[StatRacket]

Congrats to Greg for cracking the top 200 this week at number 200. He's actually the 6th youngest player in the top 200! All done with only one main draw tour level wild card (Sydney 2008).

[Matchu]

Greg is spending the next few weeks in the US, last week he played ATP Houston qualies and lost in the second round to Nick Lindahl which isn't too bad considering the form Lindahl is in. This week he is playing in a hardcourt challenger tournament in Mexico where he is seeded 2nd, his quarter looks like this:

Lester Cook USA [5] vs. Alfredo Moreno MEX [WC]
John Millman AUS vs. Vasek Pospisil CAN
Miguel Gallardo-Valles MEX vs. Brydan Klein AUS
Greg Jones AUS [2] vs. QUALIFIER

The interesting thing is that Klein won a future in the US last week where he beat Millman in the final in three sets. So all three Aussies in that quarter look to be in strong form and Greg may have some trouble advancing even though he is seeded second.

Next week Greg has direct entry into a challenger in Florida which is also on Hard so he should go ok there. If I had to guess I would think he would head to Europe after that.

[StatRacket]

Originally Posted by Matchu

Greg is spending the next few weeks in the US, last week he played ATP Houston qualies and lost in the second round to Nick Lindahl which isn't too bad considering the form Lindahl is in. This week he is playing in a hardcourt challenger tournament in Mexico where he is seeded 2nd, his quarter looks like this:

Lester Cook USA [5] vs. Alfredo Moreno MEX [WC]
John Millman AUS vs. Vasek Pospisil CAN
Miguel Gallardo-Valles MEX vs. Brydan Klein AUS
Greg Jones AUS [2] vs. QUALIFIER

The interesting thing is that Klein won a future in the US last week where he beat Millman in the final in three sets. So all three Aussies in that quarter look to be in strong form and Greg may have some trouble advancing even though he is seeded second.

Next week Greg has direct entry into a challenger in Florida which is also on Hard so he should go ok there. If I had to guess I would think he would head to Europe after that.

It's annoying that our best three Aussie hopes in that tournament are lumped in the same quarter.

[Matchu]

Originally Posted by StatRacket

It's annoying that our best three Aussie hopes in that tournament are lumped in the same quarter.

Greg took out Brydan in straight sets 7-6(5) 7-6(6) to reach the quarters. Nice to see that he is showing his worth as the second seed of the tournament. Lester Cook up next which will be tough but if he can squeeze past him he'll move to around the 170s in the world which would be awesome for Australian tennis.

[Matchu]

Great news for Greg he "beat" Lester Cook 4-6 6-3 ret. to reach the semis in Leon. He has Gonzalez up next which will be tough because Gonzalez is Mexican and will have home town support. I guess you would argue that Greg is putting his name in the hat for both a Davis Cup spot and the RG wildcard with this result, his only competition at the moment is Nick Lindahl.

[StatRacket]

Originally Posted by Matchu

Great news for Greg he "beat" Lester Cook 4-6 6-3 ret. to reach the semis in Leon. He has Gonzalez up next which will be tough because Gonzalez is Mexican and will have home town support. I guess you would argue that Greg is putting his name in the hat for both a Davis Cup spot and the RG wildcard with this result, his only competition at the moment is Nick Lindahl.

Jones is ranked slightly higher (192 versus 200) and is slightly younger (by six months) than Lindahl. All this with only one main draw wild card (Sydney 2008). Very impressive Greg.

[Matchu]

Originally Posted by StatRacket

Jones is ranked slightly higher (192 versus 200) and is slightly younger (by six months) than Lindahl. All this with only one main draw wild card (Sydney 2008). Very impressive Greg.

Yes, a very solid effort considering how little help he has been given compared to some. He seems to get to the level where he is either winning or comes runner up in the Australian tournaments and then heads overseas and carries the form. A semifinal/final/win showing in Mexico would be pretty impressive considering he hasn't played a tournament in almost a month, and he was knocked out second round in that one.

The fact that he was a junior runner up in RG could play in his advantage a lot when TA decide who is going to get the wildcard. If he keeps letting his racquet do the talking though they can't not pick him.

[Audacity]

Originally Posted by StatRacket

Jones is ranked slightly higher (192 versus 200) and is slightly younger (by six months) than Lindahl. All this with only one main draw wild card (Sydney 2008). Very impressive Greg.

Yeah solid work from Jonesy, it's good to see him finally coming of his own.

[jmf07]

Has done some great scheduling to find the easiest tournaments that offer the highest rewards and has put in some good results when playing against tougher opposition. It will be interesting to see how he goes for the remainder of the year and his juniors performance at the FO will be a big advantage when it comes time to decide the FO wildcard but I think Lindahl's straightforward win against him in Houston on the Har-Tru isn't what Greg needs especially if Ball is misfiring on his return and it becomes a head to head between Nick and Jonesy.

[jmf07]

R1: Jones def Baker 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
R2: Ginepri def Jones 6-4, 6-4

[jmf07]

As ecpected Greg had a routine win over the wildcard Fiorentino in Manta. Won 20/21 first serve points and 16/20 second serve points. Potential second round matchup with Joe.

[Matchu]

Now that the DC team has been announced and Greg is not involved he can focus on getting some solid overseas challenger results. He is seeded 4th in Manta and should make the quarters but there is potential to go further it just depends how he plays against De Heart (presuming De Heart makes it that far). It is pretty impressive that he is able to get at least one win consistantly most weeks.

Next week and the following week he will have 39 points to defend given his results in the Aussie futures this time last year. He is playing in the American challengers both weeks so he can defend them he is just going to have to knock out a seed or two. After that Greg has nothing to defend until the end of July so lots of potential to gain much needede points.

If Greg keeps playing every week and espically if it is events such as this one in Ecuador or the one in Mexico two weeks ago then Greg is going to find himself inside the top 150 very quickly. Come on Greg I know you are a good enough player to be playing ATP.

[Audacity]

Good work Greg, keep going.

[jmf07]

Originally Posted by Matchu

Now that the DC team has been announced and Greg is not involved he can focus on getting some solid overseas challenger results. He is seeded 4th in Manta and should make the quarters but there is potential to go further it just depends how he plays against De Heart (presuming De Heart makes it that far). It is pretty impressive that he is able to get at least one win consistantly most weeks.

Next week and the following week he will have 39 points to defend given his results in the Aussie futures this time last year. He is playing in the American challengers both weeks so he can defend them he is just going to have to knock out a seed or two. After that Greg has nothing to defend until the end of July so lots of potential to gain much needede points.

If Greg keeps playing every week and espically if it is events such as this one in Ecuador or the one in Mexico two weeks ago then Greg is going to find himself inside the top 150 very quickly. Come on Greg I know you are a good enough player to be playing ATP.

Yeah the people over in the Challenger thread are also talking up the chances of 2001 Junior Wimbledon champ Valent who plays Deheart in the first round. It would be great to see Greg do well here. Looking at the pictures from the night final last year there seems to be a great atmosphere around this tournament with a packed out stadium and fireworks after the match. I don't want to look to far ahead but I can't help but notice that if he could sneak past the Quarters the other top half quarter looks very weak and he could very well make it into the final. Probably shouldn't look that far ahead though

[jmf07]

After last week's surprise second round loss Greg is in Savannah where he has won his first round match against Vasek Pospisil 46 61 62. Next up is Kendrick. Can't stand Kendrick and I would love to see Greg beat him.