Australian Summer 2014 - Burnie International #2

The second round of the Challenger tournament saw Greg, seeded No.8, facing up against fellow NSW player and sometimes training partner, 22 year-old Matt Barton, currently ranked 273, with a high ranking of 201. Barton had a very successful start to the year in Australia last year but then did not have any success for the rest of the year, being off for extended periods during the year with knee tendonitis. As Greg is also coming back from injury and still suffering from his shoulder injury it should be a close contest, although Greg will be confident of getting a win.

With Barton serving first Greg was quickly on the attack, breaking him in the first game. Barton hit back and forced Greg to save break points in his next two service games, but Greg was up to the task, holding serve and getting the score to 3-1. Greg then had another opportunity to break and go further ahead but a missed volley saw him lose the point, games going to 4-2. Greg then had Barton looking at 0-40 and three break points but four aces in five serves saw Barton squeak out again and go to 3-4. Then in a sloppy game, Greg produced some careless errors and dropped serve on the back of a double fault to allow Barton to level at 4-4. Greg's serving stats were dropping, as was his second serve speed, which was a worry, but his all court game was still good. A disputed line call, when Greg's lob over Barton hit the baseline, presented Greg with another break-point opportunity and he broke the disgruntled Barton to lead 5-4 and serve for the set, which Greg did winning the first set 6-4.

Matt Barton (pic courtesy of Aceland)

Both Barton and Greg saved a break point in getting to 3-3 in the second set. Greg was starting to show visible signs of distress on his second serve and it showed in his game, Barton getting Greg to 0-40. Greg fought off those break-points to get back to deuce but was unable to prevent Barton from getting another opportunity and converting to lead 4-3, then 5-2. Greg held serve to force Barton to serve for the set, then managed to get Barton to deuce, but in a mutiple five deuce game was unable to bring up break-point, Barton winning the game and the set 6-3.
Greg took a medical time-out and got treatment on his right shoulder during the second set and it continued to trouble him through the rest of the match.
At 1-1 in the third set, with Greg serving first, Barton got Greg to 0-40 and looked certain to break but Greg produced some good first serves and denied Barton. He then broke Barton to lead 3-1. Barton was not done and, with Greg struggling to serve, broke back immediately, Greg venting his frustration by yelling. Barton held to level at 3-3, then Greg inexplicably served four aces to get the score to 4-3. He then again broke Barton to lead 5-3 and serve for the match. But again he was unable to hold serve (needing some of those aces in this game), and Barton again denied him, breaking Greg again to get to 4-5. Greg continued to attack and forced Barton to 30-40, to bring up a match point but an ace by Barton saw Greg denied the win, Barton winning the game to draw level again at 5-5, games going with serve to the tie-break at 6-6.
Down on power on his serve it was a frustrated Greg who could not serve at his best and fell behind on the points count in the tie-break against a free-serving Barton, who got over the line in the tie-break7-4, winning a very tight, long, hard fought match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
A frustrating match for Greg who fought hard and had his chances but was increasingly frustrated by his inability to serve at his normal pace due to the continuing shoulder injury. Greg will now return to Melbourne to have his shoulder assessed again by the Tennis Australia doctor, and receive further further advice and treatment to continue his rehabilitation and get him back to 100 percent performance.

Australian Summer 2014 – Burnie International #1

Following his first round loss in the Australian Open qualifying Greg decided to get more treatment on his injured shoulder, having a cortisone injection into the tendon and then no playing or training for a week. In the next week he then slowly started playing and training, doing exercises to rehabilitate his shoulder, and make it stronger. He said it still feels “loose” but is feeling more normal every day and is not painful, but that could just be the cortisone masking any pain.


Burnie Tennis Centre

On Saturday he decided he would travel to Burnie to play and see how the shoulder stands up to a more rigorous test. Due to a couple of late minute withdrawals Greg is seeded No. 8 for the singles and thus avoided meeting another seed in the first two rounds. His first round opponent was 28 year old Czech Roman Vogeli, who himself has been out of tennis with an injury and, now with no ATP ranking, had gained entry into the tournament using a special protected ranking. His high rank for singles is 410, so it is a match a fully fit Greg would be expected to win.

