Grass Season - Gerry Webber #3

The final round of qualifying at Halle in the Gerry Webber Open beckoned with Greg not facing the No.2 seed Marco Chiudenelli as drawn but his vanquisher 33 year-old Czech Jan Hernych, currently ranked 269. Greg has played Hernych, who has a  very respectable high ranking of 59 attained in awhile ago in April 2009, on two previous occassion on clay and hard court respectively and leads the match count 2-0. So a match which has much promise with a place in the main draw of a prestigous ATP tournament as the prize. A lot of pressure for both players and much will depend on Greg's big serve and Hernych's experience and court craft on the slick grass courts to counter that. Their match, on Court 1, started on time despite early morning rain and heavy clouds.

Court 1 behind the main stadium

With Greg serving first both players started nervously, both facing break points in their respective service game and it was Hernych who drew first blood to lead 2-0. Greg faced another break-point in the third game but rallied to get to 2-1. Then, after Hernych held to love, Greg again was forced to defend break point. He saved to get to deuce but could not deny a rampant Hernych from breaking him again to lead 4-1. Greg fought back, and immediately had Hernych facing two break points at 15-40. Hernych saved one but Greg got one break back on the next point, serving out his next game to love to narrow the score to 3-4. Hernych rallied to get to 5-3 then again put th pressure on Greg, returning Greg's first serves well to bring up set point, but Greg denied him the break and held serve to force Hernych to serve out the set. Greg forced him to 30-30 but Hernych responded and won the game with an ace, pouching a hard fought first set 6-4.

Greg playing in the match

Greg was straight into it in the second set, as was Hernych, who served two aces to get the score to 1-1. Then Hernych returned well, breaking Greg who served five first serves in the next game, to take a 2-1, then 3-1 lead. Greg kept the score close by holding serve for 3-2 and then brought up break point on Hernych's serve. Hernych saved it with an ace but Greg brought up another chance. Anothe good first serve denied Greg and another ace closed out the game for Hernych, to lead 4-2. With new balls in the next game Greg saved another break point but Hernych was still returning well and forced another break-point, this time converting to take a decisive double break 5-2 lead. Hernych served for the match with Greg desperately trying to keep the pressure on, saving one match point but was not able to deny Hernych, who won the next point to win the set 6-2 and advance to the main draw with a 6-4, 6-2 win.

Czech Jan Hernych

Greg was bitterly dissapointed. He had made a slow start and Hernych had seized the opportunity, forcing Greg to play catch-up tennis. Greg's service percentage improved throughout the match but Hernych returned well and was too good on the day, using his experience to foil Greg and countering with some good serving of his own to shut Greg out.
All in all two good wins for Greg but not a good loss for Greg, where he was desperate for a win to qualify and turn his year around and play at Halle.

Grass Season - Gerry Webber #2

Backing up on the same day for the second round of qualifying in Halle at the Gerry Webber Sportpark complex, Greg faced the No.5 seed, 24 year-old Nikola Mektic, who had also played a first round match earlier that day, so both were slightly tired. Born the year before Greg, but only 36 days older, Mektic and Greg were friendly with each other on the Junior ITF circuit, with the Croatian ranked 218 currently, near his high ranking achieved last month, so in good form.

The outside courts

Greg held serve and then immediately had Mektic facing break points in his first service game. He broke Mektic and then consolidated the break, holding serve to love. Greg was on fire, in the zone, and broke again and held serve to take a stranglehold on the first set. Mektic steadied the ship, holding serve to get his name on the scoreboard but could not stop a rampant Greg, who won 12 of his 13 first serves in the set, from serving out the set to love, 6-1.

Sportpark Hotel where the stars stay

Mektic rallied back though at the start of the second set, serving well to go 1-0 up then getting Greg to 15-40. Greg saved those break points and then another in levelling at 1-1. But Mektic was now fighting hard and at 2-1 again had Greg facing a break-point, this time converting the opportunity to lead 3-1. It was now Greg's turn to hit back and he broke Mektic and held his serve to love to level the set at 3-3, games going with serve to 4-4.

Court 1 which can be seen from the hotel

Greg then brought up another break-point opportunity. Mektic saved but in a long game Greg twice more had break-point opportunities and Mektic rose to the challenge, eventually winning the game to go 5-4 up. Perhaps with the thought of the missed opportunity still on his mind, Greg fell behind in his next service game and faced a break-point against him, also a set point. Like Mektic, he dug deep and won the point, denying Mektic and taking the score to 6-6. Greg then attacked and had Mektic facing three more break-points. Three good first serves saw Mektic thwart Greg but Greg was relentless, getting Mektic back to deuce then creating another opportunity, this time converting and giving himself the chance to serve for the match. With both players stretching their physical capabilities at the end of their second match of the day, Mektic drew on his reserves to get Greg to 30-40 and broke Greg, desperately levelling the score at 6-6, taking the set into the tie-break.

Croatian Nikola Mektic

Greg hit back breaking Mektic on the first point but Mektic was tenacious, immediately getting the mini-break back. Greg held for 2-1, then broke Mektic again  to lead 3-1. Mektic held for 3-2, as did Greg to get to 4-2, then 5-2. Mektic did not go away, holding for 5-3. Greg got another mini-break to bring up three match points at 6-3, with Greg serving for the first two of those opportunities.

