2000 Round Up
2000 has been a year Greg and all his supporters would rather have not experienced, full of low-confidence, niggling injuries and poor results, the first year of the new millennium has been what some may call "a nightmare." Starting the year from the side-lines because of recovering from a foot operation, Greg duly lost his first match of the year in Monte Carlo. A un-wanted pattern started to emerge as he went out to Slava Dosedel in round one of the French Open, and it continued as he went out of the Rome Masters Series event in the same style.
Coming back to home ground for Queens, Greg was optimistic for some good results. The optimism took him as far as Marat Safin to whom he handed over a one-set lead and consequently the match. Then, as the eyes of the tennis world turned to SW19, Greg had his firmly fixed on winning his first round match. He faced Vince Spadea an American who was on the end of a 21 match losing streak. With stops and starts and both highs and lows for each player, the match became painful to watch. The conclusion was even more damaging as, for another year, Greg waved goodbye to the Wimbledon complex and a dumbfounded crowd.
The summer came and went with a few wins here and there but no concrete winning streak to silence the press, who were all claiming Greg was "over the hill." The blow of losing first round at the Olympics was softened because Henman did the same. Then when the indoor season arrived, Greg and his fans were clinging to the memories of 1999 and previous years, however the year from hell just continued. Luckily a win over Kafelnikov, the Olympic champion, and an impressive victory over Marat Safin provided some remorse. Nevertheless the familiar pattern of first round losses was still evident, as was a lack of confidence in Greg's game. The year finished just like it started with a first round exit, this time on home soil in Brighton.
With the news that Greg will be working with Pat Cash to help elevate himself to the heights of previous years, Greg's supporters will be hoping and praying this year will be quickly forgotten.
Roll on 2001 and the return of the Greg we all know and respect, for another year of challenges......
25th November Brighton News Round Up
Greg crashed out in the first round to American Paul Goldstein. Despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first set, Greg went on to lose in straight sets.
Greg entered the doubles with Mark Goellner and as this article was written they were preparing to compete in the Semi-Finals.
The only further news from the event, despite the shockingly small attendances (due to high prices and a poor entry field) was Greg's rejection at short-notice to play in an exhibition match on the Friday when Tim Henman's quarter final was declared a walkover. Tim stoked the fire with this quip:
"But if I'd been paid a handsome guarantee to play a tournament and lost in the first round and only been involved in some social doubles, my conscience would have mad me play an exhibition. I'm sad to say its another PR error on Greg's part"
3rd October Hewitt Halts Greg
A hard fought battle ended in upset today for Greg, as Australia's youngster Lleyton Hewitt, beat him 6-4 6-4. Henman's conqueror who is in top form, started how he meant to go by making Greg save a break point in his first service game. Greg's best chance to take the lead came in the sixth game where the youngster served three doubles only to retain his service and take his opponents in the following game. The first set was won on Hewitt's second set point putting the Brit under pressure to take the second set.
Unfortunately this pressure got to Greg as he lost his first service game of the second set allowing Lleyton to take control of the match and just hold his serve to earn a place in the semi finals. However, all is not lost for Greg. He has played some inspired tennis this week and has earnt more points which will aid him in his bid to end the year in the top 50.
2nd October Safin stunned by Rusedski
Today Greg convinced yet more critics that he is back and dangerous. Rusedski removed from the tournament the number one seed and present US Open champion. It was a match that oozed confidence and composure from Greg with him producing many spectacular shots. A tight first set, in which the Russian gave away brilliant opportunities to take the set, saw Greg taking the tie-break 7-2 in a very convincing fashion. In the second set Greg took an early opportunity to break Safin in the third game. From this point on Rusedski was always in control and held his nerve serving to love for a 7-6 6-4 victory. This is a massive win for Greg and sets him up with a quarter final against either Lleyton Hewitt or Tim Henman.