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Serving first Greg held serve then immediately had Vogeli facing two break points. Vogeli rallied and saved the break point to get to deuce but Greg was not to be denied, winning the next two points to gain the break of serve, then consolidating to lead 3-0. At 4-1 Vogeli again faced break points but this time denied Greg, saving three break points to hold and get to 4-2. Games then went quickly with serve, Vogeli unable to prevent Greg from winning the set 6-3.

Czech Roman Vogeli

Vogeli was quick out of the blocks in the second set, holding serve to love in the opening game but Greg held serve as well, then broke Vogeli  to lead 2-1. Vogeli fought back getting forcing Greg to face a break point in the next game but Greg held firm to lead 3-1. Back in the groove Greg was now on a roll, breaking Vogeli twice more, winning six games in a row, to win the second set 6-1 and the match 6-3, 6-1.

A comprehensive win for Greg and a nice easy first up match back. He served well and won a high percentage of both his first and second sets but he says the shoulder still does not right. So the jury is still out on whether he has fully recovered.

Due to his shoulder problem Greg has decided not to contest the doubles in this tournament.

Australian Summer 2014 - AO Qualifying #1

After not playing a tennis match for almost three months, Greg was primed to go, if not in the best shape due to his spate of injuries, for the first round of the Qualifying Tournament for the Australian Open 2014. Having recovered from the bulging disc in his back, then the dislocation of his right knee, he suffered an injury to his right shoulder rotator cuff, which has proved to be the most troublesome. He lost a lot of his fitness due to the back injury, then his knee injury and, the start of his training block was severely delayed, then hampered by his shoulder injury. He only recommenced serving   on the last weekend and then could only serve first serves, his second serve action causing him pain on each serve. Yet he was playing his ground shots well and was confident of performing well, and winning his first match, but was a bit underdone in terms of fitness and match practise. Just a question about how his serve would go, about how his shoulder would hold up.

Greg in practise

His first round opponent was the No.22 seed, 33 year-old German Michael Berrer. Currently ranked 132, Berrer is a former top 100 player with a high rank of 33 in April 2014. Greg was keen to compete, despite his serving limitations.
Serving first Greg was quick out of the blocks, serving four out of five 1st serves, and winning the game to lead 1-0. Berrer held for 1-1 then broke Greg, whose second serves we're coming through at between 106 to 125 km/hr. Greg hit back immediately, returning well to break Berrer and level the score at 2-2. In a long deuce game Greg again dropped his serve but then again broke Berrer to level the score at 4-4. Both players held to get to 5-5, then Greg was unable to serve enough first serves to prevent Berrer getting a decisive break, to lead 6-5. Greg forced Berrer to deuce but was unable to stop Berrer serving out the set 7-5.

Greg serving in the match

Greg did not start the second set well, dropping serve and trailing 0-2 early in the set. But he improved his first serve percentage and returning extremely well, breaking back and holding serve on the back of a few aces. Greg forced Berrer to save a break point in getting to 5-4 up. He then had Berrer facing three set points at 0-40 but the 6'4" Berrer responded with some good serves,  to get to 5-5. Greg held to lead 6-5 and put the pressure on Berrer to hold again. In a marathon 15 minute game Berrer saved 6 break points and Greg saved 6 game points in a 12 deuce game before Greg converted his 10th set point to win the game and the second set 7-5. One set all.

A hard fought match ends

Serving first again in the 3rd set, Greg held serve and then broke Berrer to lead 2-0. A real chance for the win now, but the effort and length of the first two sets was showing on an underprepared Greg. Berrer was able to keep the pressure on Greg and broke back, and then held serve to level the score at 2-2. Greg's lack of a second serve was seriously affecting his game and Berrer broke Greg again, going on to lead 4-2. Greg tried to fight back but Berrer held firm, breaking Greg again to serve for the match at 5-2. Greg saved match point to get to deuce but was unable to save the next match point, Berrer winning the set 6-2, and a lengthy match 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.
Greg was bitterly disappointed but buoyed by his performance given that he could not serve at his best, especially his second serve. He had performed better than Berrer off the baseline and around the court but was not able to hold his serve consistently. He also lacked the fitness required to compete a long hard match due to his limited ability to train due to his injuries.
Greg will now seek more medical advice and treatment for the troublesome shoulder.