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Reports
Willstrop Wipes Out Darwish To Face
Ashour In New York Final
The JP Morgan
Tournament of Champions will climax in a surprise final after England's
James Willstrop and Egyptian Ramy Ashour defeated
higher-seeded opponents in the semi-finals of the $97,500 PSA World Tour
Super Series event at Grand Central Terminal in New York.
Fifth seed Ramy Ashour
was at his dominating best as he eliminated world No2 Nick Matthew,
the fourth seed from England, in four games.
"I kept myself in the
zone as much as I could," said the world number one from Cairo after his
11-8, 6-11, 11-2, 11-3 victory in 49 minutes. "And the cross court nick was
working well today."
In fact, all of
Ashour’s shots were working well and he kept the pressure on the
Yorkshireman from start to finish. Matthew, who had not really been tested
in the tournament prior to this match, particularly had to adjust to the
young Egyptian's blistering pace. Regrouping in the second, Matthew handled
the Ashour intensity well enough to take the game to draw level.
Ashour responded by
allowing Matthew just two points in the third. By the fourth, there was
nothing the Englishman could do to stem the Egyptian tide.
"When Ramy’s playing
his best, it shows why he is world number one," said England national coach
David Pearson. "The other players have quite a job on their hands."
Ashour will meet sixth
seed James Willstrop in the final. The elegant Englishman was as dominating
in his match as Ashour was against Matthew, deposing top seed Karim
Darwish 11-6, 11-5, 11-8. In Willstrop’s case, it was pinpoint accuracy
rather than pace that kept Darwish from ever really getting into the match.
In the first two games,
it was all Willstrop, who won the first point and never relinquished the
lead in either game. Former world number one Darwish came alive briefly in
the third, taking a 6-2 lead - but Willstrop calmly rebounded, running off
five consecutive points to go ahead 7-6. After allowing Darwish just one
more point, the Yorkshireman closed out the match in just 37 minutes.
Willstrop, whose
biggest challenge over the past few months has been regaining confidence
after bone spur surgery in April, did have a moment of doubt when he slipped
on court in the third game. There was no injury to the foot. "The good
news is that I went from being uneasy to feeling good-really good –again,"
said the 26-year-old from Leeds.
Willstrop’s quiet
confidence was evident on the court. “Darwish plays well when he’s
confident and his racquet work can be deadly. Tonight his racquet work was
off - which could have had something to do with the pressure I was putting
on him," said the soft spoken Englishman.
The final between
Ashour and Willstrop will be their third meeting at the JP Morgan Tournament
of Champions. Ashour beat Willstrop for the title in 2008 and in the
quarter-final round in 2007, a match that ranks in the annals of squash
history as one of the best of all time.
When reminded of that
match, Ashour grinned broadly and said: "Yes, yes … maybe I will have to
watch a video of that before I play tomorrow."
Willstrop is
celebrating his 20th appearance in a PSA World Tour final and looking for
his 12th win. Ashour, 22, who boasts a 5-2 career head-to-head lead over
the tall Englishman, is marking his 23rd Tour final, and is one match away
from his 15th title triumph.
World's Top Two To Contest ToC Semi
The world's top two
squash players will contest one of the semi-finals of the JP Morgan
Tournament of Champions after Ramy Ashour and Nick Matthew
- from Egypt and England, respectively - prevailed in contrasting
quarter-finals of the $97,500 PSA World Tour Super Series
event at Grand Central Terminal in New York.
World No1 Ramy Ashour
and defending champion Gregory Gaultier, the world number four from
France, treated the packed and rapt audience in Grand Central Terminal to a
match of extraordinary artistry in their 70-minute joust. In the end, the
prodigious talent of the 22-year-old from Cairo was just too much for the
Frenchman whose squash skills and court creativity are also quite
considerable.
"Greg was sharp and
hungry tonight," the fast talking Ashour said after the match. "I think he
is stronger than before. But I played the crucial points well, which you
have to do if you are going to win at this level."
