Matthew & Willstrop Through to British Nationals Final, Perry Upsets Massaro by Steve Cubbins February 15, 2014
- While the men’s final will be a repeat of the last two years between
the top two seeds Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, defending women’s
champion Alison Waters will face a first-time finalist after Ireland’s
Madeline Perry broke a spell of six losing semi-finals by beating top
seed Laura Massaro.
Waters through to 8th final
“And I’m only 29,”
said a delighted Alison Waters after reaching her record-equalling 8th
Nationals final with a 3-1 win over Jenny Duncalf.
Considering the pair
had already contested three Nationals finals - Duncalf winning two of
them - a close match was to be expected, and that’s what we got.
Duncalf was on top in
the early stages, capitalising on a 3-0 lead and playing confidently as
she took the game 11-5. Waters fought back though, and moved ahead from
3-all in the second to level the match 11-6 before dominating the third
11-2 to take the lead.
Duncalf looked to be
taking it to a decider, moving ahead from 3-all to lead 6-3, but Waters
fought back to level at 6-all. Duncalf moved ahead again, getting two
game balls at 10-8 as Waters tinned two attempted dropshots.
Those were the last
errors the defending champion made though, as she took the next four
points to close out the match and move into yet another final.
“Jenny played really
well,” said Waters, “she came out firing and really put me on the back
foot at the start. In the second and third I knew I had to try to step
up, volley more and put her under pressure, but then in the fourth she
came back again.
“At 10-8 down I told myself I really didn’t want a fifth, so really pushed to finish it off there and then.
“I’ve got three titles to my name and I want more – so can’t wait for tomorrow!” she added.
Matthew tested but through
Nick Matthew made it
through to a seventh - also record-equalling - National final in a row
(he was out injured for 07 and 08) with an especially hard-fought
four-game win over Daryl Selby, who was the last player to beat Matthew
in this event in the 2011 final.
The defending champion
had the slight edge in the first, but from 7-8 down Selby put in some
exceptional rallies to take the lead 11-8.
The second was equally
tight, but from 8-all it was Matthew who pulled clear this time to
level 11-8, and he then went on to control the third, taking it 11-6.
Selby was back in
business in the fourth, leading 7-3, but as Matthew started to peg that
lead back the play became rather scrappy with the referees involved
more than anyone would like. Matthew edged ahead 9-7 with Selby unhappy
at a couple of no lets, but that seemed to fire him up as he levelled
at 9-all.
A stroke as Selby
failed to clear from the side wall brought up match ball, and a fluffed
dropshot off Selby’s toes ended the match after 84 minutes.
“It was getting a bit physical out there,” admitted Matthew, “and the referees were involved more than we’d like.
“I still have fresh
memories of him beating me in the final a couple of years ago, I really
didn’t want it to go to a fifth as that would have tipped the scales in
his favour again, so I was pleased to be able to finish it off in four.
Hopefully tomorrow’s final will be a cleaner match.”
Madeline makes it at last
They’ve contested the
semi-finals in each of the last three years, and last year it was 12-10
in the fifth, so a close match between Laura Massaro and Madeline Perry
was to be expected.
The first game went
point for point up to 6-all, then Massaro, two-time champion and top
seed, pulled clear to take the lead 11-6.
Perry, playing in her
seventh semi-final in eight years and yet to win one, did much the same
from the middle of the second, couldn’t capitalise on two game balls at
10-8 but after Massaro had levelled it was the 14-time Irish champion
who found two crisp winners to level 12-10.
Both players looked a
little edgy, with the odd error mixed in with patient rallying, but
again in the third it was Perry who finished better, taking three
points in a row from 7-all. Massaro pulled two back but then hit the
tin as Perry took a 2-1 advantage.
The upset - the first
one of the tournament - was on the cards, even more so when Perry took
a 7-0 lead in the fourth. Massaro managed to lengthen the rallies, and
got back to 5-8, but a return of serve kill by Perry, a lob that
drifted out from Massaro brought up five match balls.
Perry needed only two, and as she played a final dropshot she raised her arm in triumph - Madeline had finally made the final.
“I wasn’t very
comfortable in the first round on the other courts,” said Perry, “but I
felt good on here in yesterday’s match and I think I played well today.
I came close to Laura a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland, so I knew I
could win, but even at 7-0, 8-1 in the fourth I knew that she’s quite
capable of coming back.
“I’m trying to stay calm, as I’ve got a final to play tomorrow,”added the delighted winner. “I’m 37, so it’s about time!
Willstrop sets up repeat final
The men’s final will
be a repeat of the last two editions after James Willstrop came through
a tough three-game encounter with Adrian Grant.
Two-time champion
Willstrop was quicker out of the blocks, taking an early lead and
consolidating to take the first 11-5 after 15 minutes. Grant was still
struggling to get on terms as Willstrop forged ahead to 6-2, but
Grant’s annoyed reaction to his own unforced errors told us he wasn’t
finished yet.
Working hard, Grant
pulled back to 7-8 , Willstrop got three game balls but Grant saved two
of them only to volley into the tin on the third, 11-9 in 21 minutes.
Grant made a better
start to the third, but Willstrop always managed to stay a point or two
ahead, and from 7-6 he again had three match balls at 10-7 as Grant
missed a volley.
On the next rally
Grant powered the ball deep then collapsed in a heap as Willstrop
caught him in the ribs on the way past. That was a no let, but
Willstrop finished it off on the next rally to move into a seventh
final, and a third in a row against Matthew.
“I had to plot my way
through that one,” said Willstrop, “it was a good quality match, a bit
of a chess game really trying to find the right areas to put the ball
into.
“Adrian’s a great athlete and he plays well here, I knew all of that so that’s a very good win for me.
“You can’t fail to get
yourself up for a match like tomorrow’s final against Nick. There’s no
pressure on me, I’m about 800 to one down, but I may not have too many
of these occasions left so I’ll try to enjoy it and make the most of
it.”
