Back in Oz - Traralgon Challenger 1 #6

After a couple of hours Greg took to the court again, in the unrelenting 30kph wind, for his second round match, up against another Aussie who he has known for half his life, the laconic Queenslander JP Smith, 25, currently ranked 229, with a high rank slightly better than Greg at 172. Greg and JP both represented Australia as 12 year olds and have known each other since, playing against and with each other on many occasions. It is JP who has had the upper hand lately, winning their last three encounters, generally in closely fought matches. A tough mental match for Greg against a player whose main weapon is his consistency and accuracy, who plays with guile and a clever change of pace.

Leftie JP Smith all concentration as he plays a backhand

Greg was immediately put on the back foot by Smith who had Greg at 0-40 in the first game. Greg saved one break point but Smith got the early break. Not to be left behind, Greg responded and broke back immediately to level at 1-1, only to miss a few first serves in the next game to get broken again , and give the ascendency back to Smith. Smith held this time to consolidate the break and force Greg to play catch up. Greg was starting to serve more first serves but Smith was in the groove, returning well and forcing Greg to play a lot of balls. Greg dropped serve to trail 1-4 but tried to fight back, having two break points on Smith's next serve but was unable to capitalise, Smith holding serve to stretch his lead to 5-1. Greg was then unable to prevent Smith from serving out the set 6-2.

Greg shows his frustration (Pics courtesy of Aceland)

The second set started in a similar fashion to the first set, with players swopping breaks of serve then holding to go to 2-2. A fatiguing Greg, who had played four matches in the horrible wind against Smith's single game, was getting frustrated with the conditions and his opponent's game style, and vented his spleen on a few occasions to relieve the pressure. But it was in vain as Greg could not prevent Smith breaking again, this time from a seemingly safe position of being 40-15 up, for Smith to lead 3-2, then 4-2. Greg tried to fight back back Smith held firm to get to 5-3 up. He then brought up match-point on Greg's serve, converting to win the match 6-2, 6-3.

JP about to claim the match

A frustrating match for Greg is which he did not serve at his best, allowing Smith to get a lot of balls into play and dictate the game. Again the wind was a factor but this time Smith handled it better than Greg. All in all not a bad week for Greg, still on the come-back from injury, in which he won three matches to qualify, then beat a player just ranked outside of 200.
Using his protected ranking Greg is in the main draw of the second challenger to be held at the same venue of Traralgon next week. Let's hope the wind will be blowing a lot less by then..  

Back in Oz - Traralgon Challenger 1 #5

With the wind still pumping, albeit only at 30kph, Greg and Matt Reid took to the courts in Traralgon to continue their first round match with Greg in the driving seat leading 4-6, 6-4, 3-1, requiring just three games to secure the win. No doubt the hardest three games of the match. 

The first service game was a mixed bag for Greg, throwing in two double faults and a misguided forehand amongst some good play, to face break-point at 30-40. A good serve saved him and he thankfully denied Reid the break, holding serve to lead 4-1. Reid held to get to 4-2, then put the pressure on Greg, getting him to deuce but was unable to break a determined Greg.

NSW's Matt Reid

It was now Reid's turn to face pressure, serving to stay in the match serving at 2-5. Reid buckled and Greg capitalised in the wind, breaking Reid to win the fourth game of the day and a hard fought windy match 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

A good win for Greg which must have drained his mental capacity playing against a good mate in horrendous conditions.

Due to the nature of the scheduling, with the bottom of the half of the draw to play on Wednesday and the top half the next day, Greg has to play his second round match the same day, up against another Aussie, peer JP Smith, an old adversary dating from junior days.

Back in Oz - Trarlagon Challenger 1 #4

Action in Traralgon at the courts

With the wind still blowing at between 40-50kph in the late afternoon Greg took to the court for his first round singles match at Traralgon, up against fellow Aussie and good friend Matt Reid. They have known each other since Greg was 11 years old and had dined together the night before, reminiscing over old times and junior days, blissfully unaware they were to play each other the next day as Greg was still to qualify.

It was a slow start in the wind for Greg, going down 15-40 facing two break point in the first game. He saved those two then, in a massive 18 point game saved another three break points before Reid eventually broke Greg, to lead 1-0. Reid held serve, then again forced Greg to 15-40. Greg got it back to deuce but could not stop Reid on the next break point from going a double break up to lead 3-0. Greg hit back, breaking Matt to get on the score-board and reduce the deficit to 1-3, the held serve for 2-3. But he could not make anymore in-roads on Reid's serve, as the wind was slowly lessening in intensity and both players produced a few aces, games going with serve and Reid serving out the set 6-4.

