Natalie Grinham
won the Monte Carlo Classic for the fourth time after beating Madeline
Perry in Friday's final at the Stade Louis II in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The Dutch international, who first won the event
in 2006 and later retained the title in 2007, played out an assured campaign in
the popular Monaco competition. She claimed straight game victories in all of
her matches on route to the final, dispatching qualifier Orla Noom,
Tesni Evans and 2010 champion Omneya Abdel Kawy.
Her final opponent, top seeded Madeline Perry of
Ireland, dropped an early game in her first round match against fifteen-year-old
qualifier Nouran Ahmed Gohar. She recovered to win in four games, before
gaining a walkover as her second round opponent Lisa Aitken was forced to
withdraw from the competition with a virus.
Perry progressed to face No.8 seed Heba El
Torky in the semi-final, and after a close tie-break first game, the
experienced Irishwoman closed out the victory in three games to ensure her first
WSA World Tour final since April.
The top two seeds lined up for the final of the
sixteenth Monte Carlo Classic final, and it was the tournament favourite Perry
who started brightest to claim the first game. Grinham got into her stride in
the second however, and a narrow tie-break victory for the Dutchwoman pulled her
back level. From there, Perry was unable to get a look in for the rest of the
match. Grinham claimed the third game by a large 9-point margin, and her
opponent was well out of the contest as she won the fourth and final game by the
same score-line.
It is the 34-year-old’s 18th WSA World Tour
title, and her second of the year following January’s Tournament Of Champions
victory, proving that the former world No.2 is still very much a force to be
reckoned with at the top of the women’s game.
Perry &
Grinham On Course Through Monte Carlo QuartersDespite a
number of surprise results in the first round of the 2012 WSA Silver
Monte Carlo Classic, top seeds Madeline Perry and Natalie
Grinham remain on course to meet in the final after successfully
navigating the early stages.
Both experienced veterans of the WSA World Tour, the tournament favourites
dispatched qualifying pair Nouran Ahmed Gohar and Orla Noom to
progress to the quarter-finals. Grinham beat Noom in a straight-games
encounter, whilst a slow start for Perry saw her come from a game down to
defeat fifteen-year-old Gohar in four games on the hour mark.
Two unseeded players and a qualifier caused trouble for some of the other
seeded contingent however, as Lucie Fialova of the Czech Republic
defeated No.4 Aisling Blake, Tesni Evans beat No.6 Latasha
Khan, and Scottish qualifier Lisa Aitken stunned No.7 seed
Gaby Huber to add to an unlikely quarter-final draw.
The upsets were to be short-lived though as Aitken, progressing to face top
seeded Perry, withdrew from the contest after falling ill. The Irishwoman
will now face No.8 seed Heba El Torky, who put down a spirited
challenge from Fialova. The Egyptian took 53-minutes to end the Czech’s
hopes of another upset, despite late signs of a comeback and a tiebreak last
game.
Natalie Grinham ended Tesni Evans’ run in the event, claiming a
straight-games win to deny the Welsh player. She will now face Omneya
Abdel Kawy in the semi-final stages, after the No.5 seed Egyptian beat
compatriot and No.3 seed Nour El Tayeb in a half-hour, four-game
contest.
