Time to Start Again #6

After his first round loss in Binghamton, Greg travelled to New York city to catch up with a friend for a few days, working on his fitness at the New York Athletic Club. He had not made the cut-off for the Lexington Challenger, so was deciding between playing qualifying for that tournament or for the ATP250 Atlanta tournament. In the end he chose to go to Lexington, deciding he may not make the qualifying draw cut in Atlanta and that his chances of qualifying would be better in Lexington. He also had accommodation in Lexington with a family he really liked, so off to Lexington he flew.

It was whilst sitting on the plane that Greg's back started feeling stiff and sore again. Then again having a hit before the tournament Greg said his back felt the same as it did when he first he hurt it, So it was with much trepidation that Greg took to the court for his first round qualifying.

Nathan Pasha 

The draw was sort of kind to him, as he avoided a seed first round but if he won would be up against the No.1 seed. All to play for though, with all matches winnable. His opponent, 23 year-old American Nathan Pasha, had been the No.2 player at Georgia, and is currently ranked 1323 in the ATP singles. Greg said he was really restricted in movement, especially on serve and it showed in the score-line, as Pasha broke him twice in winning the first set 6-1.

Georgia Bulldog Nathan Pasha 

Greg was able to move a little more freely as the match progressed and he reversed an early break of serve to stay in the set. Pasha though had the bit between his teeth, serving at a remarkable 82%, to deny Greg any further break opportunities. He then broke Greg a second time in the set, to go on and clinch the set 6-4, winning the match 61, 6-4.
Greg was distraught, not just from another loss but from the stiffness and soreness in his back. He is going to have a rest for a day or two now and will re-asses the situation and try to formulate a plan of action, depending on how his back feels.
Two steps forward, and one
step (or more) back... 

Time to Start Again #5

Greg decided to stay in Newport for the week, as he was offered accommodation in the mansion he had stayed in during qualifying, and there were plenty of players with whom he could train with each day, not on grass but on hard court, at a venue across the road from the Hall of Fame Centre.
His next tournament was the Binghamton Challenger and Greg had made the main draw cut-off, courtesy of his protected ranking. He decided it would be best to drive from Newport to Binghamton and arranged to share a hire car with Bryden Klein and his girlfriend and Ante Pavic. Greg did the driving and although it was a six hour trip, it was far less hectic than catching two different planes, with baggage hassles and of course was far more cost effective.

USA's Bjorn Fratangelo

They arrived in Binghamton with plenty of time to practise and were only due to play on Tuesday. Rain disrupted the early matches and Greg's match was pushed back a couple of hours to late afternoon. His opponent for the first round match was the No.2 seed, rising USA player, 22 year-old Bjorn Fratangelo, who represented the USA at the 2009 Junior Davis Cup finals, currently ranked 125, near his high ranking. A tough match for Greg but a good litmus test of his progress since he started his come-back after injury.

Greg serve and volleying

Serving first, Greg started confidently, with a good first serve percentage, facing and saving only one break point opportunity in getting to 5-5. He was unable to put much pressure on Fratangelo's serve and could not create any opportunities to break him along the way. In the eleventh game of that first set, Fratangelo came out firing, winning the first two points to put the pressure on Greg. Greg responded, winning tne next three points to get to 40-30 but he could not get the game point. Fratangelo got to deuce and then brought up break point, converting to break Greg and go 6-5 up, competently serving out the set 7-5.

Greg's double handed back hand

Fratangelo continued to apply the pressure on Greg, returning well to win 5 of 7 first serves Greg threw down in the first game of the second set, breaking Greg again to lead 1-0. Then unexpectedly, Fratangelo's serve wavered. Greg started reading it better and returned well, breaking back immediately to level at 1-1, then serving well, winning 4 games in a row, breaking Fratangelo again, to lead 4-1. He broke Fratangelo again at the end of the set, to win the set 6-2. A great turn around of events, with the score locked at one set all.
Unfortunately Greg's months of inactivity the took its toll in the third set. Fratangelo broke at 1-1, held serve easily then broke again at 3-1 to lead 4-1, then 5-1. Greg rallied to get to 5-2 but the damage was done and Fratangelo served out the set 6-2, to win a hard fought, hard hitting entertaining match 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

