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PSA PLAYER BIOGRAPHY Name: Nick Matthew Country: England Date of Birth: 25 July 1980 Height: 183 cms Place of Birth: Sheffield Place of Residence: Sheffield Current World Ranking (Mar 06): 10 Highest World Ranking (Oct 04): 5 National Ranking: PSA Titles: 4 PSA Final Appearances: 18 |
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After a promising junior career - in which he represented England in both the European and World Team Championships and was runner-up in the 1998 European Junior Open and winner of the 1999 British Junior Open - Nick Matthew exploded into the senior ranks in 2003 with a string of remarkable successes on the PSA Tour which saw him leap to a career-high No5 in the Dunlop PSA World Rankings in October 2004.
Born and raised in Sheffield in Yorkshire, Matthew enjoyed an excellent run in 2003 - reaching the quarter-finals of both the English Open (in his home town) and US Open as a qualifier - thereafter making his senior England debut in the World Team Championships in Austria - where he was unbeaten as England secured a bronze medal finish.
The best was yet to come, however, as Nick claimed two of the biggest scalps of his career in the Qatar Classic, beating fifth seed Jonathon Power and third seed David Palmer to reach the semi-finals of the Super Series event.
He pulled off two sensational victories in the 2004 Bermuda Open - firstly despatching top seed Thierry Lincou then defeating Egypt's world champion Amr Shabana to reach the semi-finals.
In April 2004, Nick claimed his first PSA Tour title for almost two years when he upset second seed Greg Gaultier in the final of the Windy City Open in Chicago - then the following month, in his first appearance in the Super Series Finals in London, he trounced two former world number ones Peter Nicol and Jonathon Power on consecutive nights to reach the semi-finals - eventually taking fourth place after losing to another former world No1 John White in the play-off for third place.
Matthew celebrated his first appearance in a Super Series event final in September '04 when he engineered a major semi-final upset over David Palmer took him through to the final of the Hong Kong Open. This time Lincou was too strong, winning in straight games.
His most satisfying run in 2005 came at the English Open in his hometown of Sheffield. Seeded five, Matthew pulled off his first career win over England team-mate Lee Beachill, the event's top seed, and went on to topple another England colleague James Willstrop, the third seed, in the semi-final. In the final he faced Peter Nicol, his third England team-mate, eventually going down in a close-fought 54-minute battle.
Matthew reached the quarter-final stage of three events on the 2005 Super Series Tour and the semi-finals of the Saudi International event in Al-Khobar in December, finishing 9th in the 2005 Super Series Tour standings.
2006 has started well for the 25-year-old. In February he became British National Champion for the first time, defeating three-time Champion Lee Beachill in an enthralling 105 minute final at the National Squash Centre. A few weeks later he finished runner-up at the Tournament of Champions in New York, depatching Jonathon Power and Gregory Gaultier en route to the final, which he lost to Egypt's Amr Shabana. At that same tournament, Power announced his retirement from the sport, thereby opening the door for Matthew to take his place in this year's line-up at Broadgate. |
NICK MATTHEW TOURNAMENT SUCCESSES:
Jan 06 Quarter-finalist Windy City USA |
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