World's Top Two David & Massaro Cruise Into Weymuller Semis by Linda Elriani
photos courtesy Jean Ervasti
October 4, 2013
- Tonight is quarter finals night of the 2013 Carol Weymuller Open. The
quarter finals night is always my favorite night at tournaments because
it’s four extremely high quality matches all on one court. The weather
is still very warm here in Brooklyn so the courts were incredibly hot
and bouncy, making for long rallies and harder to hit outright winners
in the front.
First up on the
championship court was the world # 3 and a previous Carol Weymuller
Open champion in 2011 from Egypt, Raneem El Weleily and New Zealand’s
Joelle King who has her highest ranking to date of #5. They had only
played three times before this evening and it was 3-0 in the head to
head to Raneem, but last year they both had an epic match that went
down to the wire so we were looking forward to the match this evening
too.
The match started well
for Raneem and she got a small lead at 3-1. Two tight drop shots and
one mistake evened Joelle up at 4-4. Joelle hit a great kill and
another mistake from Raneem for Joelle to go 6-4 up. This was when
Raneem put her foot on the gas and really moved Joelle around the court
and upset her rhythm with great holds and went straight through to 11-6
in one hand.
Second game Joelle
came out firing and started to control the T and put some great holds
on the ball herself, winning one particular rally with a forehand drive
that she held perfectly before it died in the back corner. The game
stayed even all the way through with great shots and mistakes from both
players, though Joelle was hitting a few more errors than Raneem. At
6-6 Raneem pushed up again. When Raneem is in this mode she looks like
is gliding around the court and controlling the ball in a way that
almost no one else can. Raneem’s drives where very tight and every time
Joelle wanted to get onto the ball it was stuck to the wall. Raneem
went through to win the second 11-7. Again Joelle came out
strong in the third and she was managing to work Raneem into the
corners and control the middle more. Joelle managed to get a lead and
was 5-3 up looking good, but Raneem again dug in and upped the pace,
holds and winners. They tied at 9-9 and Raneem did one of her amazing
holds to take her through to 10-9 match ball and she won on her first
attempt which every player loves to do!
Raneem said after the
match “I think I played OK and I’m happy to be through to the semi
finals. Joelle is such a good player and she has had such great results
since we played last year”.
Joelle said “Lots of
mistakes! Just really hot and struggling to control the ball. All
credit to her as she can make you feel rushed. In parts I got a couple
of good runs of points but I just couldn’t take it up to the next level
and capitalize”.
Second on court was
the seven time world open champion and World #1 Nicol David from
Malaysia against India’s Dipika Pallikal who is currently ranked world
#17 and coming off her big win last night against Kasey Brown. The
match started well for Dipika and she took a 3-1 lead but Nicol very
quickly found her rhythm and started to move Dipika around the court,
retrieving balls with such wonderful movement. Nicol is looking super
fit and focused and she really keep Dipika away from the middle where
she is very dangerous. Dipika has an amazing volley kill but she didn’t
get many opportunities to use it. Nicol won the first 11-7.
In the second Dipika
started to make a few more errors and looked like she wasn’t prepared
to rally it out to get her openings. Nicol was relentless and created
so much pressure with great length and some wonderful drops and holds
around the front. Nicol really looked like her short game had gone to
another level and it really made it difficult for Dipika. Nicol
won the second 11-5.
Dipika came out well
in the third and went 2-0 up but then Nicol 9 straight points to take
her to 9-2 in one hand. Dipika started to show the effects of her long
hard match last night and Nicol played an error free and focused match.
Only a couple of great shots from Dipika managed to give her 2 more
points before Nicol went through to win the 3rd 11-4.
Nicol said after her
win “My aim was to keep her moving because she is so good when she has
time. I managed to put my game plan together and my shots came in at
the right time. I’m looking forward to another step up tomorrow. It’s
already a bonus on last year so now I’m just going to enjoy it!”
Dipika said “I’m tired
after my long match yesterday! When you play Nicol you have to be fresh
to have a chance. I started well in the first game and she just got
tighter in the 3rd and 4th which made me go for more shots and she just
got onto the balls. I’ve had a good tournament and I’ve got a lot to
learn. It’s all a learning process for me. I really made use of this
tournament and hopefully I’ll come back in a week or so in Macau and
play well. You’ve get to take the positive and learn from it.”
