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Wed 20th Apr,
Quarters
start 17.00 (14.00UK)
ROUND TWO:
FULL DRAW
 Tania
Aces Atkinson
The second round saw only one upset, but it was a big one, as Tania
Bailey dented world champion Vanessa Atkinson's hopes of taking over
the coveted world number one position with a straight games win over the
second seed.
Framboise reports on round two
Action photos from
Fritz Borchert
www.squash-u-bild.net
[1] Rachael Grinham bt [15] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/1, 9/4, 9/4 (26m)
[5] Linda Elriani (Eng) bt [13] Fiona Geaves (Eng)
9/0, 9/2, 9/4
(25m)
[4] Nicol David (Mas) bt [11] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
5/9, 9/3,
9/6, 9/0 (46m)
[11] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt Tamsyn Leevey (Nzl)
9/4, 9/2, 9/4
(35m)
[6] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [13] Annelize Naude (Ned)
9/3, 9/0, 9/4 (24m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt [8] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
9/5, 9/0, 9/2 (29m)
[7] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt [16] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
6/9, 9/2, 9/6, 9/7 (52m)
[14] Tania Bailey (Eng)
bt [2] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned)
9/1, 9/5, 9/5
(43m) |
Portraits
TONY: Hong Kong No Nonsense ... GAMAL:
Forever Qatar Squash |
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[1] Rachael Grinham bt [15] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/1, 9/4,
9/4 (26m) |
REBECCA: LOBBED AWAY…
A short encounter between Rachael Grinham, world number one, and
Rebecca Chiu, seeded 15. Uneasy on the glass court, Rebecca was
not at her best, and had trouble settling into the match.
 The
clever mini-champion lobbed superbly, both straight and crosscourt,
forcing the Hong Kong player to volley constantly, or pushing her far
into the back corners. The tactic worked wonders, Rebecca constantly
under pressure, way back there, returning lob after lob, so vulnerable
to Rachael's lethal drop shots or volley drops.
And not only was Rachael using the lob during the rallies, but she also
served beautiful lob serves that Rebecca could only scrape off the
walls, offering an easy loose shot to the Australian in the middle of
the court.
Impressive…
Rebecca was fighting hard, ran a lot, succeeded to place a few of her
short shots, but could never threaten the all-mighty British Open
Champion, so focused, so precise, so out of reach today…
|
 "I
played a few nice lobs today. Lob is always an option I can use on that
court. I was more or less in control of the rallies for the whole match.
I’m so happy to play on this court, it’s so much better for my game than
the other one.
"In the beginning, Rebecca didn’t seem to move well to the front, but
she got better as we went along… I was careful not to bring her to the
front unless she was way behind me, as she can be very dangerous in the
front.
"In the past, we had some much tougher games, so I’m happy with today’s
result…"
Rachael Grinham |
|
 "I’m
a bit disappointed, I didn’t move well today. Also, I couldn’t get used
to the lighting, and I was struggling to see the white ball, especially
as she was lobbing a lot.
"I didn’t volley that well, I made too many mistakes, and when I was
playing a loose ball, she would place a winner every time. She played
very tight as well, putting me under a lot of pressure.
"I know I can play better than this…"
Rebecca Chiu |
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[5] Linda Elriani (Eng) bt [13] Fiona Geaves (Eng) 9/0,
9/2, 9/4 (25m) |
ELRIANI:
LOVE THAT COURT…
Linda Elriani was playing one of her best mates today, old pal
Fiona Geaves. On her territory, as Linda just dwells on the glass
court.
She loves it, finds perfect length, is able to stick to her tactical
game, high pace, lobs, volley, pushing her opponent way to the back.
And today, there really was nothing that Fiona could do. The first game
was over in 5 minutes, 9/0. Then, two games of 9 minutes each, where
Linda was more or less constantly in control, dictating pace and angles,
denying Fiona any attempt to play her natural lethal short game….
Too good, too precise, too strong today, the “French” woman was… |
|
 "Linda dictated the
pace very well. I tried to hit my way out of trouble, instead of playing
my game, at a much slower pace.
"She played really really well. She didn’t make many errors. I should
have thought about slowing down the pace earlier, and not wait until the
last points of the third. But it has to be said that this court suits
her perfectly…"
Fiona Geaves |
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  "If
you get a good length on that court, you really get the reward out of
it, because not only can you get a winning shot or force your opponent
to play a loose ball, but also, you can attack short.
"And it was obvious in the last game, when Fiona started to push me back
to the back, she was the one dictating the pace, and I was the one
running around like a nutter! And that proves that you can NEVER
underestimate Fiona, she’s got such an accuracy, such a dangerous short
game.
"It’s really a nice court. Some glass courts, you can only hit hard on
it, but this one, you can play length, still hit a few wallops and hit a
good kill into the back! But you get all the benefit if you play a good
length, and surely, that’s what it’s all about!
