Oz Summer 2012-13 #3

The second round of the Austalian Open 2013 Wild Card Play-off draw threw up another tough match for Greg, up against the No. 2 seed, and good mate, 23 year-old Queenslander John-Patrick Smith. JP and Greg have known each other since they were 12 years-olds, playing against and with each other during their junior years, winning a National Doubles title in the U14's together and are still good friends. JP elected to take up a scholarship at Tennesse University and had a very successful Collegiate career, winning awards each year. He was ranked the No. 1 College player and was voted the SE Conference Athlete of the year. Having graduated, JP is now on the Pro-circuit and has successfully made the transition from college tennis, with his ranking at 224 and in the process of being improved.

John-Patrick Smith

On a sweltering 30 degree day in Melbourne, it was Smith who got off to the best start breaking Greg early and going to a 2-1 lead. Greg reponded and broke bakc immediately to level at 2-2, only for Smith to break again and hold serve to go up 4-2. He then put Greg under pressure again, forcing Greg to defend another two break-point opportunities at 15-40. Greg rose to the challenge, winning four straight point to get to 3-4. Smith was serving well however and Greg was unable to make any in-roads into his service games, Smith serving out the first set 6-4.

Melbourne Park outside courts



Greg was immediately on the attack in the second set, holding serve, breaking Smith and holding serve again to go out to a 3-0 lead. He then brought up more break-point opportunites on Smith's serve but was unable to convert, games going to 5-2. Greg then brought up two set points on Smith's serve, and an opportunity to serve first in the third set, but Smith served well on those points and saved, forcing Greg to serve out the set, which he did to win the set 6-3 and level the match at one set all. 

In a repeat on the first set, Smith broke Greg early to lead 2-0 but Greg broke back to level at 2-2. Greg then had a fantastic opportunity to go ahead when he forced Smith to 0-40, but again some good serving from Smith saw him elude the break of serve. The rest of the set saw a very high level of tennis with some great rallies and good winner, including some drop shots from Greg, games going with serve to the tie-break at 6-6. Greg broke Smith and raced to a 3-0 lead, but Smith held serve and then broke Greg to level at 4-4. He then broke Greg again in the next stanza of serves to get to set-point and serve for the set. But Greg saved that point to swop sides at 6-6. He was unable to win the next point though presenting Smith with another set point but this time on Greg's serve. The pressure told though and Greg ignomiously served a double fault, gifting Smith the tie-break 8-6 and the third set 7-6.

Greg served first in the fourth set and both players maintained the high standard of tennis they had played in the 3rd set, games going with serve to 3-2. Greg had a small window of opportunity, getting Smith to 0-30 but Smith served his way out of troubles to level the score at 3-3. The effects of the first round five set match which Greg had played was beginning to tell, with Smith having had a three set match and in the next game Smith forced Greg to 15-40 and had two break point opportunities, converting to take a 4-3 lead. Smith held serve for a 5-3. Greg responded and got the score to 4-5, forcing Smith to serve for the set and the match.

A tight game ensued, with Smith playing to avoid making an error, and Greg attacking, both players having some success, in getting to 30-30 but an attacking forehand long from Greg saw Smith brign up match point. Another good first serve by Smith gave him the last point and the fourth set 6-3, winning a long, intense battle 6-6, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.

It was unfortunate the two mates had to meet so early in the play-off, most spectators saying that match had the quality to be the final and perhaps should have been but that is the draw.

Greg was naturally disappointed but overall was buoyed by the fact that, after all his injury and illness woes of the past year, he had played two long matches, one a five-setter, the other in four sets, and had come through the matches in excellent condition. He had shown he could play a five set match in tough, hot summer conditions.

Now back to the training courts and gym to get even fitter for the New Year.

Oz Summer 2012-13 #2

 After a week's rest and some more scans of his injured leg, which revealed that there should be no lasting damage to his injured knee, it was back to sme serious hitting and training for Greg, in preparation for the Australian summer of tennis. But there was a little matter of the Australian Open Wild Card play-off for those Australian players not ranked high enough for direct entry into the main draw. Due to some no shows, due to injuries and players electing to forego the play-off and train solidly for the summer, Greg was to be seeded No. 7 for the event in a 16 man field. Greg was not sure if he was ready to play due to his time off for his injury and especially as the format for the play-off was the best of five set matches, but he decided to incorporate the play-off into his training schedule and get some valuable match time.