Fratangelo gets airborne on a forehand

Whilst disappointed in the last set Greg was buoyed by his performance. He had served well, landing an winning a high percentage of first serve and returning better as the match progressed. His second serve was not firing as well as he would have liked, resulting in 10 double faults. He had matched it with a top ranked player for two sets, only fading at the death. Still a lot of work to be done, Greg will knuckle down and concentrate on improving his fitness and work on his second serve.
Footnote: Frantangelo made the final, losing to the No.1 seed, GBR's Kyle Edmund.

Time to Start Again #4

Next on the schedule for Greg in his come-back from a long period of multiple injuries, over eighteen months of time-off and rehabilitation, with a small period of competition mid to end last year, was a real challenge, playing qualifying for the Tennis Hall of Fame ATP250 grass court tournament at Newport, Rhode Island. Whilst ambitious given his relevant lack of match practise, and not having played on grass for two seasons, he wanted to go to Newport to catch-up with his old coach Todd Martin, who was now director of the Tennis Hall of Fame, and to re-inflame his tennis juices by experiencing the atmosphere of top level tennis.

Greg again received a favourable draw, avoiding a seeded player. His opponent was Ryan Haviland, a 34 year-old veteran with a current ranking of 985, and a career high ranking of 516 achieved when much younger in March 2004. It was a match Greg would have relished two year ago but today his lack of grass court play showed at the outset. His serving did not help either, below 40% as he was broken early, as he struggled to 3-5 in the first set. The points went by quickly on the grass court surface and he was not able to build into a rhythm, hardly troubling Haviland on serve. He was then broken again for Haviland to win the first set 6-3.

Ryan Haviland

Greg improved on his return game in the second set, and managed to break Haviland early to lead 2-1, only to immediately get broken back, for Haviland to level at 2-2. But this time Greg was in the groove and despite Haviland having the better stats for the set, managed to win the next four games, breaking Haviland twice in a row to pouch the second set 6-2.
Greg had the momentum and should have continued to dominate but Haviland steadied and raised his service game, as did Greg increase his service percentages, games going with serve with no break-point opportunities to 4-3, Haviland  leading on serve. Unfortunately right there Greg's concentration and first serve wavered with the pressure of serving second at the pointy end of the match, and Haviland forced him to 0-40 and converted the break opportunity to lead 5-3.


The green grass courts at Newport

Serving for the set Haviland himself wobbled and Greg managed to get him to 15-40, but unfortunately two good points from Haviland saw him save the break-points and then win the game, to win the set 6-3 and a quick but hard fought match 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.A disappointing end to a mixed match from Greg. He had grown in confidence and worked his way back into the match but was not able to sustain the pressure at the end of the match, but that is something that will change as he plays more matches. Next stop most probably will be the Binghampton Challenger, if Greg manages to get into the main draw with his protected ranking.

Time to start again #3

28 year-old Alex Kuznetsov

Playing with American Alex Kuznetsov, in the doubles at Winnetka, Greg and Alex received a favourable draw, up against youngster Mackenzie MacDonald and peer Nicolas Meister, both from the USA. With both opponents achieving good results in singles, it was not going to be a easy match to win.

Nicolas Meister

Greg and Alex got off to a confident start and dominated the first set, breaking serve early, holding serve well and then breaking again to lead 5-1. They however allowed their opponents to get back in the set, to break back and then gain in confidence after a couple of service games, getting broken again for the set to be levelled at 5-5, then go 6-5 down, on serve. Greg and Alex rallied to take the set into the tie-break at 6-6. They changed ends at 3-3 after swopping mini-breaks, then managed to skip away to win the tie-break 7-4 and take a 1-0 lead in sets.

