Day TWO
stories from Framboise:
LAST
YEAR’S FINALISTS
ARE GONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, as I told you in my first report, I was watching the final last
year, which ended on a now famous 15/14 in the
5th, between Peter Nicol and Jonathon Power.
How things can change quickly, turn quickly, but Jonathon is used to quick
changes! When he first appeared in New York, he lost against Ross Norman
in the first round. The following year, he was holding the trophy…
So don’t believe for a second that they are retiring.
Peter is exhausted and Jonathan is injured.
End of story.
JOHN WHITE IMPERIAL
John White (Sco) bt Peter Nicol (Eng)
11/9, 11/7, 11/7 (36 mins)
Once again, yes, Peter Nicol is tired, but you know him, he is not the
kind to give up without a good fight. The first game was very close, 11/9
for White in 13 minutes. John chose to hit the ball extremely hard to
start with (well, the word is that the front wall is actually launching a
complaint to the tournament officials for abuse and bad treatment from Mr
White), with good length drives and cross courts, and to vary the pace
with sharp boasts (he missed quite a few on the backhand though, maybe
something to watch?)
6/6, 7/7, 9/9. Then a trademark crosscourt kill, 10/9 for John, and a
beautiful backhand drop shot to finish the first.
What became clear to me was that what makes Peter nearly unbeatable is his
anticipation skills and his gun-like start-up abilities. But today, he was
starting to move just a bit too late. And too late in the games as well.
In the next 2 games, John went up 5/0 and 3/0, leaving Peter to catch up
with him.
Peter tried to slow the pace down to get to his own rhythm. The second
game was still close, 6/6, 7/7, but 2 boasts, one out of court, and one
crosscourt kill later, John was closing the game 11/7 in 10 minutes.
The 3rd started with a “how to exhaust your already tired opponent” lesson
from White. Drop shot right front corner, he picks it up, then cross court
lob left back corner. Repeat at will. 3 times White sent Nicol running up
and down.
So, if you hear people saying that Peter gave it away, please, punch them
in the nose from me.
Again 4/4, 5/5, 6/6. John flicked the ball from left to right 7/6, a great
forehand drop shot, 8/6, again a front court boast backhand, 10/6, a tin
to give a bit of hope to his opponent, and a backhand crosscourt with a
lucky nick to take this second victory 3/0 of the tournament.
“I let John in front every time, 5/0 in the second, 3/0 in the third. And
I’m just VERY tired”. Said a drained Peter after his match.
“Peter is very relaxed, but he is still very dangerous to play, because he
returns so much. The season should have stopped last week!”
I was told that EVERYBODY is going on holiday next week…. And no wonder!
BEACHILL:
WHAT EVER HAPPENED?
Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Lee Beachill (Eng)
5/11, 4/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/8 (72 mins)
After Lee Beachill had asphyxiated Thierry Lincou 11/5, 11/4 in 26
minutes, I gave very few chances for my French friend!
What on earth happened?
“He let me come back into the match, I don’t know why really…” said
Thierry at the end of the match.
Well, here is my explanation. As you all know, Lee
just had a baby, and not only he is lacking sleep, but also, I don’t
think he is THAT happy being here when he would like to see the smile of
his son changing day after day.
Beachill very rarely discusses referee's decisions, but today, he was
cranky, he even mimicked Lincou's racquet swing twice (Malcolm, rings a
bell??), got angry for an obvious stroke against him… Not the Lee I came
to know and love (and I mean it, I really warmed up to the kid).
It came to the point where he actually crashed into Lincou's right
shoulder so strongly that Alan Thatcher made a joke of it at the end of
the match, and said that “obviously, Beachill had been receiving
coaching lessons from Ellery Hanley!
The crowd was not impressed, and at the end of the 4th game (Thierry
having won the 2 next games 11/8, 11/6 in 25 minutes), the English
audience was actually behind the French man. How was that for a
surprise!
In the 5th, Thierry was always in front, but the rallies were fierce,
varied and intense. He served us with 2 splendid splits, two shots in a
row, that left the spectators just behind me stunned (“this must hurt,
man”…).
“I’m glad I was able to do those splits, that means that my ankle is
completely healed, as I did them without thinking”. Honey, it was not
your ankle I was worried about, your adductors more like…
Against all odds, Lincou won the 71 minute match. I was personally sorry
to see Lee so unhappy, he is normally a very nice man, well behaved and
a stunning player as well.
“He started pretty well”, said Thierry to Alan Thatcher, compere of the
event. “I couldn’t read his game, and I couldn’t find any solution. Then
I got my confidence back. I’m glad that my fitness responded well when I
needed it.”