Melbourne Park Outside Court

The draw threw up the worst result for Greg, against the next best player not seeded, 25 year-old Queenslander Michael Look. Look had beaten Greg on a few occassions in the Juniors and had elected to take up a scholarship at a USA College, where he had graduated before taking on the challenge of a professional tennis career.
Greg has since got his revenge, beating Look, currently ranked 452, in straight sets at Coloundra in February this year. Look, who has a very consistent flat game with a accurate serve, will prove to be a challenge for Greg, who is had a lot of time off and is rusty and down on confidence.
The first set saw Look take the initiative and get an early break on Greg. Greg struggled at first with the windy conditions making serving difficult and the cool weather makign the courts and balls slower and lower bouncing. Greg was unlucky not to convert a few break-point opportunites that he

created against Look and then got broken again, to lose the first set 2-6.

Greg on his forehand

As the sun came out and the day warmed up Greg started getting back into the match, again creating some break point opportunities. Again he was unable to break and games went with serve. Then on the only break-point he faced, Look played the better point, and broke Greg on his first opportunity of the set to go a break up, Greg losing the second set 4-6.

Two sets to nil down and facing a mountain of work to win in this five set match, Greg took stock: He said at that stage he was feeling ok, he felt his play still had some scope for improvement and that Look was playing at his red-line and would not be able to sustain that level of play. So Greg knuckled down and immediately got results, breaking Look early and then holding serve. But mid-way through the set a lack of concentration by Greg saw Look break back, the score going to 5-5. Greg then broke Look and served out the set 7-5, now trailing Look 1-2 in sets.

Queenslander Michael Look

The fourth set mirrored the 3rd set fairly closely, with Greg now growing in confidence and serving better. Greg got the vital break of serve advantage and again served out the set competently, this time 6-4, and levelled the match at 2 sets all.

The decisive 5th set commenced with both players holding serve for 1-1. Greg then broke Look to go up a break 2-1, then 3-1 up. Look upped the ante and served well to hold his serves and then forced Greg to hold his serve, games going with serve with no break point opportunities to 4-3. Greg held for 5-3, and Look replied to get to 4-5 and put the pressure on Greg again, at the end of a tough five sets, to serve out the match. Greg was up to the challenge and did so, win the 5th set 6-4 and a long three and a half hour match 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

A good come from behind win for Greg, which will do his confidence much good but will have sapped his energy a fair bit. It is only the second five set match he has played and the first time he has won. He has a days break before playing his second round match.

Oz Summer 2012-13 #1

 Greg arrived back in Sydney on Saturday morning and to cap off the year he has had, his racquet bag was not on the flight. Luckily he did not need his tennis gear immediately, as he was having a well earned break. The bag arrived on Monday afternoon, in time for him to represent the "ATP Sydney" team in the new Asia-Pacific Tennis League, playing in the NSW Conference. Greg had committed to playing for them, if his schedule permitted and it did. It would also give him the opportunity to test his injured elbow.
A team format competition based loosely on the USA Team Tennis model, with best of 4 sets, sudden death deuces and short tie-breaks, each round consists of 4 singles and 2 doubles matches. The competition has about 6 conferences on 4-5 teams each, split up into the States and a conference from Asia. The finalists of the competition play the final in the second week of the Australian Open.

Greg's team comprised ATP players Adam Feeney, Matt Barton, Nick Lindahl and himself, ex-players Luke Bourgious and Ryan Henry and a couple of promising young players Alex Silcock and Mitchell?, most of whom Greg new well.
Up again the Campbelltown Wizards, Feeney started first and sneaked a 3 set win in a very close, highly entertaining match. On the adjoining court Barton wrapped up his match in two sets. Greg was then up against ex-top 100 player Mark Tebbutt, now in his 40's. Tebbutt had a powerful accurate game but Greg had too much power and moved too well to be troubled, using his big serve to good effect to win the match 4-1, 4-2. Silcock came from a set down to win his match in three sets, to put the ATP Sydney an unassailable lease with the doubles matches still to be played.
The coaches them took to the court, with Henry and Bourgeois winning their match comfortably in straight sets but the youngsters went down to the aging Wizards doubles specialists. The ATP Sydney team winning the tie 5-1 to maintain their lead in the NSW Conference.
Unfortunately for him Greg's elbow is still not properly repaired, troubling him on the night and affecting his ability to play at 100%, so more rehabilitation needed.

