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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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