Matt Reid pictured at Bernie in February

Both players started the second set well and games went with serve to 3-2 in Greg's favour. Greg then had an opportunity at 30-40 on Reid's serve, and converting to go a break-up. Reid was not phased and broke back immediately to get to 3-4, only to have repeat the break on him, and have the opportunity to serve for the set at 5-3. Reid was not done and in the fourth break in a row, a factor of the wind and nerves on two players whose serves normally dominate. In a topsy-turvey set Greg then broke Reid again, to pouch the second set 6-4, and level the match at one set all.

Greg trying to master the wind on his forehand

In fading light, with the wind a lot lighter but still gusty, Greg got the third set off to a good start, holding serve and then breaking Reid again to lead 2-0. He held serve for 3-0, then had Reid facing another break-point to potentially go a double break up. But Reid rose to the challenge saving and holding serve to get the score to 1-3. With light fading fast the match was suspended, to be completed the next day.
A full day of tennis in the howling wind for Greg, with contrasting matches. He would have liked to have stayed on court to finish the match as he had the ascendency but said the light was bad and it was the correct decision to suspend play. So on to tomorrow with a nervous three service games to win to secure the match.

Back in Oz - Traralgon Challenger 1 #3

Traralgon Town Hall

Persistent driven rain delayed the players getting on court on Monday morning for the final round of qualifying and it wasn't until early afternoon that the rain had abated and the courts dried so that the players could hit-up and attempt a start of the match. But it was not to be a the wind blew in more rain squalls and frustrated any further attempts to play for the day. And so it was to Tuesday before the final qualifying matches could be played, and the winners of those matches the would have to back-up and play a first round match a few hours later.

Bumpei Sato

With the wind howling a gale and very light rain falling intermittently on a miserable maximum 18 degree day, the player's reluctantly took the courts on Tuesday morning. Greg's opponent was 28 year-old Japanese Bumpei Sato, currently at his high ranking of 161 - a player who would be more used to indoors in that type of weather in Japan - but who made the quarter-finals of the same tournament last year.
Greg again got off to the perfect start, holding serve then breaking Sato and then holding serve again in the howling wind, to lead 3-0. He repeated the breaks twice more to pouch the first set 6-0 against Sato.
Greg then  inexplicably dropped his serve for Sato to get on the board at 1-0 in the second set but quickly bounced back to break Sato immediately to level at 1-1. Greg then skipped away, winning the next five games to record an quick 6-0, 6-1 victory, to advance to the Main Draw of the tournament. A much needed quick win on a day that he will be required to play two matches.
Greg said the win was the worst he had encountered at Traralgon, a notoriously windy venue, with some balls being blown across court at 45 degrees on a first serve. You shaped up for a backhand and then had to adjust to play a forehand, with shanked shots being the norm. On some points you just had to laugh and get on with the next point. Hopefully the wind would lessen in intensity by late afternoon when Greg was to play his first round Main Draw match, against fellow Aussie and good mate Matt Reid. 

Back in Oz - Traralgon Challenger 1 #2

The second round of qualifying at Traralgon had Greg matched up against one of Australia's rising junior players, 17 year-old South African born Marc Polmans, currently ranked 1057, with an ITF Junior ranking of 31.
Greg started the match well, holding serve then breaking young Polmans' serve and holding his own again to lead 3-0. Polmans held serve to stay close to Greg at 3-1 but a further hold and break of serve saw Greg serving for the set at 5-1. He held serve to win a quick first set 6-1.

A young Marc Polmans

Greg started the second set just as well, breaking Polmans' serve and holding his own to lead 2-0. But Polmans was not done, holding his serve and capitalising on a drop in Greg's first serve percentage to break Greg to love to level the set at 2-2. Keen not to let Polmans back in the match, Greg re-focused and broke back immediately, then held serve to again lead by a break at 4-2. Polmans held for 4-3 then forced Greg to face a break-point. Greg was able to save and after a couple more deuces won the game to lead 5-3. Greg then put the pressure on Polmans to serve to stay in the match. He forced Polmans to face match point at 30-40 but Greg was not able to convert, Polmans holding serve to turn the pressure back on Greg to serve for the match at 5-4. Greg struggled to 30-30 then played two good points to win the set and match, on his second match point, 6-1, 6-4.
A comfortable win for Greg, who although broken once, never face a break point in the first set. His first serve percentage was low in the second set but he was still able to win, playing 66% of the set on his second serve, including two second serve aces.
Two down and one more to go for Greg to qualify for the main draw.

