David And Massaro Advance to TOC Women's Final by Rob Dinerman
photo courtesy squashpics.com
Dateline January 24th
--- Trailing 7-5 in the fourth game of a match that to that point had
been plagued by stretches of tins and patchy play, second seed Laura
Massaro suddenly ran off four straight points and ultimately held on to
defeat Camille Serme 11-5 3-11 11-6 11-9 tonight in the semifinal round
of the Tournament Of Champions in mid-town Manhattan. Massaro will go
up in Friday evening's final against top seed and WSA No. 1 Nicol
David, who edged Alison Waters by a score of 11-8 11-8 12-10.
Serme
jumped out to early leads in all four games, 3-0 in the first, 7-0 in
the second, 2-0 in the third and 3-0 in the fourth, but in mid-game
lapses in each of those games save the second, as Massaro in each of
the other cases gradually but inexorably asserted herself. Much of the
play was along the left wall and there were numerous lets that
prevented any consistent rhythm from developing. Massaro's 6-1
game-closing run from 5-all in the third was mostly driven by four
semi-forced Serme tins that seemed to stem not from any technical
deficiency but rather from wariness of her opponent's counter-punching
skills and a consequent need to cut her shots too close.
To the
Frenchwoman's credit, she responded to the 9-7 deficit she faced in the
fourth game by first angling a beautiful backhand cross-drop winner and
then spiking a backhand volleyed straight-drop (punctuated by a
vigorous fist-pump) for 9-all. After Serme then caught the top of the
tin to go down 10-9, the match ended on a strange note when Massaro's
serve seemed to nick off the back wall and roll out. The British star
was in the process of initiating the hand-shake while Serme was engaged
in an animated discussion with the referee and claiming that she had
returned the ball into play. There was some deliberation and discussion
among the three officials, at the end of which the referee declared
that the point would be played as a let. A frowning Massaro was
starting to return to the service box when Serme, having succeeded in
winning her argument, and perhaps influenced by the murmur of
disapproval from the crowd, shook Massaro's hand and exited the court.
No one seemed to know for sure what had happened, but within a minute
or two, Massaro was being interviewed and David and Waters were
preparing to enter the court.
