Emma Beddoes Beats Amanda Sobhy in Weymuller Round of 16, Day 4 Report by Linda Elriani October 3, 2014
- Tonight was the second half of the 1st round of the 2014 Carol
Weymuller Main draw. It has been so great having all the main draw
matches on the championship court for the first time. This means all
the matches are streamed live and also the viewing for our spectators
here at the Casino is great too! It’s so nice for all the WSA players
to know that their family and friends can watch their matches from afar
and we have even seen the texts coming through from coaches or family
members in between games J
First on the
Championship court was world # 3 Raneem El Welily from Egypt against
Mexican and world # 39 Samantha Teran. In the head to head Raneem 3-0
up on Samantha so we wanted to see if Samantha can change this
statistic.
It took the first half
of the first game for the players to settle and soon the rallies got a
little longer and structured. Raneem looked almost casual and on cruise
control but was completely in control and won the first 11/5.
Raneem literally
couldn’t miss in the second and went 9-1 up! But suddenly Raneem seemed
to switch off and Samantha managed to start controlling the T, hitting
some great lengths and cutting off some lovely volley drops. Raneem
ended up winning the second 11/7.
In the third Raneem
seemed to have not got her composure back in between games and went 4-0
down before we knew it! Then Raneem suddenly seemed to wake up and
start playing hard again. Raneem started moving fast and hitting her
shots with a purpose and what a difference that makes! Samantha put up
a brave fight but Raneem came through to win the third game 11/4.
Raneem said after her
match “I thought I was feeling ok and then that happened!!! It was 11
points in a row that I lost!!! I am very happy to be through and
looking forward to tomorrows match. I don’t think I have ever played
Emma and I haven’t played Amanda for about 2 years.”
Second match on the
championship court was between American’s young star Amanda Sobhy, who
has just recently broken into the world’s top 10, and English pro Emma
Beddoes, who is world # 20. Amanda has managed to achieve her top 10
ranking whilst studying at Harvard, so it’ll be interesting to see
what’s in store for Amanda once she has graduated and has the chance to
concentrate 100% on her squash!! Watch out everyone!
Emma is 2-1 up on the
head to head but they haven’t played against one another since 2011, so
both players have changed and improved a lot since then. Amanda is
definitely playing the best squash of her life with recent big wins
over top 10 players but Emma was looking very fit, focused and ready
for the match.
Emma started the match
very well, with incredible movement, especially into the front and
steady tight length. She really took the T away from Amanda, which is
where she is deadly with her volley drops and kills. The rallies were
hard fought but Emma definitely managed to keep the pressure on Amanda
and force some errors. Emma won the first game 11/7.
In the second Amanda
came out with a little more purpose and managed to force Emma back on
the court and cut off any loose cross courts perfectly. Emma started to
lose the previous game plan that she had managed to follow and Amanda
went 10-7 game up. Emma suddenly started to up the pace and pressure
and hit some amazingly tight lengths and shorts shots that Amanda
couldn’t get off the wall. Emma played the crucial points brilliantly
with a couple of forehand trickle boasts from a hold that sent Amanda
the wrong way and exposed her movement, which was looking a little slow
and flat today. Emma went through to win the second game 12/10.
Being 2/0 down it was
going to be interesting to see how much Amanda would fight in the third
and from past matches I have watched Amanda in, I assumed that she
would come out ready for the fight but it was actually the opposite.
The third game was
very one sided with Emma taking a very fast 8/1 lead. Emma’s game just
kept getting tighter and more precise, while Amanda looked like she had
almost given up! Amanda gave one last push near the end of the game but
she couldn’t stop Emma from dominating. Emma went through to win the
third 11/4 and won herself a place in the final eight of the tournament.
Emma was very happy
when I went over to her after the match and she said “Obviously I’m
really pleased! First two games were really tight and I managed to
stick in there and keep it tight, particularly at crucial times. I have
so much respect for the fact that Amanda is at Harvard and also in the
world top 10!!! She had a great summer and I was expecting a tough
match. I’ve never played Raneem! She’s the only player that I haven’t
played! I’ll be expecting some nicks, but I’ll be ready for them!!
Third match of the
night was between Alison Water from England and world # 6 against
Denmark’s Line Hansen who is currently world # 25 and Alison is has won
every time in their six WSA matches.
The match started with
a fast pace, with hard hit lengths interspersed with some great angles
from both players and wonderful retrieving. The points started out
evenly until 6-6 when Ali seemed to find her rhythm and feel for the
court and she went straight through to win the first 11/6.