USA in the Autumn 2012 #13

Champaign Illinois was the location for the next Challenger tournament on the USA Pro Tour, the last event for the year. This week there were enough withdrawals to see Greg progress up the alternative list to be part of the Main Draw, so a good opportunity for him.
His troublesome inflamed elbow had settled down but he was not able to get as much practise time on court as he would have liked as it is an indoor venue and the number of courts limited availability once qualifying had commenced.

Champaign street scene

Still a bit underdone going into his first match, Greg's opponent was 21 year-old American and wild card recipient Chase Buchanan, from Ohio, currently ranked 440. With a win against Buchanan this year, it was a good draw for Greg.

Champaign at night

With Greg serving first both players dropped serve early in the set in getting to 3-3. Greg saved a break-point to get to 4-3 and then forced Buchanan to break-point, converting the opportunity to lead 5-3. Greg struggled to serve out the set but finally got the job done to win the set 6-3.

Greg's serve deserted him in the second set, and showed on the scoreboard. Serving a miserly 36% and not winning a high percentage of those, he dropped his serve twice, but also managed to break Buchanan twice to again get to 3-3. Buchanan held serve and then broke Greg again, serving out the set at 5-3, to win the set 6-3 and level the match at one set all. 

The indoor courts

If the 2nd set was a break-a-thon, the 3rd set was even more amazing. Greg struggled to hold his serve in the first game but after a few deuces held serve. He then broke Buchanan and held serve again to lead 3-0. Another break of serve saw him get a comfortable two break buffer and jump to a 4-0 lead. But Buchanan was not done. Capitalising on a poor game from Greg, Buchanan broke back and, gaining some momentum, then held serve to get to 4-2. He then again broke Greg to get back on serve at 4-3. An increasingly nervous Greg responded and had three break points on Buchanan in the next game at 0-40. Buchanan was up to the challenge and luck deserted Greg, with Buchanan saving all three opportunities and levelled the score at 4-4.

Chase Buchanan

Greg's confidence was on the wain, longwith his serve, and he dropped his serve for the third game in a row, to trail 4-5. Buchanan served out the set, remarkably winning 6 games in a row, to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Greg was bitterly disappointed and upset with his 3rd set meltdown. Down in confidence from his litany of injuries, lack of match play and recent poor results, he said he was amazed at how "tight" he became in that set, affecting his ability to Steve and play.
An inauspicious end to tournaments for this year. Roll on a better year in 2013.

USA in the Autumn 2012 #12

The second round of qualifying for the Knoxville Challenger saw a still sore Greg taking on 26 year-old Australian and good friend, Adam Hubble, who is an ex-College player, also from the University of Tennessee. More of a doubles specialist these days, with an ATP doubles ranking of 165, Hubble is also a handy singles player, albeit ranked 1294, who will trouble a less than 100% fit Greg.

Vols Adam Hubble

Greg struggled with his serve in the first set, serving at below 50% first serve and winning only half the points he served. He managed to stay with Hubble in the rallies and broke Hubble twice in the first set but he was unable to stop Hubble bringing up five break-point opportunities on Greg's serve, breaking him three times to win the first set 6-4.

Billboard featuring Australian
JP Smith, a record setting
champion Vols player

Greg's serving improved in the second set but so did Hubble's play and only one break-point opportunity was created in the set. Unfortunately it was against Greg and Hubble gratefully converted that single opportunity to break Greg and then hold serve for the set, winning the set 6-4 and the match 6-4, 6-4.
Greg said he was able only to serve at below normal capacity, just starting the point, and was hampered by his elbow injury on the back-hand side, but that was not enough to match a fully fit Hubble.
Greg is again going to rest and treat his inflamed albow and then assess the situation before committing to the next tournament in Champaign, Illinois.

USA in the Autumn 2012 #11

Greg was able to stay in Charlottesville for the week, giving his inflamed elbow some much needed physiotherapy and rest, thanks to the hospitality of the Butler's, a family Greg says are wonderful to stay with. He also got some advice from a doctor, had an x-ray and an MRI, all of which pointed to no mechanical damage but severe inflammation and swelling of the elbow joint, which should repair with rest.
However, Greg decided in Friday that, as he was only two out if the Knoxville Challenger main draw he would travel to the Knoxville in the hope he made the draw. That would mean he would only have to play on Tuesday, so giving the elbow more time to repair. 

Knoxville river view

As it turned out, Greg was unlucky as two player's ahead of him on the list did pull out but a player with a protected ranking, who had been injured for more than six months got the final place in the draw and Greg missed the main draw by one place. However he decided his elbow was feeling good enough to play, although playing would be a gamble in itself as he had not hit a ball for over a week. 

