18th January David dumps Greg
Greg has been dumped out of the Davis Cup team for the forthcoming tie - with David Lloyd claiming that the chance of him being fit is less than 5% . Delgado will take his place at the beginning of February. SEE www.british-tennis.freeserve.co.uk for all the LATEST on this tie....
24th December Greg in Injury Shocker
Greg and his army of fans were dealt harsh blow for Christmas when it emerged that Greg has just had an operation on a Foot Injury. Having returned from his honeymoon it became apparent that an operation would be essential. The injury means Greg will not be able to play before February, and may even be struggling to make the Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic....
That news sours my traditional Christmas message I was intending to post today, but anyway .... I would like to wish Greg fans a happy Christmas and a Merry New Year - Thanks for all your support in 1999.
5th December See Here For our Wedding Special ....
3rd November They think its all over ... it is now
It is fairly likely that Greg's season came to an end today in Paris, at the scene of one of his most famous triumphs. After losing the first set of todays match he was forced to retire with a leg injury picked up in last weeks victory over Todd Martin. This means that he won't be able to defend his points collected as last years winner and subsequently has very little chance of playing at Hanover.
Greg's victim in last year's final, Pete Sampras, also went out injured.
30th October Greg Ousted
Gregs run of good form came to a halt as he was outplayed by Dutchman Richard Krajicek in the Semi's. The 6-4 6-4 win pits Krajicek against surprise winner Thomas Enquist in Sundays Final. This weeks good run did though improve Greg's chances of reaching Hanover. More news next week.
29th October Revenge is Sweet
Greg more than made up for his previous defeats to Todd Martin by clawing his way back from the jaws of defeat to claim a semi- final place. The match was closely fought from start to end, but Martin edged the first set and held two match points in the second set tiebreaker. Greg went on to win that 12-10 though, and took the third set to decide the match 4-6 7-6 6-4.
This was Greg's 13th win in 14 indoor matches.
28th October Haas-le Free
76 minutes of power play presented Greg with an ideal opportunity to exorcise the demons of both the Davis Cup and the US Open - a match against Todd Martin. Greg was never troubled against Tommy Haas, claiming a 6-3 6-4 victory, which led the German to proclaim the Brit "the best indoor player in the world at the moment". Greg went one whole set without dropping a point on serve.
26th October Slowly back to Action
After a weeks rest Greg returns to tournament action this week in Stuttgart. Seeded fifth he received a bye in round one. In round two he was due to play Larsson, but he withdrew injured. So in his first match on Thursday he will play Haas or Ferreira, in what will be a tough contest for a quarter final place.
17th October Kiefer Revenge so Sweet
And in the end it was all so sweet for Greg. The obvious misery afforded to him by Nicholas Kiefer in Basel last week was all returned as Greg battled back from two sets down to claim his first title of 1999. Deja Vu somewhat hit the British fans as for the second week running they were forced to watch their man return from two sets down - this time Greg managed what Tim just failed to do last week. (When I say watch I mean 'Teletext' rather than 'Eurosport' due to the TV channels insistence on not paying the money needed to cover the final live!!)
Kiefers antics 9 days ago had upset the Brit, but this time Rusedski came through in style - lulling the German into a false sense of security by dropping the first two sets 7-6 6-2. The next three though saw Greg go from strength to strength as he took them 6-3 7-5 6-4. This completed Greg's 11 th win in 12 matches (the only defeat being to Kiefer). Greg does not play next week in prepartion for the two forthcoming Super Nine events.
16th October Rest and Recovery proves worthy
A day off on Thursday meant Greg returned to the tournament on Friday looking like a new player - fully refreshed and ready for action. He cruised past Sebastian Grosjean 7-5 6-2 without ever looking troubled.
The same continued on Saturday as he beat Roger Federer 6-3 6-4. He plays Nicholas Kiefer in Sunday's final, a repeat of the 'eventful' match last week.
13th October Same Again
Another close match. Another win. No complaints. Medvedev beaten 4-6 7-5 6-3, Greg through to Quarter Finals, to be played Friday.
11th October Shaky Start, but Great Result
Greg overcame a dodgy start to put in a great result against solid indoor performer Thomas Johansson in today's first round at the CA Trophy in Vienna. The Swede took the first set 6-4 but Greg battled back to take the next and then the decider on a tiebreak. In round two the fourth seed could potentially play Andrei Medvedev - one of his Grand Slam Cup victims.
8th October The Embarassing Display
Fo rthe first time in his career, for no apparent reason, Greg put in a performance that was an embarassment to his fans and his coach. Never before has Greg effecively walked out on a match halfway through, in a display that had to be seen to be believed.
He had taken the first set comfortably, and went an early break up in the second. Kiefer though levelled and took a close tiebreak. From here on in (for no apparent reason other than a few dubious calls) Greg may well have not been on court. To round it all of he conceded the match to Keiefer on a first serve that was called a 'let'. Even the umpire looked astonished to see Greg quite happily shake hands whilst he tryed to force the players to replay the point.
Let's hope Sven says the necessary before Vienna next week.
