30th May - Rusedski Heads Home
Greg's terrific run at the French Open came to an end in the evening sunlight at Roland Garros. Going in to this match with 31 year old Urugaian Marcelo Fillipini Greg's confidence was sky high - he was only the 4th Brit to reach this stage in the open era. Before too long we were beginning to dream of Greg eclipsing this record. A tight first set went to a nervous tiebreaker. Greg took the early initiative but couldn't take the two setpoints he created. Fillipini punished the errors taking two consecutive points against serve, and then serving out for a 10-8 advantage.
Early on in the second set we believed that Greg might after all claim a Quarter Final against Andre Agassi - as he broke to go 3-2 up. What was later to be seen as the turning point then hit - as Greg recieved treatment for a toe injury. From then on Greg was never confident of his movement and struggled out of the tournament.
The result was surely no disgrace - his opponent (who came through qualifying) has now beaten 7 players without dropping a set. After all who would have believed Greg could ever have reached the fourth round prior to this week? Greg now has a weeks rest (as predicted on my Schedule page) before moving on to Grass. Four weeks (Nottingham entry now confirmed) of tennis on his favourite surface with no points to defend - now thats nearly as much fun as playing on clay!
28th May - Success Continues:Greg in last 16
Greg incredibly cruised into the last 16 of the French Open with a comfortable straight sets victory over Davide Sanguinetti. On Sunday he will play Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay for a place in the quarter finals.
Greg lost the first two games of the match, but took the next 8 to put him firmly in command. The second set did though go to a tiebreak after he was broken twice. Greg was rarely troubled in the third.
Whatever happens on the weekend the French Open has for once proved to be tremedously valuable for Greg - especially in the rankings. He is sure to be guaranteed a rise from his current 13th slot. Remember also that he has very few grasscourt points to defend after his injury at Queens last year.
26th May - Is this a Joke?(Greg wins again)
You can almost hear Greg and Tim chuckling away to themselves in the players lounge at Roland Garros right now. For many years they have spent their time convincing us that they couldn't beat their grannies on red clay. At this moment in time it all looks like one huge wind up....
Greg cruised past a supposedly experienced Clay Court player - Richard Fromberg in four comfortable sets. (Tim did the same against Novak - who caused him such strife at Wimbledon last year.) By all reports Greg was even unlucky to lose the second set - having held 5 set points.
In the next round (on friday) Greg plays Sanguinetti and Tim takes on Berasatugui. Tough opponents - but these days who knows? For up-to-date gossip keep an eye on the Tim Message Board - Sara is leading the British support in Paris and is regularly leaving updates there.
24th May - David Demolished
In one of his most convincing clay court displays Greg brushed aside a potentially tricky first round match against David Prinosil quite comfortably. It took 4 sets and the only slight stumble came in the third when he lost a tiebreaker. Bizarrely Greg only actually won one more point than Prinosil 137-136 - that's tennis!
In round two he plays Richie Fromberg - whose best results are usually on Clay. Greg has already matched his best performance at Roland Garros, achived in 1996 when he also won his first round tie. We expect Greg to play again on Wednesday.
24th May - Weather Forecast : Great for Greg
The forecast for Paris over the next few days is hot and sunny which will please all the hard court players including Greg. Hot weather means the ball travels faster, and the court plays more like a hard court. This is in contrast to damp and overcast conditions which make the ball heavier slowing the game down.
Greg is the second match on Court 2 after Novotna who starts at 10am BST. Expect Greg to take the court around 11.30am.
21st May - Greg fumbles towards Prinosil tussle
Greg and Tim both lost quietly in the final round of matches at the World Team Cup - to ensure their early arrival at Roland Garros. Bjorkman proved far too strong for Greg, while Enqvist beat Henman in two tight sets. For the first time this week the pair also lost in the doubles - to give Sweden a place in the final.
Earlier today the French Open draw saw Greg drawn against tough German opponent David Prinosil. The tournament starts on Monday.
18th May - Britain in with a real shout
With only one round of matches left Britain are in with a real shout of stealing a place in the final of the World Team Cup. So far every team has lost one tie and one won, each taking three rubbers each. Britain though are the ONLY team to have won more sets that they have lost.
The following matches are taking place on Thursday.