Hungry and eager to
defend his title after an enforced year-end layoff due to injury, Gaultier
came out shooting, winning the first game in a tiebreak. Ashour responded
by picking up his game and sharpening his focus to win the second, but was
rebuffed in the third as Gaultier covered all corners of the court with ease
and fluidity.
The fourth and fifth
games were marked by several long rallies and a full array of pace and
shot-making by each player, but it was Ashour who played the big points best
when it counted, winning the match 10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6.
Several former tour
competitors who were part of the capacity crowd could be seen shaking their
head in amazement at the shots that Ashour was hitting for winners. "Ramy
is doing things with the racquet that we have never seen before," said
Jay Prince, publisher of the US Squash Magazine. "He is
stretching the boundaries of the game, changing the way it is played."
One of the Ashour
innovations on display during the match was his “cobra” grip, where his
hands are spread out along the racquet handle. "It is a cobra grip,"
explained Ashour, "because it can come back and bite quickly."
"There were times out
there tonight when I felt like I was playing the final," Ashour added
later. "But tomorrow will be even better," he continued, alluding to his
semi-final line-up with world No2 Nick Matthew.
In the evening’s first
match where the Englishman took on Egypt's eighth seed Wael El Hindi,
it was all Matthew as he controlled the match from start to finish. After
being down 2-3 in the first game, Matthew did not relinquish the lead for
the rest of the match, winning 11-8, 11-4, 11-7.
"I felt that I was able
to keep the ball really tight on the backhand wall where Wael normally
controls the pace," explained the 29-year-old from Sheffield. When asked
whether he felt as comfortable as he looked out on the ToC glass court,
Matthew replied: "I love the atmosphere here. The crowd is brilliant. Each
year when I come back, it takes a little getting used to in the early
rounds, because there’s more noise and commotion than at other tournaments -
but once you adjust, it actually gives you more energy."
In the Elite Junior
Women’s Challenge between the two top ranked US junior women that kicked off
the evening of play, Amanda Sobhy of Seacliff, Long Island, defeated
Connecticut’s Olivia Blatchford, 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-2.
Willstrop Overcomes Shabana In Grand
Central Shock
England's James
Willstrop pulled off a notable upset in the quarter-finals of the JP
Morgan Tournament of Champions when he despatched Egypt's world champion
Amr Shabana in straight games to reach the semi-finals of the $97,500
PSA World Tour Super Series squash event at Grand
Central Terminal in New York.
In a match that sixth
seed Willstrop himself described as “average”, the 26-year-old from Leeds
was never really pushed by the two-time Tournament of Champions winner, who
may have been worn out from his prior evening’s match against Englishman
Alister Walker that required a comeback of Herculean proportion.
"Shabana’s been at the
top for so long now - and that is so hard to do, week in and week out," said
Willstrop after his 11-5, 11-7, 11-4 victory in 31 minutes. "It rarely
happens that he has a bad match against me, so when it happens, I better
take advantage of it,” added the Yorkshireman, with good humour.
The win was sweet
revenge for Willstrop who last lost to the former world number from Cairo in
the semi-finals of the World Open in Kuwait in November - when
Shabana went on the win the title for a fourth time. After that match,
Shabana credited Willstrop for being "up there amongst the top three
Englishmen of all-time".
Willstrop's win dashed
hopes of an all Egyptian semi-final after Cairo-based event favourite Karim
Darwish beat Australian David Palmer in the other quarter-final.
There was an air of
eager anticipation in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall as the first
quarter-final got underway between two of the game’s bigger players – both
in terms of physical size and accomplishments on the PSA Tour.
Seventh seeded Palmer
attacked early and won the first game. Darwish, ranked world No1 for all
but one month in 2009, increased his depth and picked up the pace in the
second game to draw level. The third game was a seesaw battle as the lead
exchanged hands several times. With the score tied nine-all, a Palmer
miss-hit and a Darwish winner put the match firmly in the Egyptian’s grasp
as he took a 2/1 game lead.
