30th June - Greg in Phillipoussis Shocker
Greg was smashed out of Wimbledon in emphatic style by an inform Aussie - Mark Phillipoussis. Despite having never lost to the big server (coached by Pat Cash) Greg had no answer to the Aussies big hitting. Many people say that Mark, like Greg, is unbeatable at the peak of the game. Today sadly it was the man from down under who found that peak.
It did though take him a little time to settle down, and Greg took the first set with two breaks of serve. The signs were there though in the second when all 12 games went with serve. Mark clinched the tiebreak, needing only one minibreak. From there on it was downhill all the way as Greg really struggled to hold serve. He also had a few problems with a leg injury - but Greg will be the first to point out that these were not decisive. Lets hope Phillipoussis can now go on to recreate the same against Sampras in the Semis. Best of luck also to Henman against Pioline.
30th June - Maybe, just maybe
Greg is now scheduled to be on Court One after the Graf match (t/f). The match was originally scheduled for Monday but a better weather forecast suggests today might just be the day. Expect a start around 1pm BST Wednesday.
29th June - Everything on Hold
In true Wimbledon tradition the rains came. Despite being at SW19 yesterday all I saw was Tim Henman NEARLY polish off Jim Courier, while Greg never got anywhere near a court. He is third on Number 1 Court today when the rain stops. (Some forecasts say this isn't going to happen). Don't expect a result today.
28th June - Greg plays Mark today...
Apologies - this update will be late in arriving, once again I am off to Wimbledon. I am lucky enought to have Centre Court tickets, lets hope the Order of Play committee look at this site. Hint.
26th June - Greg continues to impress
Without ever looking like he was in top gear Greg beat Magnus Norman in straight sets, to set up the anticipated clash with big serving Mark Phillipoussis. A break in each set secured a 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory. Greg also served a delivery at 138mph - equalling the Wimbledon record. Roll on Monday...
24th June - 2 down 5 to go
As predicted I was unable to produce an update yesterday because I was down at Wimbledon. What I could never have expected was to be able to queue and see Greg play. Standing at the back of Court 2 the loyal fans supported Greg (whilst getting chargrilled in the extreme heat) whilst trying not to be too hard on fellow brit Parmar....
In the end though there was little to get excited about - except for the fact that Greg has clearly found a balance in form. The victory was routine, with Parmar seldom touching his serve. A break each in the first two sets set up a 6-3 6-4 advantage. Arvind battled well in the third but SIX consecutive aces towards the ned of the set gave Greg the necessary confidence going into the tiebreak. On Friday he plays Magnus Norman.
21st June - Greg proves us ALL wrong
Rusedski fans such as myself who spent the weekend worrying about his form and the prospect of a tough first round match wasted their time. Greg blasted his way through Jason Stoltenberg and into Round two. Blistering groundstrokes and returns were backed up by impressive serving - and Greg looked like he will be at SW19 for a little while yet.
The scoreline was 6-1 6-4 6-2 and Greg will now meet fellow Brit Arvind Parmar on Wednesday. Arvind came through qualifying and today beat Albert Costa in 4 sets after losing the first 9 games!! Apologies if reports on this match are a little late in arriving - weather permitting I plan to be in Wimbledon on this day. If the Internet Kiosk is accessible I will write a report as soon as possible - otherwise it will appear Thurs morning.
20th June - Greg's D-Day announced as Monday
As speculated Greg's first match at this year's Wimbledon is scheduled as the last match on Centre Court tomorrow (Monday). Greg plays Jason Stoltenberg in a vert tricky match. Go Greg, Go.
19th June - Apologies for Absence
Firstly I can only apologise for not bringing news of Greg's defeat sooner ... unfortunately he went out in straight sets to the Frenchman Cedric Pioline. Greg was quite unhappy with his performance (he served 10 double faults). He is promising to hit 1000 serves a day over the weekend to shape up for his Wimbledon challenge.
Those of you living in the Midlands (or with access to BBC News 24) may be interested to know that my 'disappearance' yesterday was to film a short piece for BBC Midlands Today, with Sara, about this years Wimbledon and the British Support. Look out for that on Monday.
17th June - Greg through To Semis in Better Form
After a lacklustre display yesterday Greg beat the talented Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets 6-4 7-5. Greg broke in the last game of each set (after one break a piece early in the 2nd). In tomorrows Semi Final he plays Pioline or Ilie.
16th June - Greg overcomes JMG (only just though)
Greg managed to turn around this match in the second round of the Nottinghma Open against Jan Michael Gambill just as it looked to be slipping away from him. The young American ranked 50 in the world took the first set with a break late on. Greg though managed to scrape through by reversing the same tactic in the next two sets.