Mikelis Libietis

Seeded no. 3 in the qualifying draw Greg's opponent was 20 year-old University of Tennessee player Mikelis Libietis, from Latvia, currently ranked 1624 on the ATP rankings. A potentially easy match which Greg, if fit, could use to play himself into form but as a college player will be a unknown quantity.

Greg and Libietis swopped breaks of serve in the first set, Greg saving two other break point opportunities against him, in getting to 5-5. Greg then held serve to lead 6-5 and put the pressure on Libietis to hold serve. Greg brought up break-point and converted to pouch the 1st set 7-5. Serving first in the 2nd set, Greg went 2-1 up on serve and then broke Libietis to lead 3-1, then 4-1. Libietis fought back, holding serve to get to 4-2 then forcing Greg to 15-40. Greg was able to save those points and was relieved to get to 5-2. At 5-3 Greg was able to serve out the set 6-3, winning the match 6-4, 6-3.

Hope Greg's inflamed elbow held up for the match and is ok for the next round.

USA in the Autumn 2012 #10

After  a week training and coaching with Todd Martin Greg said he was hitting the ball sweetly, the best he had all year, and was looking forward taking to the court for some tournament play. Then, with three days to go with Todd, Greg experienced an intense pain in his right elbow. Out of nowhere, with no obvious impact or strain, his elbow was suddenly very sore and after trying to flex the arm and hit away the pain, Greg was forced to stop and treat the elbow with ice. They had to adjourn the training for the day and after a good's night's rest Greg hoped it would be better but it was not to be. He was forced to rest the arm and not hit for the next two days and headed for the next tournament in Charlottesville, Florida.

Charlottesville Street scene

Greg agonized on whether his elbow was better or still too sore to compete. He eventually decided to try and play and signed in for qualifying.
His 1st round opponent was 23 year-old Hawaiin Dennis Lajola, currently ranked 600, near his recent high rank of 535 in September this year. Lajola has recently finished a four year stint at college in Hawaii where he was the Western Conference Athlete of the year in 2011, so has only just started playing in the tour full-time.

The Indoor Courts at Boar's Head
Tennis Centre

It was not the best decision of Greg to play the match as he could not play to optimum capacity and was not able to serve at full pace due to his sore elbow, nor play his normal back court shots. He dropped serve twice in the first set to Lajola, losing the set 2-6. In the second Greg struggled to hold serve, saving break-points to get to 1-1 before he retired injured, forfeiting the match to Lajola.

Dennis Lajola

Greg is now going to take a week off to rest the injured elbow, and will have x-rays and an MRI to assess if there is any damage to his elbow, which he said is now more sore than previously. More than likely that will be the last match Greg will play on the regular tour this season. He will most probably return home to Sydney and give his elbow time to repair before preparing for the hard yakka he has to do next year in order to retrun his ranking to the levels it was previously, and continue the challenge to get a top 100 ranking.

USA in the Autumn 2012 #9

Greg enjoying LA

After the disappointment of not qualifying for the Tiburon Challenger Greg travelled back to Los Angeles to hook up with his mate and sometimes hitting partner David Bidmeade. 

David and lots of food



David had been to a wedding in  Las Vegas and was spending a week with his friend Guy in L.A. and it was a good opportunity for Greg to get some good hitting, along with some relaxed company and see the sights of L.A.

LA's beaches



Guy was keen to show them around and Greg and David enjoyed some of the better things which L.A. had to offer other than Universal Studios and the glitz of Hollywood Boulevarde.



Tasty Cuisine

Guy showed them different places off the beaten tourist track as well as taking them to some good beachside resraurants in Newport and Laguna. Greg said it was very great. They would practise early then hit the town for lunch, stuff their faces and then come back for some hittings, before going somewhere else for a sundowner, then dinner.

Personality Pug

Guy, who is also Australian, is engaged to a local girl Adine and Greg, who is not normally fond of animals, said they had the cutest little pug dog with the best personality.

Greg in Florida at a Jaguars NFL game

After a hectic few days, Greg then headed back to Ponte Vedra in Florida, for a calmer environment and more coaching with Todd Martin. He said it was good to get some quiet time after LA and to re-charge the batteries. Greg plans to train with Todd for 10 ten days before heading to Charlottesville, Virginia for the first of three indoor Challenger tournaments, where he will have to go through qualifying to play in the main draw.