The second had a
similar pattern as it started out fast, furious and evenly and then
just as Line pushed hard to get a 8-6 lead with some great volley
drops, Ali once again found her targets and looked very relaxed and
flowing with her movement and she made great choices with her shots,
making it very hard for Line to impose her game. Ali went through from
6-8 to win the second game 11/8 in one hand.
In the third game Ali
started fantastically with a 6-1 lead caused by fast dying lengths and
cutting off the ball accurately when Line didn’t manage to keep it
close enough to the wall. There were a few openings for Line but she
couldn’t quite finish the rallies, mainly due to Ali’s great movement
and error free squash.
Ali went through to win the third 11/5 in fine style.
I asked how she felt
after her match and she said “Yeah, good! I felt quite calm and
controlled. Line’s a good player and she had some good results recently
so I wasn’t taking her lightly coming into it. I’m looking forward to
getting back on court tomorrow and enjoying the tournament.”
The last match on the
championship court which was between world # 15 Rachael Grinham from
Australia and world # 22 Nicolette Fernandes from Guyana was by far the
most entertaining match of the tournament so far!!! It was such a great
natured match with both players managing to crack a smile or laugh at
certain appropriate times of the match.
It’s 2-2 in the head
to head, with Nicolette winning the last match in an incredibly hard
fought 3-2 at the World Championships back in March, so it was going to
be interesting to see who can moved the statistics in their favor!
Rachael started the
match really well taking a 9-2 lead and didn’t let Nicolette settle.
Nicolette squeezed a few points at the end, but eventually Rachael won
11/7.
The points went back
and forth more evenly in the second. Rachael made more unforced errors
than in the first and Nicolette was moving really well onto Rachael’s
short shots. Eventually Nicolette took a lead playing as much steady
squash that she could amongst the array of shots from Rachael.
Nicolette went through to take the second 11/6.
These two players are
so athletic and fun to watch. Rachael has such a unique style and uses
the space on the court so effectively and both players covered the
court amazingly making for incredibly exciting rallies.
Rachael started the
third well and her short shots were all coming off, but with the amount
of short shots that Rachael goes for it is high risk and mistakes are
bound to happen, which they did. Nicolette came back from 3-6 down,
with only one hand out, to game point 10/7 and with a few incredibly
tight lengths that forced further errors from Rachael, she eventually
won the third 11/8 to take a 2-1 lead.
Rachael had started to
look a little slower in the third and I wondered if she was getting
tired, but in the fourth Rachael came out firing on all cylinders
again. Rachael went through to win the 4th game 11/6 with some amazing
holds and angles.
The whole match was a
battle for Nicolette to find rhythm and structure to her game, while
Rachael stuck consistently to her unexpected shot selection, trying to
break down Nicolette game plan.
The final game was
back and forth all the way through and they both were attacking and
retrieving some amazing shots. Nicolette even did a couple of dives in
the effort to get everything back. There were some very funny points
too, one being where Nicolette jumped in the air and cheered due to
receiving a stroke when Rachael hit the ball straight back at herself
down the middle and the crowd started laughing!! At the end of the
fifth game Rachael went for a few extra risky shots that didn’t come
off, including a return of serve short that went into the tin. It was
Rachael’s high cross court lob from the back of the court that went out
that gave Nicolette her first match point at 10/8. Rachael grabbed one
point with a stroke before Nicolette took the final game 11/9 to earn
her way into the quarter finals.
A very happy Nicolette
said “A win against Rachael is amazing as half the time you don’t know
where the ball is going. You just have to focus on what you are trying
to do. I really enjoy this tournament and I think that it shows as
every time I play well. I haven’t played Ali in a while. I love to play
someone I haven’t played for a while – so bring it on!!!”
It was another
fantastic night of squash and we all look forward to the quarterfinals
starting at 3.30pm tomorrow afternoon. After the quarter finals we have
a Weymuller party with food, drinks and our very own DJ Nudie (Annelize
Naude) playing her fantastic tunes. We’ll also hold our ‘Meet and
Greet’ at this event so all the players can introduce themselves to our
members.
Please also follow WSA (and also the Carol Weymuller) on instagram, facebook and tweeter.
Thanks and see you again soon!
Summary of tonight’s 1st round (split first round) results….
5.30pm Raneem El Welily V Samantha Teran 11/5, 11/7, 11/4.
6.15pm Emma Beddoes beat Amanda Sobhy 11/7, 12/10, 11/4.
7.00pm Alison Waters V Line Hansen 11/6, 11/8, 11/5.