Typical Tudor style in Westfallen

But Mektic was like a dog on a bone, and Greg's first serve deserted him as he tightened up and Mektic surprisingly won both of Greg serve and got the score to 5-6, still facing the third match point but this time on his own serve.  Greg was not to be denied this time though, breaking Mektic and winning the tie-breal 7-5 and a memorable match, for him, 6-1, 7-5 to progress to the final round of qualifying.

A tired but satisfied Greg headed off for dinner. He said he had played well in both matches, his serve stats were good and his body was stiff but not sore or injured. Let's hope it holds together for his next match.

Grass Season - Gerry Webber #1

After the grass courts of Nottingham it was off to Germany for the qualifying of the ATP250 tournament in Halle Westfallen, near Berlin, on the famed grass courts of the Gerry Webber "Stadion". Greg had played before, as Junior, at the Gerry Webber complex, which comprises the Main Stadium, the Sportpark Hotel, the Sportpark Plaza Sports Centre and a Function Centre, for promotion of the Gerry Webber clothing line. He has good memories of when he met and watched the World Cup Soccer with Roger Federer and other Australians. Federer is of course a five time winner of the tournament and Aussie Tony Roche was his coach at that time in 2006.

The Sportpark Courts and Hotel

Greg was drawn to play German Stefan Seifert, a 28 year-old player currently ranked 382, with a high rank of 228 last year. With Greg serving first, games went with serve to 3-3, Greg getting the better of the games, holding serve easier. Then against the run of play, serving with the old balls in game 7, Greg went 0-40 down and was ignomiously broken to love to trail 3-4. Seifert then consolidated the break to lead 5-3.

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German Stefan Seifert



 Greg got back into the groove holding the next game to love, then fighting back, bringing up a break point opportunity on Seifert's serve, and converting to get back on serve at 4-5. Greg then again held to love, closing out the game with an ace, putting the pressure on Seifert  to serve to stay in the set. With his confidence growing Greg got Seifert to 15-40, and had two set points, converting the second chance to break Seifert in consecutive service games and pouch the first set 7-5.

Westfallen street scene



Greg held serve in the second set, then immediately had Seifert facing break-points at 15-40 but this time Seifert held firm, and denied Greg the break. Greg was not fazed and held serve before forcing Seifert to deuce and then breaking him, to lead 3-1. Greg consolidated the break before again returning well and breaking Seifert, despite the German serving five first serves, to lead 5-1. Serving for the match Greg got behind 15-30 but recovered with some good serves, to close out the set 6-1, and advance to the second round of qualifying with a somewhat nervy 7-5 first set but a good quality high percentage second 6-1 set.

Greg improved all match, going from a low 57% first serve percentage in the first set to 76% in the second set, with a good win ratio of over 80% in both sets. He returned well in the second set, which enabled him to break his opponent twice.

Grass Season - Nottingham Challenger - #3

View of Nottingham

In the final round of qualifying for the Nottingham Challenger, the luck of the draw had Greg drawnto meet the No.1 seed Dustin Brown, but Brown had been soundly beaten 6-3, 6-1 in the second round by a better player on grass, 29 year-old Indian Prakash Amritraj. Son of the top Indian player Vijay, Prakash was a bit of a grass court specialist, having reached the final at Newport a few years prior, courtesy of a wild card due to his father having won the famous grass court tournament multiple times. Having had sporadic play due to a variety if injuries over the past few years Amritraj was now ranked 314, with a high rank of 159, so pretty similar to Greg. 

Nottingham Tennis Centre Courts

Greg served first and was quickly put under pressure by Amritraj, facing two break points in the first game. Greg rallied and saved those points, evebtually winning the game on the third deuce point. Amritraj held easily and then gamed then went with serve to 3-3, with Amritraj serving at 78% and having the better of the play. Then in the seventh game, the last with old balls, Amritraj got Greg to 0-40 and converted to break Greg and go ahead 4-3. Greg was immediately back into the set, breaking Amritraj immediately to level at 4-4. They then both held serves, with Amritraj still at a high percentage but Greg struggling at below 50% but still managing to get to the tie-break at 6-6.

In the tie-break both players hit only first serves but it was Amritraj who returned the better, allowing Greg to win only one point on his serve, and dropping his serve only once to win the tie-break 7-2 and snare the first set 7-6.

 In the second set games went with serve to 2-1, then Amritraj broke Greg to lead 3-1. Giving credence to the tennis axiom of "a break is not a break until you hold" Greg again hit back immediately, breaking Amritraj to level the scores at 3-2. Both players then held serve to love to get to 4-4, Amritraj still serving above 70% with at a more respectable 64%. Greg then upped the ante and, despite Amritraj's good serving, broke the Indian to lead 5-4. Greg then served out the set, converting his second set point opportunity to win the set 6-4 and level the match at a set a piece.