In tomorrows Quarter Final he plays Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt who extended Pete Sampras to three tight sets at Queens.
15th June - Greg plays Stoltenberg in Round One
The Wimbledon draw for 1999 pits Greg against talented Australian Jason Stoltenburg in Round One. Like all the Aussies Jason is quite at home on the grass - and has recorded many good results at SW19 in the past. This includes a semi final three years ago. Greg is in the same half as Tim Henman and Pete Sampras, but Krajicek, Agassi and Ivanisevic are in the other - so probably a fair balance. Greg's projected last 16 opponent is Mark Phillipoussis, and in the Quarters he would probably play Sampras. That's all a long way off though....
14th June - Greg Serve Up Double Bagel
Greg helped the Nottingham organisers speed up their centre court programme by disposing of veteran Gianluca Pozzi in the first round with a mere blink of the eye. Rain early in the day saw the order of play running behind schedule - until Greg took just 30 minutes to win 6-0 6-0. The victory was so straight forward that Greg probably had chance to draw Pozzi a little map of how to get to SW19 - not that he will need it because he's got a whole week to get there!! Hopefully Greg will fill his time before Wimbledon a little better. In round two he plays Gambill or Woodruff.
Wimbledon Seedings: Greg has been promoted to 9th place in the seedings from his world rankings place of 13. This is due to the withdrawal of Corretja and Rios and the demotion of Keurten and Moya. Tomorrow lunchtime sees the full draw made. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam which deviates from the World Ranking Lists.
11th June - Greg humbled by hot Sargis
Greg had little answer to the in-form talent of Armenian Sargis Sargsian this afternoon as he bowed out of Queens in a very disappointing fashion. Rarely do you see Greg get totally out played by a lower ranking opponent - but that's precisely what happened. 2 breaks in the first set and another in the second left Greg high and dry. Three break points in the 8th game threatened to pull Greg back - but they weren't taken. Once again the media hype of an All British clash generated the usual result...
Greg moves on to Nottingham next week where he is seeded 1st in a poorly attended event. The event will be overshadowed by the Wimbledon Draw on Tuesday where you can expect many, many top players anxiously looking to avoid the unseeded "Mr S Sargsian of Armenia" in Round One.
11th June - Sargsian this afternoon
Greg plays Sargis Sargsian on the Centre Court at Queens this afternoon at 2pm coverage on BBC (around Cricket). Sargsian earned his place in the Quarter Finals with a convincing win over defending champion Scott Draper. He has also beaten World Number 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov this week and he won the Surbiton grass court event last week. It's not going to be easy for Greg.....
10th June - You can't buy practice that good
Greg beat Wayne Ferreira early this afternoon, but only just, in the sort of match that gives him ideal preparation for Wimbledon. The match took three sets with just one break of serve in each. The result sets up a Quarter Final clash with either defending champion Scott Draper or Sargis Sargsian or Armenia.
The first set looked to be heading for a tiebreak with Ferreira serving at 6-5, a slight wobble by the South African coupled with some good serving gave the initiative to Rusedski. This was quickly handed back to Ferreira when Rusedski dropped serve in the first game of the Second. An advantage Greg never reclaimed. A close final set was only clinched though by a good break of serve by Greg in the sixth game. Three consecutive topspin backhands (a shot he had tried to ignore) gave Greg the set 6-3, and finally won over the crowd who rarely seemed interested in the first two sets.
9th June - Green Green Grass of Home
Greg had little trouble in progressing to a third round encounter with Wayne Ferreira tomorrow (Thursday). He beat Paul Goldstein in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in exactly one hour. He served 13 aces to set up what would have been a potential Davis Cup rehearsal before Ferreira's announcement. See Davis Cup site for more on that.
9th June - Greg back on Grass
Greg is playing Paul Goldstein today at Queens at around 5.30pm - dependant on the previous matches (Henman starts at 2pm BST followed by Sampras and then Greg). It is virtualy Greg's first match on grass in two years - following his injury last year which resulted in two early withdrawals.
7th June - Greg Static in Rankings
Going into the grass court season Greg remains at 13 in the rankings. Greg is expected to play his first match at Queens on Wednesday - weather permitting.
5th June - Queens Draw Made - Who will be King?
Greg is seeded 7th for this tournament - which reflects the quality of the line up (headed by Sampras and Kafelnikov). In the first round he received abye. In the second he will play Paul Goldstein or a Qualifier. Goldstein is of course the player who knocked Greg out of the Australian Open in January.