Australia in the Spring 2016 - Canberra #5

It was a very strong and gusty wind that was causing havoc with the tennis early afternoon in Canberra, as Greg took to court for the quarter-final round of the singles. He was up against another promising young Aussie teenager, 19 year-old Omar Jasika, ranked 390, off his impressive high ranking of 256 achieved last year. Jasika, who is also the winner of the US Open juniors title, struggled to find form in the early part of this year, but has recently achieved some good results, so is currently in good form and will be a real test for Greg, in his fifth match this week.

Omar Jasika - US Open Junior Champion

Both player's struggled to adapt to the gusty wind conditions initially and with Jasika serving first, Greg soon had Jasika in trouble, facing two break points in the first game. But Greg was unable to capitalise and Jasika held serve. He then had Greg facing three break points at 0-40. Greg responded and got back to deuce but Jasika kept the pressure on and broke Greg to lead 2-0. Greg tried to hit straight back but Jasika saved another break point in his second service game to get to a handy 3-0 lead. Greg held serve to get on the board and tried to break Jasika, but Jasika was up to the task, holding his serve to win the first set 6-3.


Omar Jasika in action at Canberra

Serving first in the second set, in the stiff wind, Greg was again under early pressure and Jasika broke Greg, then held serve to lead 2-0. Greg then did not serve a good game and Jasika took advantage, breaking him again to take a decisive lead in the match, to lead 3-0, then 4-0. Greg recovered some ground to get to 1-4, then took the attack to Jasika in an attenpt to get a break back but Jasika had the momentum and was able to hold, to force Greg to stay in the match. He brought up match points on Greg's serve. Greg saved the first but could not stop Jasika from winning the second set 6-1, and the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.A match too far for Greg, this fifth one. He was bitterly disappointed. He said the wind had been a factor and Jasika had played well, whilst it was not Greg's best performance. Still a good week for Greg, who won four matches, including a testing come-from behind qualifying match and two main draw matches against quality opponents, playing some of his best tennis in the second round.
Unfortunately due to the Friday match he will be unable to travel to Japan for the qualifying of the Kobe Challenger, so has elected to have a week off tennis to recover, and train, for the following week's tennis.

Australia in the Spring 2016 - Canberra #4

Having won three matches in a row for the first time in a long time, could Greg stretch that run to four? Playing in the second round of the Canberra Challenger, he was up against up and coming Aussie teenager, 18 year-old Max Purcell, from Sydney's Northern Beaches area, already ranked 360, near his high ranking of 355 achieved recently. Greg and Purcell have trained together in the past, when Greg was at Homebush on a rare occasion, so it will be an difficult but interesting clash.
Greg served first and both players opened confidently to get to 2-2, with Greg having slightly better of the play. Then Purcell brought up two break point opportunities on Greg's serve, but Greg responded, getting back to deuce and then holding serve. Purcell held for 3-3, then with the momentum in his favour again brought up break-point opportunity on Greg's serve. And again Greg was able to save the point and get to 4-3 up. He then forced Purcell to 0-40, to have three break point opportunities. Purcell saved the first but Greg won the next point to break Purcell and go 5-3 up, with a chance to serve for the set, which he did, winning the set 6-3.

 Max Purcell

With Purcell now serving first in the second set, Greg was playing catch-up. Purcell had also picked up his serve percentage, to match Greg's good serving at around 65-70%, and serve dominated the early part of the set, games going with serve to 2-2. Greg then had a break point opportunity but was denied by Purcell. Then at 4-3 it was Purcell's turn to have Greg under pressure and facing break-point, but he too was up to the task and saved to level at 4-4. Greg served to stay in the set at 4-5 and 5-6 but did so confidently, taking the set to the tie-break at 6-6.

Greg sends down a serve

With both players serving a high percentage of first serves, Purcell got the early mini-break for a 2-0 lead. Greg pegged him back to 2-2, then got another mini-break to go 3-2 up on his serve, changing ends at 4-2 and then holding serve again for a 5-2 lead, Purcell to serve. Greg gained another mini-break to have four match points at 6-2. Purcell saved the first match point to get to 3-6, but now it was on Greg's serve. Greg converted on his next serve to win the tie-breal 7-3, and the match 6-3, 7-6, and advance to the quarter-final round.

So a run of four wins for Greg, some valuable ranking points and hopefully a confidence boost for the next matches and tournaments to be played. Greg said it was the best he had played all week and he was very pleased with his performance. Hopefully his body is all ok after all the tennis played, and thankfully he opted not to play doubles this week, to conserve himself, and will also most probably have a rest day tomorrow before tackling the quarter-final round on Friday.

Australia in the Spring 2016 - Canberra #3

After a days break it was back to work for Greg in the first round of the Canberra Challenger tournament, this time with luck on his side in the draw. Greg had drawn the No.2 seed 97th ranked Yoshihito Nishioka, but unfortunately Nishioka was struggling with illness and was forced to withdraw. A bit of luck for Greg, who still had a battle on his hands, up against the "lucky loser" replacement for Nishioka, fellow Aussie 23 year-old South Australian Darren Polkinghorne. Currently ranked 1042, Polkinghorne's consistent game will test Greg's resolve.
Serving first, six first served by Greg set the tone for the set, games going with serve to 2-1. Greg then for Polkinghorne back to deuce, then brought up break point, converting to go 3-1. He held serve confidently to get to 4-1, then broke Polkinghorne again to take a stranglehold on the set at 5-1. He served out the set well to win it 6-2.
Polkinghorne served first in the second set and Greg was quick to put the pressure on, bringing Polkinghorne back to deuce once again, the breaking him again to take a handy 1-0, then 2-0 lead in the set. With Greg serving at a high percentage, games went to 4-2, then Greg again broke Polkinghorne to take a decisive 5-2 lead, and have a chance to serve for the set. But Polkinghorne upper his game, and with Greg suddenly struggling to find a first set, forced Greg to face three break points at 0-40. Greg saved one point but could not stop Polkinghorne breaking, to get to 3-5, still a break down. Greg to forced Polkinghorne to deuce again but this time Polkinghorne held firm and won his serve too get close to Greg at 4-5. Greg served for the set again but again Polkinghorne's determination, coupled with the momentum and a drop in Greg's serve percentage, saw him break Greg for a second straight game and level the set at 5-5. Polkinghorne held for 6-5 then attempted to break Greg again, but Greg responded, getting to 40-15, then  winning the game to take the third set to the tie-break. Greg could have done with that service game a few games earlier.

South Australia's Darren Polkinghorne

Greg was straight on the attack in the tie-breaking, gaining an immediate mini-break, going 2-0 up. Polkinghorne broke back and the players changed ends all even at 3-3. Greg held for 4-3 and then attacked again but this time Polkinghorne held firm to get to 5-4. Greg's turn to hold serve - which he did well, to bring up match point at 6-5, but on Polkinghorne's serve. He duly got the mini-break to snare the tie-break 7-5, and win the match 6-1, 7-6(5).
A real test for Greg when things went a bit pear-shaped at the end of ththe second set, but he had played well up until then, and had the steely resolve to recover and win the match in straight sets.