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Chit Chat: the Dinner

PHOTO GALLERIES

[6] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [4] Tania Bailey (Eng)
        9/1, 7/9, 9/4, 9/0 (46m)

Grainger powers through

It was a good start for Natalie Grainger as she powered through the first game in nine minutes, and a great finish with a five-minute game to love, but in between Tania Bailey made her work hard for the win.

Tania finished the first badly, three strokes and a ball out of court, and Natalie started the second well, moving quickly to 3/0. But as Tania's game tightened up mistakes began to come from Natalie's racket and the Englishwoman levelled.

The third was even, at 6/4 to Natalie there were nine handouts and several lets as both struggled to make the breakthrough. In the end it was Natalie who did so, two tins from Tania and a serve into the nick meant a quick end to the game.

Natalie came out firing in the fourth, dominating the centre of the court and picking off winners as she quickly finished it off to move into the semis.

"I felt a bit off the pace in the first, I didn't get moving until the second but one I did I was feeling good.

"I felt good at 4/6, I worked hard to get the serve then she would just hit a winner. We both knew how crucial that phase was, and once she gets ahead she always plays better.

"I tried in the fourth, but I just didn't have quite the push I needed - if you can get her out of position she'll make errors, but she hits the ball so well it's hard to get to that point.

"I felt a bit tired after yesterday's match, I'm just hoping that I'll get a qualifier in the first round some time soon, I always seem to get tough draws!"

"I came out well, and felt good at the end, just had a sticky patch in the middle.

"I managed to cut down on the errors in the third and was able to wait for the opportunities. That hand in/hand out period in the third was crucial, after I got a bit on top of her and I think that got to her in the end.

"I wanted to come out strong in the fourth, didn't want to give her a sniff of a fifth."

[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [12] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
       11/9, 11/9, 6/11, 11/9 (63m)

New Racket works
wonders for Ramy …

This all-Egyptian clash was as close as the scoreline suggests. Full of inventive shots, as you'd expect, but plenty of well-crafted and hard-fought rallies too, it wasn't one of those every-shot-a-winner affairs that are sometimes served up.

Ramy just edged the first two games, from 9-all and 8-all, but when the youngster smacked his own ankle with his racket on the first point of the third, Wael decided to test it out with a barrage of dropshots that took him to 5/0.

Ramy soon started moving better, but that was a big enough lead for Wael to take the third, and he made a good start in the fourth too, reaching 5/1 and 6/2.

Ramy wasn't fancying a fifth though, as he reeled off the points, getting the better of most exchanges now, catching up at 9-all and continuing all the way into the semi-final.

"I'm happy to play a long match, I haven't had one for a while.

"It's the first pressure match I've played with the new [Head] rackets, so I wasn't as comfortable as I normally am, I had to adapt some of my shots.

"I enjoyed it though, we had a few jokes in the middle when he started dropping me and getting in the way after I hit my ankle with the racket.

"It's always funny to play another Egyptian, and I like John, but I hope my team-mate Karim wins …"

[5] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt [Q] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
        9/4, 9/1, 5/9, 5/9, 9/6 (65m)

But Vicky needs four …

The first set of strings went in the knockup, the second at the start of the third, but by then Vicky Botwright had built a comfortable two game lead and looked very much the likely winner, controlling matters with relative ease.

Shelley Kitchen came out more aggressively in that third game though, perhaps knowing that she had to change something to have any chance of progressing. And it worked as the Kiwi forged a 4-0 lead which she converted.

When Vicky's third set of strings went early in the fourth she had to borrow a racket from Laura Lengthorn, and the game ran away from her as she found the tin too often.

The start of the decider was close, but from 2-all Vicky started finding her range and a run of quick points, this time in favour of the Englishwoman, took it to 8-3. Shelley pulled three points back, but unlike yesterday against Rachael Grinham this time it was too late.

"My length wasn't good enough in the first two, then I tightened up but I let her get a few quick points in the fifth. I knew that having to change her racket wouldn't help so I tried to keep the rallies going, I knew she wouldn't be confident, going short for a while, but she adapted to it for the fifth.

"It's disappointing to lose in the quarter-finals again, but it's a big improvement from last year, so no complaints."

"I felt good at the start, and she wasn't moving too well. In the third I wanted to just do the same, but she seemed to change her game, maybe she just though at two-nil down to go for it, but she was moving a lot better and I started to go crosscourt crazy.

"It doesn't help when you have three sets of strings go on you, and having to change to a completely different racket, it takes time to get used to.

"I got ahead in the fifth, but she's playing well, I knew I couldn't relax but she started coming back, I was glad to finish it off.

[11] John White (Sco) bt [8] Karim Darwish (Egy)
        4/11, 11/5, 11/9, 11/5 (53m)

White's run continues ...

John White followed yesterday's win over the second seed with a tough four-game victory over Karim Darwish to maintain his impressive run of recent form.

A slow start for White as the Egyptian took the lead, but he came out blasting in the second, reaching 6/1 in no time at all. He finished off a close third with a brilliant backhand overhead volley into the forehand nick, and soon forged a handy lead in the fourth.

8/1 became 9/5, but when John smashed Karim's serve into the nick to reach match ball we knew it wasn't going to last much longer, and one point later he was in the semi-finals of the richest event of all time at the age of 33.

"It was a bit dodgy halfway through the second but I took that and scraped the third when I was behind all the way. It's similar to how I was against Gaultier and at Canary Wharf, hanging in there and taking the opportunities when they came. I've got the shots, it's just a question of getting them behind me and making them give me opportunities to go for things.