Talking about tomorrow’s match with Amr Shabana, the Frenchman said “He
is unpredictable, he is talented. He is a very good friend of mine, so
our matches are always friendly.”
It should be even more friendly now that Thierry is in the semis for the
3rd time in a row, and Shabana is out…
MATTHEW WALKS
ALL OVER HIS HEROES!
Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Jonathon Power (Can)
11/6, 11/9, 2/11, 11/5 (39 mins)
The atmosphere was warm and extremely friendly between Nick Matthew, the
23 year old player whom everybody is talking about, and Jonathan Power,
the “old guard”, during their match won by the youngster in 4 games.
You could see the admiration that Nick has for the Canadian, even if
today, Matthew was after his scalp.
“Nick was playing a lot on my backhand, that is the side I can move on,
so I was able to run a bit, but I can’t go forward on the right side,
and I can’t stretch,” Jonathon told me.
But boy o boy, “il a de beaux restes”, as we say, “he’s got some nice
left-overs” from his glory days, Jonathan has. He took the third 11/2 in
5 minutes! Matthew didn’t see a ball.
Jonathan played outrageous reflex shots, placed some miracle cross
courts, as if he was just getting rid of a burning ball. Nick was so out
of his depth. A great, fantastic, amazing display of talent that led Mr
Bronstein to say with a beautiful smile “that’s why they call him 'the
Magician'”…
But Nick came back with a vengeance to take the fourth 11/5 and get his
place in the final stages.
“Yesterday Peter Nicol, today Jonathan Power, and tomorrow?” Alan
Thatcher asked the winner. “John White”, replied a cheeky Matthew. “What
do you think of that, John”, Alan asked the tall man. “Not much” he
replied simply…
Well, tomorrow’s match won’t have any bearing on the semis, as both
White and Matthew are already qualified, but I wouldn’t be surprised if
they were still up for victory. Both of them.
We shall see, shan't we …
SHABANA:
OH WELL, MAYBE NEXT YEAR*
Joe Kneipp (Aus) bt Amr Shabana (Egy)
9/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/3 (42 mins)
*Once again, for you readers who don’t know
about Musical, “oh well, maybe next year” is the end line of a very
famous song “Send in the clowns”, by Stephen Sondheim, best known for
his lyrics of West Side Story.
No, this year was not going to be Shabana’s year in Broadgate. Yes he is
a very charismatic figure, lovely to speak to, and you want to be his
next best friend, but on the squash court during this event, he wasn’t
that impressive, and I’m really sorry about that, as I heard so much
about the Egyptian magic I was looking forward to be swept away…
Too many mistakes don’t make up for a few flamboyant kills… And Kneipp
meant business, real business. He lost the first, but the score was very
close indeed: 3/3, 5/5, 6/6, 7/7, 8/8, 9/9… The rallies were long but
neither of them were ready to take the risk to play too dangerously, but
still Amr was already making a few mistakes. Nevertheless took the first
game 11/9 in 14 minutes.
The rest of the match was all Joe’s, but what I liked about those two,
is that they were both attacking from their opponent’s attack. Let me
explain what I mean. Most of the time, when a player picks up a
difficult drop shot, he defends (lob, cross court lob) but those two
were using their position near the front wall to whack a great attack on
the other player!
So a really good show for us to see! But once again, Shabana made too
many mistakes, too many balls went in the tin, like all shot players not
on a good day. Kneipp didn’t give him the chance to come back; Amr’s
game suits him much more than Thierry’s length and calculated tactics,
and he didn’t get negative like in his previous match against the
Frenchman.
He won the match rather comfortably in 42 minutes, 9/11, 11/6, 11/6,
11/3.
So tomorrow, the only “real” match of that last day will be between Joe
Kneipp, the newcomer, and Lee Beachill, the new dad…
My money is on…
I’m not going to tell you, am I? Every time, I get it wrong! |
So what do the
players think of the
NEW SCORING SYSTEM?
Power: I like it, it will take time to get used to it, but
it’s definitely an improvement, and I put my name to it - not that
it means much today, it used to, but not anymore.
Beachill: You can’t afford to go for shots near the tin at
the beginning of each game, so, you play more carefully to start
with. |
Not so friendly once on court ...
Beachill starts strongly ...
... but Lincou won't lay
down
New baby, New responsibilities
Framboise talks to Lee about being a father ...
Matthew beats another
of his heroes ... White next?
Joe just too strong today
|