Back in Oz - Traralgon Challenger1 #1

Park in Traralgon

Following the agonisingly close defeat in Toowoomba, Greg spent a week training in Melbourne before travelling to Traralgon, along with Aussie mate Jarryd Chaplin, to play in the qualifying for the first of two Challenger tournaments to be held there in consecutive weeks. Greg should have been in the main draw but his management group, who always do his tournament entries, somehow neglected to use his protected ranking for this tournament, so Greg had to play qualifying. Something Greg has now corrected for future tournaments.
Seeded 6, Greg's first round opponent was as yet unranked teenager Aussie, 18 year-old Lawrence Bataljin, from South Australia. Whilst unranked, Bataljin has qualified for a number of tournament and at Toowoomba led eventual title winner Jarmere Jenkins 5-0 in the third set, after winning the first set, only to capitulate, losing seven game in a row to lose 5-7.


Bataljin at West Lakes Challenger

Serving first, it was a repeat for Greg of the last tournament's first set, Greg holding serve well and breaking Bataljin twice to lead 5-0. Unlike Toowoomba, Bataljin managed to win a game, and force Greg to serve out the set, Greg winning it 6-1.The second set saw Greg ease up and Bataljin get into his rhythm. Greg twice had Bataljin at 15-40 but failed to convert the opportunities and the score remained close. Greg did manage to get the break against Bataljin and at 5-4 served for the match. Inexplicably, with the end in sight, at 30-30 Greg served two double faults and gave up an easy break of serve, allowing Bataljin to break back to 5-5. Games then went with serve to the tie-break at 6-6. Greg then took charge and went ahead in the tie-break, gaining the advantage before winning the tie-break 7-3 and the match 6-1, 7-6.
Greg said that whilst the score was close in the second set he always felt he was in control. He failed to capitalise on the opportunities he created and will need to tighten up his game in the next rounds. 

Back in Oz - Australia Futures 8 #3

The quarter-final round of the Toowoomba Futures tournament had Greg facing a tough challenge in the form of No. 1 seed, 20 year-old Aussie Luke Saville, a double Junior Grand Slam title winner, who has struggled a bit to convert his talent to the Men's circuit but has made good progress in a break-out year, with a current singles ranking of 171. He has had a short break recently due to injury and this tournament is his first since the break. In their only previous encounter Greg won in straight sets against a teenage Saville.
Greg was immediately under pressure in the first service game facing a break point at 30-40 but held his nerve, and held serve. He then turned the pressure on Saville, forcing him to 0-40 and converting to lead 2-0. Greg was now firing on all cylinders and broke Saville twice more in the set, to deliver a bagel 6-0 scoreline for the first set.
Saville to his credit did not go away, and matched Greg in the second set, games going to 2-2. Then in a long deuce game Greg saved two break points to go 3-2 up. A quick service game saw Greg again under the pump and this time Saville broke Greg to lead 4-3. Greg fought back but Saville held firm, serving out the set 6-4.

Luke Saville

Greg came out firing in the 3rd set, holding serve and then breaking Saville before holding serve to take a 3-0 lead. In the next game he forced Saville to 0-40 but Saville responded and Greg had no luck as Saville saved four break points to get on the board at 3-1. Perhaps a turning point  in match as had Greg broken he would have led. 4-0.
To his credit Saville continued to fight and at 2-4 down he again had Greg facing break points and on the third opportunity broke Greg to get back in the match, serving to level the score at 4-4. Greg responded holding serve to go 5-4 up. In another epic long deuce game Greg brought up three match-point opportunities but luck was not on his side and Saville was able to save those point and level at 5-5. Greg held for a 6-5 lead and again had a match-point but again Saville denied him, saving to level at 6-6 and take the 3rd set into a tie-break.
Serving first, Greg got off to a great start, breaking Saville twice to lead 3-0, only to drop his two serves and change sides at 3-3. Saville went 4-3. Greg held for 4-4, then Greg was broken, Saville leading 5-4 and serving for the match, which he did to win a pulsating match 76(4) in the third set.
Greg was naturally disappointed. Lady Luck was not on his side on four break-points at 3-0 up in the last set and on each of the four match points he had. Saville fought back well and stayed in the match, riding his luck to slowly peg Greg back and squeeze out a win.

