ToC First-Round Qualifying: Simpson Comes Through Against Vargas
by Rob Dinerman
Dateline January 17th --- Caught at 9-all in a second game that was looking more and more pivotal, his early-match control of the play a distant memory in the face of his cat-quick Colombian-born opponent’s relentless rally, English standout Chris Simpson erupted on a 12-point run that clinched his 11-6, 9 and 2 victory over former Trinity College star Andres Vargas Wednesday evening before an appreciative crowd at the Harvard Club in first-round qualifying action at the Tournament Of Champions.
Simpson was able to earn a positional advantage throughout the initial portion of the match, but Vargas’s late-swing snappy wrist action and some spectacular retrieving enabled him to knot that second game at nine points apiece. For the only time in the match, Simpson seemed a bit shaky and uncertain, and the outcome would truly have been up for grabs had Vargas been able to come away with that game. But at this point he hit his worst serve of the night, a completely open floater that gave Simpson a host of shot-making opportunities, and he confidently buried a forehand drop-shot serve-return winner and converted the subsequent game-ball by whistling a look-away drive down the open left wall.
Buoyed by this turn, and sensing Vargas’s understandable deflation, Simpson jumped right out in the third game, assuming a swift 4-0 edge that led to a few Vargas tins on low-percentage shots and eventually a 10-0 tally before Vargas was able to dent the scoreboard. Though the match went in straight games, at least 80% of the points were high-quality and marked by plenty of aggressive shot-making forays and grueling retrieving on the part of both players.
by Rob Dinerman
Dateline January 17th --- Caught at 9-all in a second game that was looking more and more pivotal, his early-match control of the play a distant memory in the face of his cat-quick Colombian-born opponent’s relentless rally, English standout Chris Simpson erupted on a 12-point run that clinched his 11-6, 9 and 2 victory over former Trinity College star Andres Vargas Wednesday evening before an appreciative crowd at the Harvard Club in first-round qualifying action at the Tournament Of Champions.
Simpson was able to earn a positional advantage throughout the initial portion of the match, but Vargas’s late-swing snappy wrist action and some spectacular retrieving enabled him to knot that second game at nine points apiece. For the only time in the match, Simpson seemed a bit shaky and uncertain, and the outcome would truly have been up for grabs had Vargas been able to come away with that game. But at this point he hit his worst serve of the night, a completely open floater that gave Simpson a host of shot-making opportunities, and he confidently buried a forehand drop-shot serve-return winner and converted the subsequent game-ball by whistling a look-away drive down the open left wall.
Buoyed by this turn, and sensing Vargas’s understandable deflation, Simpson jumped right out in the third game, assuming a swift 4-0 edge that led to a few Vargas tins on low-percentage shots and eventually a 10-0 tally before Vargas was able to dent the scoreboard. Though the match went in straight games, at least 80% of the points were high-quality and marked by plenty of aggressive shot-making forays and grueling retrieving on the part of both players.
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