The third match of the
evening is between world # 6 and Carol Weymuller champion in 2009 and
2010 Jenny Duncalf and French # 1 and world # 10 Camille Serme. In head
to heads Jenny is 7-2 up on Camille but Camille played beautifully last
night so we knew it would be a fantastic match. Camille got off to
great start in the first game and very quickly it looked like she was
going to play as well as she did last night. There were many long
rallies and Camille was really managing to hold the T and force Jenny
to make some errors amongst her great winners. Camille came through the
first 11-7.
In the second the
rallies where long and each player was trying to control the middle but
it was Camille that kept a constant pressure on Jenny. Jenny has
amazing racket skills and holds and played many wonderful winners but
she didn’t seem patient enough today to wait for her openings and made
some unforced errors. Camille was defending immaculately and was
absorbing Jenny pressure so well. Camille won the second game 11-7 too.
The third went to a
very similar plan as the first and second with Camille hitting the
corners consistently and keeping the T and Jenny was starting to look
like she was running out of ideas. Camille came through the third in a
constant 11-7 to take match 3-0.
A thrilled Camille
said “I’m SOOO happy! To be honest when I was warming up I didn’t feel
the best because of yesterdays match but when I was on court in the
match I was running and covering the court like I normally do. I guess
Jenny didn’t play her best. After the second I realized the 2nd game
was so important. I’ve reached the semi’s here and I’m so happy! I’m
going to try and enjoy it now but tomorrow I’ll re-focus. For now back
on the bike and stretch!!”
A disappointed Jenny
commented “She obviously played well. She hit her targets really well.
I wasn’t good enough. Poor performance but she was on fire”.
Last up on the
championship court, but certainly not least was defending Weymuller
Champion, 2013 British Open Champion and World # 2 from England, Laura
Massaro against Malaysia’s Low Wee Wern who is world #7. Low has gone
up through the rankings since last year and is playing such a steady
mature game. Head to heads go in Laura’s favor by 5-1 but last year Low
was 2-0 up before Laura came through to win in a very close 3-2.
The match started with
very long patient rallies from both players. The game moved pretty
evenly through the points with slight advances from each player here
and there but at 8-8 Laura edged away keeping the ball so tight and
pushing Low deep. Laura won the first 11-8.
In the second they
both battled to control the T and they were both moving amazingly
around the court. Low managed to squeeze a small lead at 9-7 and then
she got game ball at 10-8. Laura really turned it on then and played
flawlessly to take the next 4 points straight! Laura really showed us
her ability to stay focused and error free at crucial times in a match.
It proved to us why she is world #2 with this kind of focus and
steadiness in pressure situations. It was crucial that Laura won the
second to have that 2-0 lead instead of giving Low a sniff of
confidence.
In the third Laura
started the game so well with some great holds and making Low work
really hard. Low was starting to show a few signs of being tired and
Laura’s short game seemed to get better and better as the match went
on! Both players used fantastic variation of the pace but in the end
Laura was just a bit too good and she came through to win the fourth
11-6. This match was 3-0 but the score didn’t depict the game and the
amazing effort that went into it from both players.
Laura spoke to me
after the game and said “That was a really hard 3-0! You know you’ve
played well to beat Low 3-0! I was really happy with performance and
the way I played. Feeling good to be in the semi’s with dropping a game
and really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Low said “I felt I was
actually playing well and I didn’t do anything wrong in particular. We
both played tight squash. It’s always disappointing to lose but I felt
there was not much I could do more. We’re both top 10 players and she’s
not world #2 for nothing and she has more experience than me”.
We all look forward to
the some more amazing women’s squash tomorrow afternoon at 4.00pm and
5.00pm after the Junior ‘Play a Pro’ which is on from 2.30pm-3.30pm.
It’s our juniors chance to get on court with some of the best women’s
squash players in the world. That doesn’t happen every day!
Tomorrow night
(Saturday) we have a music with our DJ Naude (Annelize) in the
Governors room from 8pm-10pm. Please all come and have a drink with the
players.
There is also a Sunday Weymuller Brunch from 12pm-2pm before the final. Please call the front desk if you would like to come.
Summary of Friday's results…
Raneem El Weleily beat Joelle King 11-6, 11-7, 11/9
