Willstrop & Matthew On Course In San Francisco
from NS Media
20 October 2012 - England's James Willstrop and Nick Matthew, seeded one and two respectively in the NetSuite Open Squash Championship, took the first step towards meeting for the 46th time in the last 11 years — a rivalry that has been dominated by Matthew with 35 wins to his credit.
The world No2 has not lost a PSA World Tour match to Willstrop since 2007, a run that includes 15 straight. But Willstrop got off to a solid start in the first round of the PSA International 70 event in San Francisco in his quest to reverse the trend with Matthew, should the pair reach the final.
Since February 2004, England's James Willstrop and Egyptian Amr Shabana have faced each other 30 times, with Shabana holding a slight edge, 16-14. In that first encounter, at the Swedish Open, Shabana was world No5 and seeded one in the event; Willstrop was world No13 and the eighth seed. On Saturday, on an all-glass court at Justin Herman Plaza on the San Francisco waterfront, the illustrious pair will meet again after both secured their places in the quarter-finals of the NetSuite Open.
Up first at the San Francisco Bay Club, the 6' 4" Willstrop took on a 5' 8" qualifier in the form of Scotland's Alan Clyne. In a fast and furious display of volleys, drops and attacking boasts from both players, the first game went to Willstrop. But Clyne kept things close in the second, ultimately falling 11-9. The third game is where things got interesting: With nothing to lose, Clyne stepped up the attack by cutting balls off and sending Willstrop to the front court repeatedly, racing out to a seemingly commanding lead. Willstrop, however, recovered and put his world No1 experience to work, rattling off nine consecutive points, to take the match 11-4, 11-9, 11-9.
Shabana was next on court, taking on a feisty Alister Walker of Botswana. Despite beating Shabana just once in seven career meetings, Walker has only fallen in three games once. Shabana plays the game with style, putting on a textbook show of fluid, classic strokes. Both are phenomenal movers on court, and the crowd was mesmerized by their ability to retrieve even the most deftly placed shots. Though close to the end, Shabana took the opener, but then nearly disappeared in the second, falling 11-5 quickly. The Egyptian snapped out of it after a few tins early in the third, using near-perfect length to run away with the third. The fourth brought a bit of controversy after Shabana apparently requested a "non-audible let." Once sorted out, Shabana found his focus and rolled into the quarterfinals with a convincing 11-8, 5-11, 11-3, 11-5 win.
After failing to qualify for the Delaware Investments US Open in Philadelphia a week ago, Frenchman Gregoire Marche booked his place in the main draw of the NetSuite Open by upending Australia's Matthew Karwalski in the qualifying finals in San Francisco. Unfortunately for Marche, he drew Egyptian Tarek Momen in the main draw. Momen's surgical precision from the word go was simply too much for Marche who fell 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 in just 32 minutes.
Momen will have his hands full on Saturday evening when he seeks to win for just the second time in six attempts against the third-seeded world No3 Gregory Gaultier of France. Though Gaultier's first two games in the opening round with Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller were hotly contested, with Gaultier taking the first 11-4 but dropping the second 11-7, Gaultier never looked back in the final two games, dropping just a single point in each.
With four matches on the docket at Stanford University, England's Daryl Selby, seeded No7, kept the evening on schedule with a solid 50-minute win over New Zealand qualifier Martin Knight. But it wasn't easy by any stretch: Selby and Knight traded points throughout the opening game with good use of length and drops that stayed tight to the walls. All square at 10-10, Knight chastised himself, saying, "I've got to hit the ball away from the middle."
Problem was, the tin got in the way in each of the succeeding two points, handing the game to Selby, 12-10.
From there, the Englishman asserted his control of the court, forcing Knight to retrieve balls to the point of near exhaustion in the middle of the third game. Selby finished off the match in style, with a dominant third game, 11-4.
Up next for Selby, on Sunday, will be compatriot Nick Matthew. Selby has only come out on the winning end of two clashes with Matthew, and both required five games that lasted over 80 minutes. Standing in Matthew's way at Stanford was American Julian Illingworth.
Currently 28 in the world, the 8-time US National Champion jumped out to a solid start, taking a 6-3 lead over Matthew. A nick that moved Illingworth to 7-3 seemed to get Matthew going as he levelled the game at seven, then took advantage of four errors by the American, ultimately taking the game 11-8.
In the second game, both used high volleys to good effect while attacking and defending, but the difference in the game was a number of unforced tins from Illingworth from the mid-court area while Matthew played error-free - securing the game 11-9.
Matthew took control of the final game at two-all when Illingworth lost some of his sharpness. Not to pass up an opportunity, Matthew finished off the match 11-3.
The sole qualifier from England, Chris Simpson, faced a formidable task in the first round when meeting world No9 Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands. Anjema, fresh off several weeks of training in Colorado, put his elevated stamina to excellent use by playing tight drives mixed with sharp balls to the front corners to win the 15-minute opener - after which he stepped on the accelerator.
The second game was noticeably quicker in pace, with Anjema putting his southpaw reach to good effect, forcing Simpson into hurried recoveries and riskier shots. The result was a methodical 11-4 for Anjema.
It was more of the same to 7-5 in the third in favour of Anjema, when Simpson let everything go in a desperate attempt to stay alive. That approach worked, temporarily, when Simpson garnered a 9-8 advantage - at least until Anjema woke up and finished off the match with three quick points, 11-9.
The second shortest match of the night featured England's Peter Barker who jumped all over Egyptian Hisham Mohd Ashour in just 33 minutes. Ashour, like his younger brother Ramy, is creative on court. But tonight, that creativity caused him more harm than good. Barker, seeded No4, dominated the early stages, racing out to a 7-1 lead before Ashour showed any resistance. After surrendering a handful of points, Barker played near flawless squash, using a combination of length and drops to finish the game off, 11-6.
From there it was all Barker. Ashour simply offered little hope in the final two games, dropping them 11-4, 11-3.
RESULTS: PSA International 70 NetSuite Open, San Francisco, USA
1st round:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 (34m)
Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-8, 5-11, 11-3, 11-5 (49m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (32m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-4, 7-11, 11-1, 11-1 (52m)
[4] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (33m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 (48m)
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Martin Knight (NZL) 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 (50m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (53m)
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v Amr Shabana (EGY)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[4] Peter Barker (ENG) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
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