American Summer 2016 - Lexington #1

Bronxville Field Club

Greg spent a few days in Bronxville, New York, guest for a few days of compatriot Eddie Bourchier, from Tasmania, who is currently coaching at the Bronxville Field Club, training and getting some much needed hitting before travelling to Lexington, Kentucky for the qualifying of the next Challenger tournament. And, thanks to South-West Airlines computer crash, which saw more than a 1000 flights delayed or cancelled, it was a real grind. Greg first thought something was amiss when he queued for almost two hours to check-in, then spent another hour getting through security, before eventually departing for Chicago, where he was to switch to a flight to Louisville. There he discovered, along with hundreds of other travellers, that flights had been cancelled and he joined the long, long queues to try and sort out a flight to his final destination. Almost three hours were spent queuing again before he was able to get on a flight, then managed to get an earlier flight through being on standby. Unfortunately, not only was he badly sleep deprived through the delays, but the long waiting in the queues had taken its toll on his back, and he arrived, at after 1am, in Louisville, where he had to stay overnight before driving to Lexington, with a very sore and stiff back. Also he was minus his bags and racquets, which were on his original delayed flight, which departed later than his flight.

Leftie Alex Lawson

His bags did arrive the next morning and he was able to pick them up before driving to Lexington, where he had managed to secure a billet through old friends at a horse stud farm. He managed to get a hit on the courts on Friday but was struggling with his sore back, which did not auger well for qualifying the next day.
A kind first round draw saw him avoid a seed, but was up against unranked American College player, tall big serving 22 year old leftie Alex Lawson, who could be a surprise packet. As it turned out Greg did have his serve broken in both sets, but managed to break Lawson twice in each set to record a workman like 6-3, 6-4 win.
So on to the next round of qualifying, where he will face a sterner test.