"It wasn't too physical. We had three or four gruelling rallies each game, but there were a lot of short ones too. He was a bit deflated when I got a lead in the fourth
so I kept going for it.

"That volley to win the third, I couldn't even see the ball, I was blinded by the lights, and the one when I was at 9 in the fourth was either going in or out, but I was going to go for it!

"That's another flight I'll have to change, and another youngster next …"

[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt  [7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)  10/8, 7/9, 9/6, 9/0 (51m)

Another comeback from Nicol

With some players you know you can't afford to give them a lead, but with Nicol David you just can't seem to get a lead big enough, the world number one has comeback from the dead so many times it's not funny any more, especially for her opponents.

Omneya Abdel Kawy was playing beautifully, moving very well and biding her time before going for her shots. Her backhand volley and long drops were causing Nicolall sorts of trouble in the first two and a half games.

The Egyptian started well, took the first three points and held on to lead 8/5. Nicol staged a mini-comeback to level, and when Omneya left the court after tinning her return on game ball down she wasn't happy.

She continued to play well though, reaching 8/3 in the second against a world champion who wasn't playing badly, but who wasn't finding any answers either. This time the mini-comeback failed, but it was a close-run thing and she needed a careless tin from Nicol at 7/8 to level.

Nicol continued to move well, but wasn't making much impression and a few more of those delicate backhand volleys took Omneya to 6/0 in the third and in sight of ending Nicol's year-long unbeaten run.

If the crowd couldn't see a way back for Nicol, the Duracell Bunny herself certainly could, and she started playing that error-free high-tempo squash that typifies her comebacks. The sense of inevitability grew as the Malaysian drew level, then took the lead.

That Omneya was not to score another point after that 6/0 lead was no reflection on her play - Nicol hit more winners than Omneya did tins in the 9/0 fourth - but from early in the game you knew there wasn't another comeback coming …

"I could only find my rhythm in patches in the first two, and she was playing well, she can take any opportunities you give her and there's no turning back.

"She was really playing well, I knew I had to find a way to get her off the T, and I just couldn't afford to make any more errors.

"I pleased that I found the way in the end, I kept telling myself that whatever it is the game's not over until it's over, I always seem to find my best game when I'm down."

"I had a good chance this time. I was 8/5 up in the first and I thought 'oh my god', remembering that I was 8/5 up against her twice this year and she came back. I told myself not to think about those games but I did, I couldn't stop myself.

"In the second she made a lot of mistakes, but I thought I played really well, played a tight game, patient. I played my shots, but played them consistently, I wasn't making errors. Then when she started coming back from 8/3, got to 8/7, I told myself no, be strong, you're not tired, so I won that.

"Then 6/0 in the third. I didn't get another point, did I. I had a good chance, I played the best I have against her since last year so it's a good sign for Qatar, where I'm scheduled to meet her in the quarters again.

"I'm happy and sad. Happy to play well, sad to know I could, should have won."

[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
        9/5, 9/1, 9/0 (30m) 

A quick one for Natalie

There's little disputing her position in the world's top two, and Natalie Grinham underlined that fact tonight with a comfortable win over Jenny Duncalf, who yesterday ousted former world number one Vanessa Atkinson.

The British Champion started well enough as the pair exchanged point in competitive rallies that took the score to 5-all, but Natalie fired off four quick points to take the lead.

She fired off an even quicker nine to double her advantage, with Jenny contributing her fair share of tins, and it was much the same story in the third.

Natalie now faces another English opponent, Vicky Botwright, in Tuesday's semi-finals.

"She played well and didn't make many mistakes, but I just made too many errors. Not a good day at the office really …"

"I always felt comfortable on there, neither of us got to practice on the court today, but I probably benefited from playing on it yesterday. I need more time on there to get ready for the next match."

[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [9] Lee Beachill (Eng)
       11/8, 11/8, 4/11, 11/8 (55m)

Shabana starts smart,
finishes ugly ...

After a slow start Beachill started to come to terms with the game, pulled back an early deficit in the third, but in a rather messy ending with a lot of collisions and decisions fell just short as the tournament favourite moved into the semis.

"It's such a massive advantage to have played twice on this court already. I was happy with how I played in the end but I was two down before I started."

"I felt good for the first two but got into a bit of trouble towards the end. He got a good lead in the third and I knew I couldn't let that happen in the fourth but it was close at the end. You tend to get sucked into just retrieving against him and you lose that push.

"I was getting in his way a bit at the end and he was getting frustrated with that. It wasn't deliberate but we were both trying to hold the middle."

[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt [6] Nick Matthew (Eng)
        1/11, 11/4, 7/11, 11/9, 11/7 (81m)

Palmer toughs it out

An intense, high-tempo match with both players volleying all they could. Palmer made an awful start, and although he recovered Matthew looked to be in charge at 7/4 in the third.

The brutal rallies continued and it was the Australian who emerged the late night winner ...
  

"I've been having slow starts all week, but that was disastrous. He came out firing and I was just flat.

"We play a similar game, he really gets forward and volleys wherehe can, that's how I like to play, so it's a matter of who gets the T position.

"It was 50/50 in the second and third but I played seven or eight great points to recover in the fourth  and I had himon the end of some ridiculous rallies.

"It took a long time to wear him out but halfway through the fifth I realised how tired he was. It took four and a half games to do it, then I relaxed in the fifth and played a few shots once the hard work was done."

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