American Summer 2016 - Binghamton #1

Seattle skyline

Greg headed for Vancouver straight after his loss in Kelowna, his sore shoulder foremost on his mind. He needed some time off to let any inflammation in his shoulder to get better and then to get back into training to be able to play for the rest of the summer. He decided to head for Los Angeles where he could get some help and training from his good friend Carsten Ball. He decided to travel via Seattle, just a few hours from Vancouver, which he had not visited previously and was keen to see. He managed to get a free hire car transfer taking a vehicle from Vancouver to Seattle, which helped the budget, and got to spend some time touring Seattle.The first week in LA was spent working on fitness, allowing his shoulder time to heal and then it was back to the courts for hitting and slowly getting back into serving. After a few good sessions and sets played against Carsten, by the time he left for the Challenger tournament in Binghamton two and a half weeks later, Greg was refreshed and raring to get back into action, albeit a bit apprehensive of how he would perform against quality opposition and how his shoulder had repaired.

Artem Khrapko

Still having to play qualifying with his ranking around the 685 mark, Greg was first match up on the Saturday, up against a young local College player, 20 year-old American Artem Khrapko, as yet unranked on the ATP tour. It was a good match for Greg to get started on the tour after a break to regenerate, and Greg was not troubled as he broke Khrapko at least once in each set to rack up a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win. He said he had played well and that his body and shoulder presented no problems during or after the match.
No doubt a tougher match will test him more tomorrow as he attempts to qualify.