Rösner Comes Through Thriller With Marche As Müller Exits In Grasshopper Quarters by Nathan Clarke photos PSA
April 15, 2016
- Local hero Nicolas Müller's dreams of Grasshopper Cup glory were
abruptly ended by defending champion and World No.2 Gregory Gaultier in
Zurich tonight during a high class evening of quarter-final action that
also saw German Simon Rösner come through a titanic 86-minute battle
with Frenchman Gregoire Marche.
After watching home
favourite Müller bow out to Gaultier the capacity crowd inside Puls5
were on the lookout for a new favourite and made their voices heard
during the all-European battle between Marche and Rösner, which was
jam-packed with lung-bursting rallies from that off that had both
players scurrying around all four corners on the court at a ferocious
pace.
Despite playing at a supremely high level throughout
the encounter, including taking the first game, Marche couldn't do
enough to stop 2015 runner-up Rösner coming through 9-11, 11-6, 11-9,
16-14 in the match of the tournament.
"I think that was one of the toughest matches that I have played," said Rösner.
"Every
time I thought he was tiring he came right back at me and it was an
amazing battle but I'm super glad to come through in four. I'm really
pleased to be in the semis - after reaching the final last year it is a
good achievement to be back in the last four for me.
"He
pressured me a lot in the first and was making em do a lot of work and
putting me under pressure. I had to really focus on hitting the corners
from the second onwards and I think that ultimately made the difference
at the end.
"I need to do what I can now to get back on court tomorrow as fresh as possible."
Rösner
will now face Egyptian Marwan ElShorbagy in the semi-finals after he
downed Cameron Pilley 3-0 while Ali Farag, who beat Chris Simpson,
awaits Gaultier after his comprehensive win over Müller.
After
coming through a thrilling first round encounter with Ryan Cuskelly to
set up the last eight battle with Gaultier Müller couldn't find
anything in his locker to halt a surge from the current World Champion
and went down 11-4, 11-2, 11-7 in just 37-minutes.
"It is
always tough to play against the local boy - at the end of the day I
have to do my job and I was moving better today than in the first
round," said Gaultier.
"I had to be very aware of his
skills. He had a tough first round match and was maybe a bit drained
from that and I took full advantage to counter him and dictate the
game.
"Sometimes we travel to places and it can only be
players and refs at the first round so it's great to play her win front
of a good crowd so it's good to see Switzerland embracing squash."
