Willstrop Weathers Stiff Challenge From Momen, Advances To ToC Quarters
by Rob Dinerman for DailySquashReport.com
Dateline January 20th --- Fiercely pressed through the first half of a match that was teetering on the verge of becoming dangerous, top-seeded James Willstrop asserted himself at exactly the right moment and defeated PSA No. 12 Tarek Momen 11-13 11-8 11-2 11-6 early this afternoon in the first round-of-16 match of the $115,000 J. P Morgan Tournament Of Champions at Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan. Willstrop will now face Stephen Coppinger, a five-game winner over Adrian Grant, Monday evening in the quarterfinals.
That the 24-year-old Egyptian star Momen was able to take an opening game in which he committed no fewer than seven tins is a tribute to how well he played the remaining points, often winning the cat-and-mouse exchanges up front and alternating tantalizing angles with stinging drives down the walls. From 8-10, he conjured up two amazing winners --- a melting backhand drop-shot followed by a spectacular backhand overheard into the front-left nick --- to force a tiebreaker in which, following two evenly divided stroke calls, Willstrop caught the top of the tin on two consecutive forehand drop shots, perhaps influenced by his opponent’s impressive fleetness afoot.
Though he let down a but in falling behind 5-1 in the second game, Momen played perhaps his best extended squash of the 61-minute match in catching his much-taller British opponent (and winner of this tourney in 2010 and finalist a year ago) at 8-all. A two-love deficit appeared to be possibly looming for the current World No. 1, but at this crisis juncture, he scored on first a perfectly-placed backhand drop shot and then an even better forehand touch volley that rolled out of the front-right nick. Momen then impetuously attempted a high-risk serve-return cross-drop winner which instead clanged loudly off the tin, giving Willstrop the 11-8 game and permanently swinging the match’s momentum.
Buoyed by this escape, Willstrop sensed an opening and rocketed to 6-0 and 9-1 (nine straight points and 12 out of 13), taking full advantage of his own shot-making acumen and some ragged play on Momen’s part. After finishing off that game, Willstrop was having a much harder time of it in the early portion of the fourth, by which time Momen had regained his temporarily-misplaced focus and was battling his favored opponent to a near-standstill in harsh exchanges, mostly along the left wall. For a man his size, Willstrop is remarkably able to get low enough to get full leverage on his retrievals in the front-left, while Momen is a more natural mover who really slashes the ball, especially near the front wall.
With Willstrop leading 5-4, he feathered a backhand drop-winner on which Momen, wrong-footed on the play, aggravated an injury in the ankle/Achilles-tendon area on his left foot. Unable to accelerate to the front-right on the following point, he took a brief injury time-out but by that point the outcome had been effectively decided, with Willstrop ahead 7-4 and Momen deprived of his full mobility. He hung in admirably during the remainder of the game, but Willstrop kept to the task at hand and finished off the last few points. Hopefully Momen will have recovered by next weekend, when he is committed to a tournament in Sweden.
by Rob Dinerman for DailySquashReport.com
Dateline January 20th --- Fiercely pressed through the first half of a match that was teetering on the verge of becoming dangerous, top-seeded James Willstrop asserted himself at exactly the right moment and defeated PSA No. 12 Tarek Momen 11-13 11-8 11-2 11-6 early this afternoon in the first round-of-16 match of the $115,000 J. P Morgan Tournament Of Champions at Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan. Willstrop will now face Stephen Coppinger, a five-game winner over Adrian Grant, Monday evening in the quarterfinals.
That the 24-year-old Egyptian star Momen was able to take an opening game in which he committed no fewer than seven tins is a tribute to how well he played the remaining points, often winning the cat-and-mouse exchanges up front and alternating tantalizing angles with stinging drives down the walls. From 8-10, he conjured up two amazing winners --- a melting backhand drop-shot followed by a spectacular backhand overheard into the front-left nick --- to force a tiebreaker in which, following two evenly divided stroke calls, Willstrop caught the top of the tin on two consecutive forehand drop shots, perhaps influenced by his opponent’s impressive fleetness afoot.
Though he let down a but in falling behind 5-1 in the second game, Momen played perhaps his best extended squash of the 61-minute match in catching his much-taller British opponent (and winner of this tourney in 2010 and finalist a year ago) at 8-all. A two-love deficit appeared to be possibly looming for the current World No. 1, but at this crisis juncture, he scored on first a perfectly-placed backhand drop shot and then an even better forehand touch volley that rolled out of the front-right nick. Momen then impetuously attempted a high-risk serve-return cross-drop winner which instead clanged loudly off the tin, giving Willstrop the 11-8 game and permanently swinging the match’s momentum.
Buoyed by this escape, Willstrop sensed an opening and rocketed to 6-0 and 9-1 (nine straight points and 12 out of 13), taking full advantage of his own shot-making acumen and some ragged play on Momen’s part. After finishing off that game, Willstrop was having a much harder time of it in the early portion of the fourth, by which time Momen had regained his temporarily-misplaced focus and was battling his favored opponent to a near-standstill in harsh exchanges, mostly along the left wall. For a man his size, Willstrop is remarkably able to get low enough to get full leverage on his retrievals in the front-left, while Momen is a more natural mover who really slashes the ball, especially near the front wall.
With Willstrop leading 5-4, he feathered a backhand drop-winner on which Momen, wrong-footed on the play, aggravated an injury in the ankle/Achilles-tendon area on his left foot. Unable to accelerate to the front-right on the following point, he took a brief injury time-out but by that point the outcome had been effectively decided, with Willstrop ahead 7-4 and Momen deprived of his full mobility. He hung in admirably during the remainder of the game, but Willstrop kept to the task at hand and finished off the last few points. Hopefully Momen will have recovered by next weekend, when he is committed to a tournament in Sweden.
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