Back in Oz - Australia Futures 8 #2

Panoramic view from Toowoomba

The second round of the Toowoomba Futures tournament had Greg matched up against the No.7 seed, 28 year-old Japanese Yuya Kibi, currently at his ranking high of 377. Kibi has had his best year since 2007 on the tour and won back to back $10k Futures titles in Japan this year, but has struggled to get any decent results away from his native country.
On a wind swept cool day, unusual for Toowoomba this time of year, it was Greg who served first and found himself facing two break-points in that first game. Greg  rallied, saving the points and getting his name on the scoreboard, and then immediately forced  Yuya onto the back-foot at 15-40. Yuya saved the first break-point but could not stop Greg from converting the next, giving Greg a 2-0 lead. Greg repeated the dose, holding serve then breaking Yuya again to hold for 4-0. He was on a roll and held serve to love then broke Yuya a third time to close out the set 6-0.

Jap Yuya Kibi

Yuya started finding his rhythm and confidence and after Greg held serve to lead th second set 1-0, Yuya managed to win his first game, and then two more service games to take the score to 3-3. He then forced Greg to face a break-point at 30-40 and converted the opportunity to lead the second set 4-3. Greg regained his focus and concentration and hit back immediately, getting Yuya to 15-40 but Yuya recovered to deuce before a determined Greg got the advantage and broke Yuya to level the score at 4-4.
Greg then held his serve to love, to go 5-4 up. He applied the prrsue again on Yuya to have two match-points at 15-40. Yuya managed to save those two match points and level the game score at deuce but Greg was determined to break and did so, converting the third match point to win the set 6-4 and the match 6-0, 6-4.
Greg said the conditions were very windy, but not as bad as the previous day. He had played well in the conditions and was pleased with the way he had closed out the match.

Back in Oz - Australia Futures 8 #1

Greg's return from Los Angeles to be the bestman at the wedding of great mates Ryan Bellamy and Monique Lynch, both former Pro-tour players and now owner-managers of the Sylvania Waters Tennis Centre in southern Sydney, was a traumatic affair. Greg mislaid his passport and after frantically searching all over for it, re-tracking his footsteps to banks and shops, Guys apartment and Carsten's apartment, he was forced to delay his flight back to Sydney for a day. Whether he made the flight depended on the passport being at the "shady"money-changing facility at which he was forced to cash his winnings cheque, because the regular bank which the tournament used had shut by the time his match was finished and he got paid. Greg sweated all night but a call to the facility revealed that he had left it at the bank, or rather, they had neglected to give it back to him and he was able to collect the passport and catch the flight, in time, to get back to Sydney for the wedding.
Greg's good mate Joel Linder from Brisbane flew down to Sydney and they went off to Tamora in central NSW for the wedding. The wedding went off well, with church readings by Joel and the bestman's duties and speech competently executed by both. The occasion was also a mini-reunion for Ryan, Monique, Greg, Joel, Kara Knight and Joel Andriolo and a good time was had by all, with a beautifully decorated hall, great music, master-chef like food, much fun and typical Australian country hospitality. Much thanks to the Lynch family, especially Gary and Kim.
After the wedding Greg spent the next week training at Homebush in Sydney and doing more rehab on his shoulder and back before heading to Toowoomba for his next tournament, a $15k Futures tournament on hard court.
His first round opponent was local Australian 24 year-old Scott Puodziunas, currently unranked, with a high rank of 1176. Greg was quick off the mark, breaking Puodziunas to 30, then holding serve to love to lead 2-0. Greg broke Puodziunas twice more in getting to 5-0, and then the rain poured down. The match was closer then the score suggested, with a few deuce games but Greg was able to dictate, bringing up break-points and eventually converting to dominate the score-line. The shower passed and on resumption Greg served out the set 6-0.

Scott Puodziunas

He then set about breaking Puodziunas again in the second set, converting break-point again and serving to go 2-0 up in a repeat of the 1st set. Greg then again forced Puodziunas to deuce but the rain came again and the match was suspended until the next day.
The following day presented windy, overcast conditions which made play a lot more difficult, especially the serve. Greg again got off to a good start and broke Puodziunas and then held serve to go 4-0 up. In control, in the difficult conditions, Greg was then content to go with serve to the end of the set, winning the match 6-0, 6-2.
A good match for Greg in his return to competition in Australia, with no complaints from his body. No doubt sterner tests await.