The fourth game also
saw the lead exchange hands several times. At 8-7 in favour of Darwish,
Palmer hit the ball in frustration and it got stuck in the lights,
necessitating a replacement. With the new ball not quite as warm as the one
in play for the prior part of the match, Darwish hit two consecutive winners
that died just out of Palmer’s reach. Then Palmer made two diving forehand
shots that won him the next point but bloodied his knees, forcing him off
the court to be bandaged.
Darwish won the next
point to close out the match 5-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 and even his lifetime
match record against Palmer to seven victories apiece.
“I felt like I really
played a perfect first game,” said 33-year-old veteran Palmer, who was
recognised after the match by tournament director John Nimick for
being the only player in the tournament to have played the championship
every year since it was first staged in Grand Central Terminal 13 years ago.
Winner Darwish added:
"This has been good to play a hard match and get my confidence and my shots
back after being injured at the end of the year."
Between the two
quarter-final matches, the ToC audience was treated to a trip down memory
lane as Englishman Peter Nicol and Canadian Jonathon Power,
who between them own seven ToC titles, played a Legends Challenge match, won
11-9, 13-11 by Nicol.
Amr Shabana
Edges Through At Grand Central In New York
The fiery spirit, agile athleticism and
silken squash shot-making of Egypt’s Amr Shabana were on full display
as he eked out a tiebreak fifth game victory against England’s Alister
Walker in the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, the $97,500
PSA World Tour Super Series event at Grand Central Terminal
in New York.
"I was almost on a plane home tonight," said
the relieved two-time title-holder after the match. The ninth-seeded
Walker, who had beaten Shabana for the first time in September at the Sky
Open in Egypt, roared into the match, winning the first game 11-6.
"My head was all over the place," the
third-seeded Egyptian said. "I had to tighten up my game to get back on
track. He has amazing reach, and can volley any ball that isn’t really
tight on the wall." In a match marked by huge momentum swings, Shabana won
the second game 11-5, lost the third 11-2, and won the fourth 11-2.
"When you get to the fifth, it is anybody’s
game," Shabana continued. He looked to have the match in hand at 7-3, but
the Englishman staged a five point rally to take the lead 8-7 after moving
Shabana from side to side and hitting a winning backhand shot. A Walker tin
and a stroke to the Egyptian gave Shabana match ball at 10-8. His leaping
volley on the next point went into the tin and an out ball brought the game
to a 10 all tie. Shabana showed that he was not about to be denied as he
made two diving saves to keep the ball in play on the next point which ended
in a let. The eventual victor then buried the ball deep in the backhand
corner to force an error from Walker, which was followed by a tin, securing
the world champion a place in the ToC quarter-finals.
Shabana’s opponent will be sixth seed
James Willstrop, also an Englishman, who defeated Mohd Ali Anwar Reda
in three straightforward games. Having survived a tough five-game first
round match, the Egyptian wasn’t sharp or strong enough to challenge
Willstrop. There was a heart-stopping moment in the second game, however,
when Willstrop asked for a three-minute injury timeout. "It was scary,
because I’m just now feeling fully comfortable after recovering from surgery
in April for a bone spur, and my worst nightmare is to have another injury,”
said the Yorkshireman. "Fortunately it wasn’t anything more than a slip on
court."
Top seed Karim Darwish also made it
into the quarterfinals with a win over countryman Hisham Mohd Ashour -
who made Darwish work hard for the win, even though it was a straight game
victory. “With Hisham, you never know how he’s going to play – he always
brings something new to the court,” Darwish remarked. “Every time I play him
I feel like I am playing him for the first time.” Ashour, although
frustrated that he did not win a game, was encouraged by the standard of
play. “I was finding some good pace,” said the 27-year-old. "Now I just
need to get all the good squash in my head out on the court."
Darwish’s next opponent will be seventh seed
David Palmer, the Australian who defeated English qualifier Adrian
Waller. "He was just too strong,” said Waller after losing 11-4, 11-4,
11-4.
Palmer admitted that he had a favourable
draw: "I am trying to take advantage of it so I can be in a position to
challenge the top four guys. I definitely wanted to have short matches so I
didn’t waste any gas in the early rounds."