Germany vs Spain on Centre Court
Britain vs Sweden on Court 1
Since my grasp of German is not too great I have to admit I don't really know whether the sets/rubbers won/lost records are more important than the meetings between the two sides. I would hazard to say though that if we could beat Sweden and if Germany could beat Spain we would go through.
18th May - Greg & Tim lose
Greg lost to Alex Corretja, but only just. It took three close sets for the experienced Spaniard to overcome Rusedski. Likewise Carlos Moya scraped through against Henman - taking a final set tiebreak. The two British lads stormed the doubles though to get some pleasure from the day.
17th May - Spain tomorrow
GB take on Spain tomorrow on the Second Court. Greg plays Corretja first, then Tim versus Moya. Surprisingly Spain lost to Sweden today 2-1. This leaves GB top of the Red Group.
16th May - Greg steals the show - and pays price
Britain achieved a real bonus today when they beat Germany in the World Team Cup. And surprisingly (the event is on clay) Greg featured in both wins in the 2-1 triumph. He ousted Nicholas Kiefer quite easily before pairing up with Henman to take the doubles against Becker and Prinosil. In between these matches Tim lost a close three setter to Tommy Haas. See results page for scores.
For this personal triumph he paid the price. Not only did he miss Arsenals crunch title decider with Villa (due to Tim's long match) but also he had to shout Henman dinner at a local restaurant. Greg apparently rated his chances on clay so poor - that he figured taking a bet on the result of his singles was safe - maybe next time he'll offer to shout Tim dinner if he loses!!!
16th May - Greg on first
Greg kicks of the event with a match against Nicholas Kiefer on Centre Court. This is followed by Henman against Haas and a doubles if needed. The days play starts at 11am local time. On Court II, USA play France.
14th May - World Team Cup Draw - a bit ugly
Great Britain got handed the worst possible draw for this clay court event when it was made today. We could have had Australia - we got Spain instead. We could have had Slovakia we got Sweden. We could have had lowly ranked France we got host nation Germany. The fun all starts on Sunday when we play Germany. A tie consists of two singles and a doubles if needed. Greg is joined by Tim and Neil Broad and 'el capitano' David Lloyd.
12th May - Greg Out
Greg crashed out of the Italian Open in two straight sets to the talented Lapentti from Ecuador. Next week he plays in the World Team Cup with Tim Henman and Neil Broad - captained by David Lloyd. The evnt is a bit like Davis Cup, but with the whole tournament held at one venue (Dusseldorf on clay) and compressed into a week. It starts on SUNDAY - to allow for play to be finished in time for the French Open.
11th May - Greg's Tiebreak Triumph
Greg beat Scott Draper to record his first win of the year on clay - but only just, he needed two tiebreak sets. He did though win both fairly easily. In round two he plays Albert Portas or Nicholas Lapentti.
11th May - Greg and Rosset...
...bravely tried to qualify for the Doubles. They won one match against Keil and Meligeni but then lost to Engvist and Johansson. Greg's singles is at 1pm Italian time.
9th May - Rome Draw
Greg plays Australian Scott Draper in Round 1 - Greg is seeded 12. He does not play in doubles. No doubt he will be relieved to avoid a clay-courter in his first match at this well attended event.
4th May - Another one down, 3 more to go
Greg's torture on Clay has only 3 tournaments left to run since his departure from Hamburg earlier tonight. He lost in two close sets to Spaniard Berasetugui - the tight result should hopefully inspire him to better things in Rome next week. Press reports suggest it was his best display on clay in two years.
3rd May - Good things have to come to an end
And that partnership certainly did - and pretty quickly too. For this week at least Greg and Tim are out of the Doubles in three sets. They will be back as a team in at least a fortnight for the World Team Cup - if not before in Rome.
3rd May - Tim and Greg play Doubles
Yes that's right. They're so damn friendly now you can't keep them apart - well almost. From not talking to each other a year ago - they now jump at the chance to partner each other. They were handed a wild card into the tournament and play Meligini and Montana in Round 1 later tonight.
Meanwhile Greg moved up a place to 12 in the rankings (Singles).
2nd May - Hamburg Draw News
Greg is seeded 5th at Hamburg next week, hence he has a bye in round 1. In his first match he plays the winner of Pozzi and Berasetegui, at this Super 9 event. The week after he goes to Rome, and then Dusseldorf (World Team Cup).