Prakash Amritraj

Greg continued to attack in the 3rd set, immediately bringing up a break point opportunity in the first game but Amritraj was up to the challenge and denied Greg the opportunity and held serve. Then, as happens in tennis, buoyed by the hold, Amritraj broke Greg in the next game to lead 2-1. Greg forced Amritraj to deuce but Amritraj held serve, then he again broke Greg despite Greg serving four first serves, to lead 4-0. Greg fought back and mirrored Amritraj, breaking him, also in a good service game, to get a break back at 4-1. But Amritraj was not about to let Greg back into the match, returning superbly to break Greg again to lead 5-1. Amritraj then served out the set 6-1, to win the match 7-6, 4-6, 6-1.

Disappointing for Greg who had played well this weekend. Greg said it was a bittersweet match as both players had played at a high level, points ending with winners rather than errors but Amritraj had served better and had returned unbelievably well, especially in the tie-break and third set when Greg served his best.

A promising weekend but the harsh reality is that, in an extremely competitive profession, after two wins and a good performance Greg had no points and no prize-money for his efforts.

Grass Season - Nottingham Challenger - #2

Having beaten a seeded player in the first round of qualifying for the Nottingham Challenger Greg now faced an unseeded player, in the form of 19 year old Englishman Lloyd Glasspool. Currently ranked 1702, Glasspool, is in his sophomore year at Texas and does not play often on the Pro-circuit. He accounted for fellow Brit Dan Cox in the first round, so he knows his way around the grass and will be a dangerous, unknown opponent for Greg.


Nottingham Tennis Centre

Both players lost their serve once in getting to 5-5 all in the first set. Greg then applied the pressure on his less experienced opponent and broke Glasspool to take a decisive lead and win the 1st set 7-5.

The second set was decided by a single break of serve. Greg getting broken and then unable to peg back the deficit, Glasspool doing enough to hold his service games to win the set 6-4, to level the match at a set all. 

Teenager Lloyd Glasspool


The 3rd set was also keenly contested, but it was Greg who had the better of the games, forcing Glasspool to face five break points in the set, getting the break and taking the lead. Greg saved two break points against him, in getting to 5-3 up, and then served out the set 6-3, to win another close match 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Not the best performance by Greg but he was holding his serve easier than his opponent, evidenced by the fact that he only had 89 serves in the match compared to his Glasspool's 112. Hopefully Greg has some more good tennis left in the tank for the final qualifying match tomorrow.

Grass Season - Nottingham Challenger - #1

Following the Futures tournaments in Florida Greg spent two weeks in Ponte Vedra Beach, recuperating from his stomach strain and getting coaching and mentoring from Todd Martin. He was accompanied by fellow tennis player and good mate Greg Oulette, who hit and trained with Greg at Todd's Tennis Academy, Dave Bidmeade having departed back to Melbourne. Then the Greg's took off for England to ply their trade on the grass courts of England and maybe Europe.

First stop was Nottingham for the first Challenger tournament there, a $75k tournament. Both Gregs managed to get into the qualifying round and both copped seeds in the first round, Jonesie getting the No.7 seed and Oulette fairing even worse, facing up against the No.1 seed. Rotten luck. Greg Jones' opponent was Irishman James Mcgee, at 25 years old now ranked at his highest ranking of 241.

It was McGee who served first, holding serve and then taking the iniative over a nervous start from Greg, breaking him to lead 2-0, then consolidating the break at 3-0. Greg settled his nerves and held serve, then forced his way back into the set, getting McGee to 15-40 and converting the opportunity to break back and then level the set at 3-3. Both players held servee to love in getting to 4-4. Then Greg forced McGee to face three break points at 0-40. McGee was up to the challenge though and, with some good serving with the new balls, he got the score back to deuce and held serve for a 5-4 lead. Games then went with serve, Greg holding to love to get the set to the tie-break at 6-6.

The grass courts of Nottingham

In the tie-break Greg took the first minibreak and raced to a 3-0 lead. McGee fought back and courtesy of a double fault from Greg the players changed ends at 3-3. At 5-5 McGee then broke Greg to bring up set point at 6-5. Greg denied him though, breaking McGee to save the set point and change ends level at 6-6. He then broke McGee again to bring up set point on his serve, winning the point and the tie-break 8-6, to pouch a very close first set 7-6.

Irishman James McGee

Greg was now serving first, and after a long tie-break first set the balls were worse for wear. McGee quickly forced Greg to face two separate break-points in the first game but Greg managed to save both. He then reciprocated, forcing McGee to 15-40 in the next game and breaking McGee to lead 2-0. McGee hit back immediately though breaking Greg to love and then, with the new balls, holding serve easily to level the match at 2-2. Serves dominated from then with only two points given up on serve with the new balls, the score going to 4-4, then Greg holding for a 5-4 lead, to put the pressure on McGee to serve to stay in the match. Both players threw everything into the next game, which went for 12 points. McGee saved two match points and Greg saved two game points before Greg brought up another break point, converting this time to win a hard fought, closely contested match 7-6, 6-4.

Relief for Greg in his first match back from a minor injury and low on confidence. Hope fully he will take new found confidence into the second round of qualifying which will be later today.