Gaultier Gallops Through in Grasshopper Cup First Round by Nathan Clarke April 15, 2015
- Number one seed and World No.3 Gregory Gaultier wasted no time in
securing his place in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Grasshopper Cup,
PSA International 70 tournament, ruthlessly dispatching Cameron Pilley
3-0 during the first day of action at Zurich’s stunning Puls 5 venue.
The 32-year-old Frenchman from Aix-en-Provence started the match slowly
and it was the 6’ 3” Australian who raced into an 8-4 lead in the first
game, but Gaultier showed exactly why he’s remained one of the sport’s
dominant players over the last decade, scoring seven unanswered points
to take the opening game and set up the platform from which to dominate.
From then on the man known as ‘The General’ was in charge, and despite
Pilley mounting a strong challenge in the third game to hold a 7-2 lead
and take advantage of Gaultier’s impatience as he seemed to get off
court before midnight, it was the top seed who saw out the match 11-8,
11-7, 11-9.
“At the beginning he was on fire and I was on the back foot but I
managed to regroup and find my length and play with some better
variation,” said Gaultier.
“It was a tough match and obviously I’m happy to go through 3-0
especially because that was maybe the first time in my career that I’ve
played that late, but you have to come prepared to deal with the
conditions.
“I had a bit of a lack of concentration in the middle of the second and
third games but I’m happy how I responded to get the win.”
Earlier in the day England’s Daryl Selby, the unseeded World No.15,
upset the seedings by beating World No.11 Borja Golan 3-0, showing the
form and skill that previously took him as high as World No.9 in the
process.
Selby controlled proceedings from the start and after spending an
agonising 216 minutes on court during the recent El Gouna
International, the 32-year-old was relieved to complete the
straight-games 13-11, 11-9, 11-5 win.
“It’s massive to get a 3-0 win against Borja in the first round,” said Selby.
“I’ve been in good form recently and I want to finish the second half
of the season strong and carry that form all the way through to the
end. I’m unseeded here and took a bit of a chance as I knew whoever I
got would be tough, but it paid off.”
Draw – Bottom Half:
[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Saurav Ghosal (IND)
[WC] Reiko Peter (SUI) v [5] Simon Rösner (GER)
[6] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v [2] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