31st October Puerta opens the door for Greg! (title by Dee)
Greg's success continued today in what he called his "Build up for 2001" with another convincing win. Rusedski fought off the Argentine, Mariano Puerta, 6-2 6-3. With some of the best serving Greg has produced all year, the 16th seed had little chance to make his mark on the match. The Brit slammed down 16 aces in the game and confirmed afterward both body and mind were feeling good. This victory has set up a tie with the winner of the Santoro v Safin match, the latter being number one seed at this tournament. Greg will now be looking to continue his run of convincing victories past the 3rd round and possibly set up a quarter final with fellow Brit-Tim Henman.
30th October Jerome Demolished By Greg
Forty five minutes was all it took for Rusedski to remove the Frenchman, Jerome Golmard, from his path in Stuttgart. That short amount of time for the 6-1 6-2 defeat could prove one of the most confidence boosting matches of the year for Greg, and indeed his fans. The Brit was extremely up-beat after his match saying how frustrating and tough the year had been but that: " I think I'm over my injuries and now I'm really looking forward to the future"
Greg will now go on to face 16th seed Mariano Puerta in round two, he will be hoping for another convincing win so that he can achieve his aim of getting back into the top 50 which he says would " Be the rescue of the year"
It has also emerged that in December Greg will be talking to former Wimbledon Champion Pat Cash about the possibility of him as a coach next year.
27th October Lleyton Has All The Luck
Unfortunately, Greg was unable to sustain his winning streak, and bowed out of the tournament 12 points and $27,970 the better for it. His opponent, Lleyton Hewitt, won the match convincingly 7-6 6-2, the score indicating a dreaded slip in Greg’s confidence in the second set. It was undoubtedly a very difficult match, with Hewitt still displaying great form and confidence despite a virus. However Lleyton's comment after the game was one to be relished as he indicated even the top players in the world still see Greg as a worthy opponent . Saying “ I beat Rusedski, who even though his ranking is not up there right now, is still a big name.”
Hewitt now advances into the semi finals, against the young Swiss star Roger Federer.
26th October – Greg Crushes Krajicek
Greg has continued to show great form in Basle, defeating Krajicek impressively, 2-6 7-6 7-5. Having made a shaky start, Greg proceeded to take the next two sets and dispelling all doubts about his confidence, something that has let him down in the past. Greg has now matched his 1999 success in Basle, charging into the quarter final where he will meet the rising star of Australia-Lleyton Hewitt. This has been Greg’s best result in a tournament for months and it is certain that he will receive a necessary confidence boost for Stuttgart next week. Greg has won the only time that the two have met before which was in Nottingham last year. However Hewitt’s tennis has improved quite substantially since then with a semi-final appearance in the US Open just over a month ago. This is perhaps, the toughest match that Greg will have played so far, and if he advances possibly the toughest match that he will play all tournament.
24th October – Basel : Greg Alarms Alami
Despite the uncertainty surrounding his entry, Greg made a confident start to the Basle Tournament defeating Karim Alami 7-5, 6-1. Although Alami is stronger on clay, the win was still an impressive feat considering Greg’s previous track record against him: although having won on all three of the occasions that the two met, the results, even on hard courts show Alami to be a more than worthy competitor. Having won this first round, Greg moves on in a difficult draw to face Krajicek in the second. Both players have had injury problems, and both have made a good start to the tournament. Greg is currently leading the head to head tally against Krajicek 5-4, but he has not won a match against the Dutchman since the US Open in 1997.
19th October Toulouse Trauma for Greg
Greg's miserable year continued last night in Toulouse as he failed to fight of Hicham Arazi to gain a 2nd round spot. In 1998 Greg had been the runner up in this tournament but after a depressing year hampered by injury he was never really expected to repeat such a feat. The final score-line was 6-3 6-4 and allowed Arazi progress to a second round match facing the ever improving American Jan-Michael Gambill. Rusedski will now have to hope that two players drop out of the main draw in Basle allowing him a place. Basle has been a good tournament for Greg in the past with him taking the title in 1998, lets hope if he gets into the draw he can pull out some victories.
