert and Benneteau went to a 2-0. , At 0-30 in the next game, he had Greg on the ropes but Greg rallied, saving that game to get to 1-2. Then at 2-3 Greg had Benneteau facing three break points at 0-40. Greg converted to get even at 3-3, then held to love and broke Benneteau again, going to a 5-3 lead. He had won four games in a row and given himself a chance to serve for the set and take the match to a 3rd set. But Benneteau fought back and, despite Greg serving 2 first serves, broke Greg to love, then held serve to level the score at 5-5. Both players then held serve to take the set to the tie-break.
Benneteau broke Greg on the 1st point but handed back the advantage with a double fault, scores going with serve to 2-2. Benneteau then broke Greg and changed ends at 4-2, goin 5-2 up on serve. He broke Greg again to bring up 4 match points, then broke again to win the tie-break 7-2, and the match 6-4 7-6.
Not the best match for Greg and certainly not the result that was expected. Very disapponting for him after such a good fight back. Greg now has a week to prepare for the next tournament, again in Mexico, and to work on his fitness.