Mackenzie MacDonald

Unfortunately for Greg and Alex, getting back into the match had seen their American opponents grow in confidence and they had Greg and Alex on the back foot, breaking three time in a row to lead 5-0. Greg and Alex tried to respond and broke back to get on the board at 1-5, but it was too little as the got broken again to lose the second set 1-6, and go to the match tie-break (first to 10) to decide the match.
In the match tie-break, mini-breaks were swopped twice in getting to 3-4 in favour of the opponents. From there the Americans skipped away and Greg and Alex lost the match tie-break 5-10, to lose the match and be bundled out of the tournament.
Not as much match practise as Greg had hoped for, but again his body had stood up to the rigours of playing, albeit in a doubles match. Next on his agenda is the qualifying for the Hall of Fame ATP250 event in Newport.
 

Time to start again #2

Greg remained in Kelowna, Canada, practising with fellow Aussies Matt Reid and Harry Bouchier, who also lost early in the tournament, whilst sweating on whether he would get into the main draw of the Challenger to be held in Winnetka, Chicago. Greg was far out of the draw at the start of the week but due to main draw accepted players doing well at Wimbledon and thus withdrawing, he moved up the alternate list rapidly and by Friday remained just 1 player out of the main draw. Two other players, Kudla and Nielsen did withdraw but unfortunately they withdrew too late for Greg to move up into the main draw, and he was consigned to play in qualifying. The two highest ranked players in the qualifying draw, based on the latest rankings and not on the acceptance list, then moved up because of those late withdrawals. Bad luck for Greg.



20 year-old Sam Shropshire

In the first round of qualifying, Greg received a good draw, avoiding a seeded player. He was up against a local young American wild card Samuel Shropshire, of nearby Evanston's Northwestern University, ranked 1598. First match up, Shropshire was ready to take on the challenge of playing Greg from the get-go. Greg was forced on to the back foot and was making numerous unforced errors, talking to himself throughout the match. Shropshire won the first set 6-2 but Greg got himself back into the match, saving four break points in the second set, to deny Shropshire any advantage and converting one of two break points on Shropshires serve, to edge out the young American and win the second set 6-3, to level the match.Unfortunately Greg could not maintain the pressure, his lack of matches in the past eight months counting against him in the third set. He was unable to convert the break point opportunity and saved two break points on his own serve but he could not save a third, and Shropshire ran out the winner, winning the third set 6-3, and the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

 Greg said he played ok in patches but had struggled to keep the ball in and was not getting the free points from his first serve, his first serve percentage just a touch over 50%. Greg will continue to concebtrate on getting his fitness levels up and attempt to get more match court time by playing in the doubles with American Alex Kuznetsov.

Time to Start Again #1

The last time Greg played a professional tennis match was way back in November 2014. Since then it has been a battle to shake a debilitating back injury, which has derailed his career, hopefully only temporary. He had attempted to play along the way, playing with pain, but it was counter-productive and his back was never going to heal. It appeared to be getting better only to each time break down and become extremely painful when put under the stress of serving at full pace and spin. Much physiotherapy, rest and strengthening exercises was had and done, but in the end only a radical procedure involving a type of epidural to cut the pain cycle was of help. After the procedure Greg was inactive for a few weeks, then gradually got back into physical exercise and training, eventually commencing serving after some six weeks of training.
And now he is in the Americas, to play some tournaments to ascertain whether his back will stand up to the rigours of full-time competitive tennis, this week in Canada for a $15k Futures event in Kelowna in British Columbia. He had a favourable draw, up against 30 year-old American Matt Seeberger, who has only been playing competitively on the circuit for about three years, currently concentrating on doubles, with a singles ranking of 1375 and a doubles ranking of 250.
Greg said it was fairly warm and the courts were quick. Seeberger was taking big cuts at the ball, with a hit-or-miss attitude, and it was difficult for Greg to get any rhythm, with short points and quick games. In the end there was just a break difference in each set, unfortunately against Greg, who lost 6-4, 6-4. Greg had his opportunities, unable to convert two break-back points at 3-5 in the first set and a break opportunity mid-way through the second set. Not yet match hardened, Greg said his intensity ebbed and waned and that just one bad game in the second set made the difference.
On the positive side he said he had no problems, or even a hint of pain, from his troublesome back. He does have some aches and pains in his body and some fatigue in his shoulder but that is to be expected after his first match in seven months. It is baby steps at the moment while he slowly builds back into the professional game