12th October Vincente Halts Hopes Of Another Title
With Greg's excellent performance over Kafelnikov in the previous round many were expecting an easier task in taking out the Spaniard Fernando Vincente. However from the moment Greg stepped out on court it was clear for all to see this was not going to be the case. Greg seemed to be struggling to get to grips with his game, while Vincente was on top of his and took the first set with ease. The Spaniards domination continued into the second set and Greg managed to clinch it in a tie-break thanks to some mistakes from his opponent.
Vincente was clearly suffering physically as he called on the doctor to attend to a cold. Nevertheless Greg could not take advantage of playing a physically ailing opponent as he seemed to be mentally down himself. Vincente soon took hold of the third set, helped by Greg's clear lack of confidence and settled the match 6-2 in the third.
10th October Greg Is Back and Taking Vienna By Storm!!
Our support for Greg obviously did not go a miss as today in Vienna he fought for a 3 set victory over the Olympic Champion, Yevgeney Kafelnikov. The match was by far the biggest win of the year for him, and with some stunning ground strokes and excellent feel at the net he has re-ignited his hope of retaining the title. As a famous saying goes “ he left his heart in San Francisco” you could well say Greg had left his best tennis in Vienna.
Last year, The CA Trophy was a tournament that justified Greg’s status as one of the world’s top players. This year it is a tournament that could save him and if this is to be the case then he has started off well. He will now face Fernando Vincente in the next match….
18th September Clement Shatters Greg's Golden Dream
Even Greg's greatest fans had to admit his chances of a medal at Sydney were very slim, however we all knew our man would give it his best shot. He faced the Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the first round over whom Greg had a 3-0 lead head-to-head. However Clement wanted revenge and right from the first ball that is exactly what he got. Greg never got into a winning position as Clement charged to a 6-2 6-3 victory in less than an hour. Greg's attention now turns to the indoor season where he will hope to prove he is still among the best players in the world. GOOD LUCK!
9th September Tashkent
Hoping to gain some good form in the run up to the Olympics, Greg chose to play Taskkent, a tournament that in previous years has been good for the Brits with Tim Henman already having won it twice. Greg faced Sargis Sargsian in the first round and pulled off a 6-3 7-5 win against the player ranked 72nd in the world. His second round opponent, Andrei Stoliarov, ranked well out-side the top 100 proved a tougher match. Greg managed to take the Russian to three sets but lost 7-6(6) 3-6 5-7. So Greg picked up 3 ranking points, $8,400 and promptly left Tashkent hoping for better luck in Sydney.
30th August Pioline ousts Greg in Five
For the first two hours it looked so good. Greg back to his best and although not streets ahead of Pioline he was certainly doing enough to baffle him - so much so that he won the first two sets in fine style. Pioline though enjoys a tussle - and duly started his route back into the tournament at 4-4 in the third set. From nowhere he snatched a break and signalled his true intent by smashing a ball straight at Greg. Greg energy levels and movement had already by this stage dropped and it looked like a pretty quick conclusion when Greg got broken towards the end of the fourth.
Not to be outdone though Greg formed his only mini revival and broke straight back.....only for Pioline to take the tiebreak and indeed a decisive break of serve early in the fifth.
Although disappointing for Greg and his fans the performance was so much better than many expected - in fact before the match it was hard to find a pundit who would back anyone other than the seeded Pioline. Greg's attention now turns towards the Olympics.
30th August Rusedski is BACK!
For a while there he had us worried....
But he is back. And back in style with a straight sets win over Swede Magnus Gustaffson (6-1 6-2 6-4). Admittedly Magnus struggled much as Greg had in his last Grand Slam match at Wimbledon - playing with very little rhythm. But at the end of the day Greg recorded his first win since Mid June and will feel much better going into tomorrows Second Round.
The result will also have pleased Scott Brookes who is coaching Greg right now.