7th October Greg hits top form
Greg played his best 'match of the year' beating Dominic Hrbaty 6-2 6-2. It was an impressive win over the 22nd ranked player. In tomorrows Quarter Final he plays German Nicholas Kiefer
The draw for the 2000 Davis Cup was also made today, and saw Great Britain paired away to the Czech Republic in the first round. For more news on this see http://www.british-tennis.freeserve.co.uk/ . Anyone who is seriously interested in travelling out to watch this tie should also visit for information.
6th October Greg starts well
Greg kicked of his 1999 Basel campaign with a straight sets win over Fabrice Santoro. He won 7-6 6-2 despite half an hours delay for a lighting failure. He plays Dominic Hrbaty next in the tournament he won in 98, and Tim won in 99.
3rd October Greg beats 10,001 Germans
Greg beat Tommy Haas in the final of the Grand Slam Cup to take one of the most prestigious titles in the game. Haas never put up much resistance, and Greg's fine serving always looked like it would carry him thorugh. On route to the final Greg beat Kafelnikov, Keurten and Medvedev.
Round One Gustavo Kuerten 6-3 3-6 6-3 Qtr-Final Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-5 7-6 Semi-Final Andrei Medvedev 6-3 3-6 7-6 7-5 Final Tommy Haas 6-3 6-4 6-7 7-6 This completed one of the finest tournaments of Greg's career, perhaps only eclipsed by Paris last year and the US Open in 97. This victory also meant he and Lucy have an extra 850,000 to spend on their December wedding! Greg plays next in Basel, full coverage every evening on Eurosport.
29th September Davis Cup and Grand Slam Cup
We're all back now from another superb weekend in Birmingham - and if anyone ever doubted it the atmosphere was as superb as ever. Greg won well in a tough four setter on Friday and came out to entertain the crowd in Sundays Dead Rubber despite a groin strain. As I'm sure you're aware News updates have to be restricted on a Davis Cup weekend - because everyone involved with this site is in the stands watching well away from our home Pc's!!
This week Greg plays in the Grand Slam Cup in Munich. His first match saw him secure a good win against Gustavo Keurten in 3 sets. 6-3 3-6 6-3
14th September More Misery
Greg's hangover from the Todd Martin matched was prolonged into a second week as Greg crashed out in straight sets to Laurence Tieleman. The signs were not good when Greg talked this morning of his struggle to practice well with Martin competing in the US Open final .. and so it proved to be. On the positive side Greg didn't play this time last year so has no points to defned and can now return home to focus on the Davis Cup in 10 days time. 3-6 4-6
13th September Tashkent Challenge
Greg has decided to play an extra tournament in Tashkent this week where he is seeded 2nd and meets Laurence Tieleman. Some of the misery of the US Open has been relieved by Gregs elevation to number 7 in the rankings - he does though have LOADS of points to defned in the next two months.
8th September US Open Misery
In short Greg lost out to Todd Martin in five sets - in what was clearly the match of the tournament so far. Those that got up at 2am UK time to watch the action will know that the story was far more complex. To summarise...
The first set was hesitant. The players exchanged serve early on, but neither looked comfortable. With the score at 5-4 in Todd's favour Greg took a grasp of the match, taking the next three games and the first set. The run of three games extended to a run of 9 as Greg whitewashed Todd in the second. By this time it was clear Martin was ill. The trainer was in regular attendance, Todd was sweating profusely and missing shots your Granny would have killed.
The Third set started much the same as Greg raced to a 5-3 lead and served for the match. Trivial we all thought - thinking of an early return to our beds. But no, Martin took that as his cue to start playing as a man possessed. The stomach illness was now run off and he was on a mission.
From that point on it was hard to watch as the match was clearly only going one way (especially as it took Greg many games to adjust to the fact that he now had an opponent to play rather than a shadow). Todd took the third on a tiebreak and the fourth after an early break.
The fifth set was much tighter to start with, and then from nowhere Greg produced some magic and went 4-2 up. Two service games away from the easy Quarter Final with Dosedel. But no, to cut a long story short Greg was broken in his next TWO service games ..... both to LOVE!!
Hey but Cheer up - it's only two weeks to the Davis Cup. 7-5 6-0 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4
6th Sepetmeber Davis Cup Re-Match Next Up
In a match delayed and interrupted by rain Greg battled past home favourite Chris Woodruff in a tight encounter. The match scheduled for 5:30pm UK time eventually finished in the early hours of the morning(GMT) with the play completing under floodlights. All that matters though is that Greg won through in 4 tight sets. 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-4
Greg will next play American Todd Martin - a match that Todd won easily in the Davis Cup tie of Easter. On the subject of Davis Cup it is now less than three weeks til GB take on SA at Birmingham. As always this site will be supporting and reporting on the British team. Stay with "www.british-tennis.freeserve.co.uk" .
3rd September Prinosil Push Over
David Prinosil of Germany could do little to stop Greg's surge towards US Open success. Greg came out a straight sets winner as the German suffered a rapid collapse. Greg will play his third round match on Sunday. 6-4 6-3 6-1
1st September 1 down, 6 to go
Once Greg got going Ferrero of Spain proved to be little opposition, but at least served up a good bit of match practice for the remaining British hero (as well as a run out on the main court).
Initially it took a little while to figure out the Spaniards game, and a break of serve was enough to give Juan the first set. Greg hardly looked back after that winning in 4. He meets Prinosil of Germany next - probably on Friday. 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4
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