"They also seemed to get the temperature right as well. Might be a bit
cold as a spectator though…"
Linda Elriani |
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[4] Nicol David (Mas) bt [11] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
5/9, 9/3, 9/6, 9/0 (46m) |
SHELLEY ON
THE RIGHT TRACK…
I’m lucky to have been able to observe Shelley Kitchen for a
while now, as she lives in Reading, not too far away from London, and
plays in the National League. I also saw her in Kuwait.
I know she has been injured, and has been struggling to get back to her
top level.
Well, she is back.
Euh, she lost today against Nicol David, you may say… Yes, that
she did. But she was playing extremely well. Boy o boy can that lady hit
the ball! She is precise, she is consistent, quick to move, relentless,
and never loses her calm. Neither against the ref, nor against herself.
And it’s a pleasure to watch her, as she is also extremely attractive,
and very well dressed.
 In
front of her today, the delicious Nicol David. The same perfect
behaviour, a mini version though, much smaller, as quick to move, but a
totally different game: more reactive than active, using the strength
and weight of the ball of her opponent to place superb counterattacks…
Not to mention some retrieving skills that must be VERY frustrating for
her opponent…
A very pleasant match, good disputed rallies, Shelley attacking and
hitting hard, Nicol retrieving and redropping at will… And yes, today,
Nicol exhausted the New Zealander. But beware, Shelley is back, and next
season, I think she’ll mean business…
|
 "In
the first game, she didn’t seem to be warmed up, so I scored four points
quite easily, and maybe lost a bit of concentration.
"I sort of stepped
back, Shelley took control of the rallies, then she scored 8 points in a
row. Before I knew where I was, the game was over!
"In
the second, I got the control back, but it was still up and down, my
game was not in place yet. The third was very close, but in the fourth,
she was maybe tired and probably a bit discouraged.
"I tried to keep the rallies going, hoping that she would end up making
errors. It felt that she was in control very often, so I had to keep the
ball away from her. I didn’t feel the match went as well as I would have
liked, but in the end, I succeeded to get it back, and that’s very
positive for me…"
Nicol David |
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 "You missed the first game? It was the best
one!
"No,
I made too many mistakes that I don’t normally do, but it’s all credit
to Nicol, she is so quick on the ball, she returns everything, so you
are under so much pressure, you try to get it finer and finer, until you
make the error.
"This is the best game I played all year, I’m really glad, I’m coming
back to my best level. It would have been nice to win as well, of
course, but I’m really happy to end the year this way…"
Shelley Kitchen |
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[11] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt Tamsyn Leevey (Nzl) 9/4, 9/2, 9/4
(35m) |
PERRY STILL GOING…
Madeline Perry is plugged on Duracel batteries it would seem.
What an energy that little thing has… Today, she just whizzed through
Tamsyn Leevey, who fought hard, who never got her racquet down, but
just wasn’t as comfortable on that cold court as she is on a traditional
one…
I had the feeling that these two have a bit of a similar game: hit hard,
keep going until the last drop of energy is spent… But today, Madeline
was that much better at it.
But don’t let yourself fooled by the score. If we had been PAR scoring,
instead of 9/4, 9/2, 9/4, the score would have been 18/13, 14/7, 12/8.
Much closer now, isn’t it ?
Madeline confidence runs high at the moment, and why not. She was
playing superbly last week, and she is still going strong in this
tournament. Her hitting is as precise as ever, her fitness impeccable,
and her spirit high.
Could she create an upset tomorrow against Miss Marvel Nicol David? One
thing is sure, she’ll be up for a win…
|
 "I
had absolutely no confidence at all on the court! I played on it this
morning, and it was fine, but I thought it was going to be TERRIBLE! So,
while I was playing, I was thinking “oh, that’s not so bad after all.”
But it was in the back of my mind all the time, instead of concentrating
on the job and getting on with it.
"Because she was putting a lot of pressure on me, I was making too many
mistakes. I guess I should have been more patient, not going for so
much. I was also playing too short, because her length was so perfect, I
was avoiding long rallies, which was a mistake…
"I’m happy with my week. Still I think I could or should have played
better today, but her length was too good for me…"
Tamsyn Leevey |
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 "I
felt quite good. The difference today was that I was trying to get used
to the court, and sometimes, I had trouble seeing the ball clearly, and
couldn’t take the ball as early as I would have liked.
"She gets a lot of balls back, so I had to really concentrate on my
length, to keep the control, because if she was in front, I was in a lot
of trouble.
"I felt quite confident all the way through, except in the last part of
the last game, after she hit that lucky drop shot at 8/1, and she
started to win point after point, you know how things can change quickly
in squash…!"
