Nicol David Pushed To Five In WSA Cleveland Classic First Round; Sobhy Cruises Past Rachael Grinham
by Nathan Dugan
R Grinham-Sobhy
N Grinham-El Weleily - photos courtesy David Turben
Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic 2012 - WSA Gold 50 from the Cleveland Racquet Club
Day 3 – First Round Main Draw
January 29, 2012 - The first round of the Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic, provided upsets, tension, and incredible quality, as an appreciative crowd looked on. Thanks go to Olivia Blatchford, who was on the scene to help report on the first three matches.
Defending champion Laura Massaro and Low Wee Wern were first to take the court today. It was a match of great experience and ingenuity, against that of feline movement and exceptional racket control. Massaro, the epitome of professionalism, took substantial control from the start, using wicked length and well placed flicks (a killer weapon in Laura’s arsenal). The rallies of the first two games were well contested, both players vying for control of the front, though Massaro came out on top in both. Low showed what a potential she has, with a taking of the third game 11-9, but with the choice of a few poor-timed drop shots into the tin, found herself on the losing end of a 53 minute match against the defending champ.
The second match on court, which was a classic battle of experience vs. youth, began with the American youngster, Amanda Sobhy, in full control. Rachael Grinham, caught the top of the tin far too frequently to be competitive, allowing Sobhy to settle quickly into the match, winning the first game convincingly. As the players traded points until 6-6 in the second, Grinham seemed to ease into a rhythm, but was unable to penetrate Sobhy’s solid length and intelligently placed drops. The third was more of the same as the Harvard student was able to close out the match 3-0.
In the all Aussie affair that took to the stage next, it was clear from the first point that the match would showcase athleticism at its finest. Kasey Brown edged a tight first game 12-10, despite some fine retrieving by her tall opponent, Donna Urquhart. Urquhart retaliated by flying out to a 7-1 lead in the second, a lead she was able to convert into leveling the match at 1-1. A few errors from Brown midway through the third game, was the difference that allowed Urquhart to move into a 2-1 lead. The fourth looked to be a different story though, as Brown picked up the pace and stormed ahead 9-2. At this point it would have been forgiven for Urquhart to be conceding and thinking about a fifth game, but the polar opposite occurred, as she hit winner after winner to bring the score back to a respectable 7-9. When Brown was the recipient of a stroke, it looked as though we were going to a fifth, but some remarkable stoke play from Urquhart, tied the match at 10-10. Two points later and Urquhart was letting out a scream of triumph as she beat her fellow AIS teammate for the first time in her career.
Jenny Duncalf progressed to the quarter finals in a match that both players will sooner forget. Duncalf controlled the first game with some deft touches to the front of the court. The second was a much more competitive affair, and with Duncalf holding a one point advantage at 7-6, Kippax had an open ball in the middle of the court. It appeared as though Duncalf had cleared, but at the last second she took a step forward, which timed perfectly with Kippax’s downswing, resulted in a nasty blow to the Duncalf knee. After an 18 minute layoff, Duncalf was able to continue, but it was clear that Kippax, who was clearly mortified by the collision, was unable to get back in the saddle. The result that followed was a hollow victory for the world number two.
Madeline Perry set up an intriguing quarter final encounter with in-form, Raneem El Weleily. Perry was always a step ahead of her opponent, as she dismissed of Jaclyn Hawkes in three straight games. Hawkes, who had come through a tough qualifying match on Saturday, was unable to sustain the fight that had carried her thus far. Egyptian, El Weliely, had a slightly tougher route through to the quarters, as the world number seven faced a formidable opponent in world number eight, Natalie Grinham. Both players like to attack the front of the court, and they did so with abundance as wrong footing drops flew in from the back of the court. At 11-11 in the first, Grinham again showed no concern for the score line, as she slotted a crosscourt nick out of nowhere, from way behind the service box, taking her to a game ball that she was able to convert. The second was a tail of two pharaohs, as first the good strolled into an 8-2 lead, before the bad was back to 8-7 in barely a minute! Just as quickly the dominant pharaoh was back, completing an 11-7 tying game for El Weliely. In the third, El Weliely was able to string together a whole game of dominance, before once again the erraticism was to continue in the fourth. Grinham held an a 8-4 lead, before the wizardry from the Egyptians racket, would work seven out of the next eight points in her favour, to progress her to the next round.
In the top quarter of the draw, there was an unfortunate situation with French National Champion, Camille Serme, having to give eighth seed Annie Au, a walkover into the quarter finals. Serme had experienced a bad back spasm yesterday in practice, and it had not healed in time for today’s match. As predicted, Au will now play world number one, Nicol David in the quarter finals, but the manor of her victory was far from what the crowd expected.
You would think if six time World Champion, Nicol David, was drawn to play a qualifier in any event, the match would be a forgone conclusion. In-form, world number 11, Joelle King, didn’t get that memo! David, a losing finalist here last year, looked to be out to prove a point as she took control of the first game, winning it 11-4. Although King provided some strong resistance in the second, David always had her nose in front, seemingly moving into pole position. At 6-1 up in the third, David was taking the ball noticeably earlier than this time a year ago, and looked to be strolling into the last eight. At this point though, King changed her tactics. Instead of waiting for the inevitable to happen, King started attacking at every opportunity, and despite some grueling rallies, was able to extend the match into the next game. A stunned crowd watched, as King produced another tremendously high quality display in the fourth, showing just why she is now one of the most feared players on the tour. David extended two extremely long rallies at the start of the fifth, which showed her intentions of being incredible hard to beat. This didn’t faze King in the slightest though, as she moved into a 6-5 lead. The next rally was long and extremely intense, with both players making great retrievals. You could hear a pin drop as the crowd tensed with every shot. David made an uncharacteristic error to end the point, and with a two point cushion, the spectators may have been sensing a historic upset. You could hear your own heart beating as the story before you was unfolding, but the pulse started to slow, as David played a sequence of tight shots that King could not scrape off the wall. David won the last six points to seal the match, but the contribution that King played was met with huge appreciation by the crowd. After 63 minutes, David was through, but the quality of King’s performance shows there is a lot to come in 2012 for the young New Zealander.
Results:
Nicol David bt Joelle King 11/4, 11/9, 9/11, 8/11, 11/7 (63 mins)
Annie Au bt W/O
Madeline Perry bt Jaclyn Hawkes 11/7, 11/9, 11/6 (35 mins)
Raneem El Weleily bt Natalie Grinham 11/13, 11/, 11/4, 11/9 (36 mins)
Donna Urquhart bt Kasey Brown 10/12, 11/7, 11/6, 13/11 (62 mins)
Laura Massaro bt Low Wee Wern 4/11, 6/11, 11/9, 5/11 (53 mins)
Amanda Sobhy bt Rachael Grinham 11/3, 11/7, 11/2 (19 mins)
Jenny Duncalf bt Sarah Kippax 8/11, 10/12, 7/11 (52 mins)
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