25th March 1998 - Greg Crashes
Greg Rusedski lost in poor fashion to Thomas Enquist last night, blowing his chances of taking Sampras' number 1 spot. More news later.
23rd March - Brit's march on...
(hand in hand ?!)
Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman both made it through to the last 16 of Lipton as news of a peace pact between the two players filtered through. Greg beat Marc Rosset despite an uncomfortably tense second set tiebreak (10-8). He had given himself the perfect start, notching up the first five games of the first set without reply. He now plays Thomas Enquist of Sweden.
With the Davis Cup tie against the Ukraine looming it has emerged that Britain's two main players have agreed to put some of their differences behind them. Although the two were not on speaking terms, a possible doubles pairing in the Davis Cup spurred a peace deal. It comes with Henman regaining his form this week, his latest victory against Moya in very comfortable fashion.
Earlier today Sampras exited the tournament in sensational fashion, losing to Wayne Ferreira in a gripping match. This has opened up the top half of the draw, where Agassi now looks a hot favourite. It would seem one from 6 could emerge from the bottom half. The draw as it stands looks like this:
Ferreira v. Martin or Campbell Santoro v. Blanco or Corretja Agassi v Costa Tarango v Kafelnikov Rusedski v. Enquist Ivanisevic v. Rios Bjorkman or Kiefer v. Medvedev or Keurten Henman v. Korda
22nd March - Trouncing..
As one report put it Greg trounced Hrbaty last night in a straight sets win. He will now play Marc Rosset in the third round. The match is scheduled to be last on Stadium court tonight at around 2am UK time (eg Monday Morning).
21st March - Key Biscayne
Greg will play Dominic Hrbaty in his first match in this event. This is actually the second round, since Greg is seeded Fifth and received a bye. More news later.
16th March - Greg's Nightmare Match
Last night saw Greg lose in the final of the Mercedes Super 9 event to Marcelo Rios in disastrous fashion. From the start Greg couldn't find any of the rhythm or style which had helped him through his previous matches. Only winning a second set tiebreak consisting of 28 points provided any cheer for his supporters. He could only manage to hit 33% of first serves in court, one of the many factors contributing to his defeat.
As we reflect on the tournament though we should not be too disappointed, previously Greg had failed to win a single match at Indian Wells. This final was also the second biggest he had reached, after the US Open. The match also saw him move up to 5th in the rankings and within distance of Rios and Rafter in the spots above him. Personally I was surprised he was not accompanied this week by his coach, Tony Pickard.
Greg now moves on to Key Biscayne, which starts on Thursday - and runs for 11 days. After that he has unsurprisingly been named in the Davis Cup Squad to face the Ukraine. He is joined by Henman, Richardson, doubles specialist Broad and youngster Arvind Parmar. The tie takes place in Newcastle from the 3rd to the 5th of April.
15th March - It Must-er felt good
Greg cruised past Muster in the semi final to book a place against Rios tonight.The first 12 games went with serve and had little to offer the supporters, that is with the exception of Greg once again breaking his own serve record with a MASSIVE 149mph. The match though came alive for Greg at the start of the tiebreak where he won two rallies to gain two minibreaks, and hence the first set. Continuing with this superb form from the back of the court Rusedski demolished Muster in every department, breaking his serve three times in the second set. Outplaying Muster on a hard court - who would have thought it.
On a slightly different note, technical error meant that I lost a whole set of questionnaires and one long e-mail concerning Greg (sent from Bermuda) last night. If you filled out the questionnaire on Friday or Saturday I would be really grateful if you could do it again - PLEASE. (If you happen to be Joe from Bermuda who wrote regarding Greg and you can resend the e-mail PLEASE do, I'm desperate to know what you said).
14th March - Greg marches on...
Greg beat Thomas Enquist in three sets yesterday, on the way recording the fastest ever serve in the world - a massive 146mph. In the semi's he is scheduled to play Thomas Muster, but the match seems in doubt as I update this page. TV Coverage is delayed, and since Greg was due to start 30 minutes ago, the rumours of Musters injury seem to be supported. If so we look forward to the final tomorrow.?
13th March - Indian Wells.. the story so far
The tournament has now reached the quarter final stage, and with Sampras getting beaten by Muster the whole thing has opened up somewhat. Greg must surely fancy his chances of reaching the final of the biggest points earning tournament outside of the Slams. The draw for tonight's quarter finals is as follows:
Muster v Medvedev Enquist v RUSEDSKI Agassi v Gambill Rios v Korda
News Reports from this week, courtesy of the Daily Telegraph:
12th March - Moya Success for Greg
Greg cruised into a quarter final berth against the unseeded Thomas Enquist after beating Carlos Moya of Spain comfortably in round three. The straight sets victory came as welcome relief for Greg who has got into the habit of playing three sets. The next round is played tomorrow.
12th March - Greg in Third Round
Greg fought back against Spadea yesterday to record a three set victory. Greg maintains on course to move up the rankings despite losing his serve in the first set, which subsequently triggered the loss of the set. Greg will now play Carlos Moya, whose record with Greg is 1 match each.
10th March - Greg eyes Vince Victory
Greg now knows he will play Vince Spadea, after he came through his first round against Viloca. I guess this is a match scheduled for tomorrow. Meanwhile Tim Henman hos lost his first round match against Wayne Black.. I was going to call it a shock, but it's the first round so maybe not... Sorry Tim!
8th March - News Week Champions Cup - Indian Wells
Greg is seeded 6th for this tournament and has received what looks like a good draw. He has a bye in the first round and will meet one of two qualifiers in the second round. He is seeded to meet Kucera after that.
6th March - Greg Out ....
Greg got beaten this evening by home favourite Richard Krajicek. Although Greg got the only break of serve of the match in the first set, he still went down after playing two poor tiebreaks in the second and third sets. Greg was unhappy with the way he served, being out aced by the Dutchman.
5th March - Greg scores Rich-ly deserved win
Greg was in sensational form to blow away America's Richie Reneberg as he won in straight sets 6-3 6-2. Richie was the oldest player in the tournament and was made to look it by an in-form Rusedski. He powered his way to a quarter-final appearance, presumably against Richard Krajicek. The home favourite will be helped by a partisan support in Rotterdam.
3rd March - Normal Service is Resumed
Greg got back to winning ways - but only just. It took three tiebreak sets to settle this one, with Greg losing the first. Throughout the match neither play lost their serve. Greg though was more comfortable only dropping 17 service points in 18 games!!. As previously reported Greg plays either America's Richie Reneberg or Sweden's Thomas Nydahl in Thursday's second round.
2nd March - News Update
Greg has entered this weeks tournament in Rotterdam, where he is seeded 3rd. In the first round he will play Kirom Alami. Should he come through that he will meet either Reneberg or Nydahl in the next Round. He is in the same quarter of the draw as Krajicek. This is Greg's sixth tournament of the year, and he will be hoping to bounce back from his first round defeat last week.
Greg last played Alami in the Second Round at Doha, where he won in straight set s 6-2 7-5. Let's hope for a repeat.
Greg meanwhile has slipped to sixth in the rankings. This is due to Kafelniko v's success at Battersea, which promoted him to 4th. Future weeks could see Greg progress since he has no points to defend following an injury last year.