Madeline Perry |
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[14] Tania Bailey (Eng)
bt [2] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) 9/1, 9/5, 9/5 (43m) |
WHEN I
THINK…
Tanya Bailey, please forgive me, but I nearly didn’t see your
match against Vanessa Atkinson. No disrespect, but I had seen
four matches in a row, worked at a very high pace, transmitted the info
to Steve C so quickly, that I thought, “come on, what about if I miss
that one out? Vanessa has been in such disastrous form lately, it will
be over so soon…”
And then I thought, no, I’m here to see squash, not to enjoy a cup of
tea, I’ve not seen either of them play in this tournament, come on
woman, move it….
“Grand bien m’en prit”… In other words, “Thank God for that!”…
Imagine that, I would have missed the biggest upset of the tournament.
And a superb performance from the comeback girl Tanya… As usual, I
missed the beginning of the match, a game and a half to be precise, 5/5
in the second is the first score I wrote.
A bit of the Greek tragedy, I arrived as the situation is already
explosive. The World Champion was down one game (9/1 in 8 minutes), and
extremely frustrated with herself, cursing herself, using her racquet to
try and get rid of both frustration and nerves… with not much success…
She was still getting the serve back, her magic lobs were getting her
out of Tanya's great short game, but then, another uncharacteristic
unforced error would creep in, creating more and more frustration…
Tanya on the other hand could smell the upset. It must have been obvious
to her that victory was in her reach, that she was about to upset the
squash world… Her confidence was up, her shots were assured, her short
game well in place, moving extremely well, tight drives, good width… She
didn’t have to do too much, Vanessa was finding the tin every other
point… Just keep her head, keep the rallies going… and soon, she was up
2/0, the second 9/5 in 15 minutes.
The third game was very long, 18 minutes to be precise, with an
excellent start from the Dutch girl, who shot to 5/1 rather quickly,
losing the serve only three times. And I thought, “Ah, the woman is
back”. Wrong again.
 Vanessa
once again accumulated error after error, in particular on her backhand,
and soon the English girl was back at 5/5. That was crunch time. A few
changes of hand. Some amazing rallies. Lot of running, retrieving, great
short game from Tanya, some lovely boasts and lobs from Vanessa, but
it’s the English girl who move up 6/5, with a glued to the wall forehand
drive.
From that point to victory 9/5, Tanya only lost her serve three times.
The momentum was hers. Vanessa was like a ship with no compass in a
storm, lost her way, only a shadow of her normal self….
Bad day at the office for the Dutch, Christmas party for the English…
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"I
think I put too much pressure on myself for this tournament. I went on
quite relaxed, but as soon as we started playing, I started panicking. I
was not thinking about the game enough, I was too busy panicking... I
was concentrating too much on the result, and not enough on the game.
"I'm tired, I need a rest I think, so at least, I'll be able to do that
now..."
Vanessa Atkinson |
"The
pressure was all on her I guess, and that made a big difference. I was
moving well today, much better than yesterday. She has got a great front
court game, but thankfully today, I was able to get to it much quicker
than normal.
"It’s nice to be in a quarter again, and getting there by beating the
World Champion, who has been playing so well recently, is a good feeling
as well.
"We used to have huge battles years ago, but she has improved so much in
the past two years, it’s incredible.
"I’m so pleased to play at that kind of level again. Since my year off
because of my health, I’ve been struggling with my fitness, with my
confidence. For the past months, I’ve put a lot of effort into getting
my fitness back, so this victory will do my confidence a hell of good!"
Tania Bailey |
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[7] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt [16] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) 6/9,
9/2, 9/6, 9/7 (52m) |
MATCH
OF THE DAY…
If Vanessa’s defeat was the biggest upset, the encounter between
Vicky Botwright and Isabelle Stoehr was the match. It was
quite balanced, both girl playing extremely well, long rallies, good
winners, great entertainment.
 And
on a personal note, I was very proud of my compatriot. Since she moved
to Manchester, the French girl has suffered a loss of performance, not
to mention a serious loss of confidence. I saw her lose matches she
should have won easily, being totally out of focus, stringing mistake
after mistake, showing too much frustration towards her game, towards
herself.
But
today, none of that. Yes, she was making a few errors, but she didn’t
dwell on them, just got on with the job. Her fitness has improved
remarkably, she was not afraid to engage in long rallies, but was still
going for trademark short shots, volleying very well and finding good
winners.
Vicky was also at her best. Going for more and more shots, she seemed
more at her ease on the backhand, she was as feisty as usual, running
for every shot, never giving up, pushing herself to the limit on a rally
after rally basis.
And it paid off.
 She
lost the first game 9/6 in 10 minutes, Isabelle being at the top of her
game, but soon reassessed, found her length, and punished the French
girl 9/2 in 9 minutes.
In the third, Vicky was in control from the start, 5/2, but Isabelle
stuck with it, very few errors, and clawed back 6/7, showing that her
mental resiliance has strengthened… But still, she gave a lot of strokes
away, maybe something she should look into, her movement away from the
ball could have been better today… Vicky quite rightly took the game
9/6.
The fourth was quite remarkable. Vicky was cruising 6/0, the French girl
having lost her length totally. But suddenly, Isabelle started to lob
perfectly, lengthening her game again. Two aces in a row, thanks to two
outstanding lob serves, some great rallies, a few mistakes from the
English girl, and with only three losses of serve, Isabelle equalised
6/6.
Vicky accelerated the pace to get to match ball 8/6. But again, Isabelle
was finding her winners, saved two match balls, came back to 7/8. A
drive kill gave Miss Lancashire her third match ball, that she took
thanks to a perfect backhand volley drop shot.
A strong performance from Botwright, a very good match for Stoehr. I’m
happy…
|
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 "Isabelle
always plays well on a glass court, she volleys well, and she’s got a
very good short game. Actually, I went too short in the first game,
and got absolutely hammered!
"I was trying to keep her to the back, but if I was playing any loose
ball, she would volley and cut the ball off very well.
"In the fourth, I was up quite comfortably, and then she started to
slow down the pace and put me under pressure again…I always knew we
were going to have a hard match…"
Vicky Botwright |
|
 "I
knew exactly how to play Vicky, and I succeeded to follow my game plan
in the first game, which was be patient, waiting for the opportunity,
fix her behind me, and then, play short.
"I also had to avoid her forehand, because she can volley very deep
into the back.
"Unfortunately, I played too many cross courts, and I gave her too
many opportunities…
"My concentration was not good enough, throughout the match. I’m not
tired, which is a positive point. But I’m disappointed, especially as
the defeat of Vanessa has opened the bottom draw…"
Isabelle Stoehr |
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[3] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt
[8] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
9/5, 9/0, 9/2 (29m) |
DUNCALF: A MATCH TO BE FORGOTTEN…
Not going to make a long report on that one. Very little to say I’m
afraid…
Natalie Grinham played so well, moved so fast, and Jenny Duncalf
didn’t move, didn’t play her game, and never got into the match.
Sorry, girls, nothing more to say…
|
 "I
don’t think Jenny was moving very well today. Maybe she was tired from
last night, as she had a long match, whereas I was quite fresh…
"We have played a few times recently, and although I've always managed to
win, it has been quite close matches. It all depends if she’s on on the
day, and she is very good with her racquet…
"I was trying to focus, I was trying to keep her behind me. When you lose
a few rallies, you try and not think about the outcome too much, you just
concentrate on your game plan…"
Natalie Grinham |
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 "Natalie
is one of the quickest, if not the quickest on the circuit.
"I was trying to keep her in the back corners, but every time I was
playing short, she was right behind me. She is so quick, and she gets
everything back…"
"There is no construction with my squash, no patience, no length. I’m not
happy with the way I played, yesterday or today. I should have been so
much more patient, hit it in the back corners… But it’s so hard to get a
good length on this court…"
Jenny Duncalf |
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 "I’ve
put in a lot of work in recently, so I’m glad it’s paying off. I feel
good, I feel strong, I’ve made sure I took care of myself for the past two
weeks… Today, I was moving well, seeing the ball well, and I was enjoying
it…"
Natalie Grainger |
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[6] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [13] Annelize Naude (Ned)
9/3, 9/0, 9/4 (24m) |
GRAINGER: IMPERIAL…
Once again, what a performance from the WISPA President Natalie
Grainger. Today, she was playing again her friend and ex-compatriot
Annelize Naude (both South African, one playing for the States,
the other for the Netherlands…).
 And
do not think for a minute that Annelize didn’t fight, or wasn’t in the
match. She ran a marathon in there, and battled hard…No, it’s just that
Natalie was hitting so hard, her length was impeccable (my notebook is
filled with my PL sign, which stands for Perfect Length…), and her short
game irretrievable…
We could see a glimpse of Annelize's talent when Natalie lost slightly a
bit of concentration on match ball 8/1 in the third, allowing her
opponent to score four points with only two loss of serve.
But at 4/8 she found an exquisite backhand volley drop shot that gave
her a fourth match ball, won on a stroke when Annelize played a backhand
drive too close to herself…
|
 "Natalie
was putting a lot of pace on the ball. She always plays particularly well
on that court, so I knew it was going to be a struggle.
"It’s not easy to play a good friend, but you try and put it out of your
mind, the atmosphere is maybe a bit more friendly on court, but you still
try and do your best…
"Maybe I did try too hard today, and that led me to making too many
mistakes. I played her game, at a very fast pace, instead of playing my
kind of game, which is a more varied pace. But she wouldn’t let me…"
Annelize Naude |
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