World No1 Ramy Ashour opened the
evening session of play with a blistering victory over Swiss qualifier
Nicolas Mueller. The 22-year-old Egyptian had some extra fire in the
belly after reading that some of his fellow competitors thought they had
figured out his game. “Some people think that they know my game – that they
can beat me at my game. But for someone to learn my game is very hard. I
play by instinct –no one can know me but me,” Ashour explained.
"It was crazy out there, playing the world
No1 in front of a full crowd,” said Mueller. ”It took me one game to realize
just how fast the pace is at which he plays.”
The final match up in the quarterfinals pits
England's world No2 Nick Matthew against eighth seed Wael El Hindi.
Matthew spent only 23 minutes on court in his match against Stewart
Boswell. After dropping the first two games, the Australian shook hands
with Matthew indicating that he was retiring from the match due to a sore
knee which he had injured in his match warm up.
"I would have liked a little more time on
court,” said Matthew. "But I did OK last year without a lot of court time,”
ruefully noting that Boswell had defaulted to him in last year’s tournament
in which he received two walkovers en route to the 2009 final against
Gaultier.
Mueller & Rosner Advance In New York
After Upsets At Grand Central
US hopes of success in
the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions were dashed when Swiss
qualifier Nicolas Mueller beat five times US national champion
Julian Illingworth, the 15th seed, in the first round of the $97,500
PSA World Tour Super Series squash event at Grand Central
Terminal in New York.
The 20-year-old from
Zurich got off to a nervous start in his very first appearance on the
all-glass court at Grand Central as he quickly fell behind 1-5. "It was a
little overwhelming," said Mueller, "even bigger and noisier than I could
have imagined." But the Swiss player steadied himself and snared the first
game. The highest-ranking American ever on the PSA tour, Illingworth
struggled in the second game as a sore wrist hampered his shot-making.
With the crowd loudly
in his corner, the New York-based Illingworth gamely tried to challenge
Mueller in the third and drew even at nine-all with some deft shot-making
and quick movement to the front of the court. But two tins by Illingworth
gave Mueller the match 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 after 46 minutes - and the
opportunity to face world No1 Ramy Ashour in the second round.
Ashour defeated French
qualifier Mathieu Castagnet 11-9, 11-7, 11-5. "He surprised me,"
said Ashour. "But I was happy to be playing someone who was smart on the
court. He read my boast well and to win the match, I had to be faster and
make him work more."
The other upset came
when Germany's Simon Rosner defeated 16th seed Renan Lavigne,
from France, with relative ease in front of a capacity crowd in the nearly
500 seat stadium. "It is just a great feeling," said the broadly smiling
victor after the match. "I was nervous because I don’t often get to play on
the glass court, and never in front of such a big crowd."
Rosner received some
advice between games from his coach back home who phoned in coaching tips
while watching the live webcast on SquashTV. Lavigne was sanguine
about the 3/0 loss to his 22-year-old opponent. "I had decided about a
month ago it was time for some new challenges," said the 35-year-old
Frenchman who has had some memorable battles on the Grand Central glass
court. "I wasn’t mentally tough today, but I am glad to get play here one
last time, especially because I wanted to bring my father, for his 62nd
birthday present, to New York City see one of the best tournaments in the
world."
Qualifier Ryan
Cuskelly got an early jump on Nick Matthew when he took the first
game against the world No2 from England. Midway through the second game,
Cuskelly caught Matthew in the ankle with the ball. "I was a little flat in
the first game and getting hit with the ball, which annoyed me, gave me the
fire in the belly I needed to get going," Matthew said.
The Englishman started
playing more aggressively and closed out the match against the 22-year-old
Australian 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7. Matthew’s second round opponent will be
another Australian, Stewart Boswell, who eliminated Brazil’s
Rafael F Alarcon in three straight games.
France’s Gregory
Gaultier began his defence of the title with a straightforward victory
over Scottish qualifier Alan Clyne 11-6, 11-5, 11-5. "I was real
excited to come back here to Grand Central," said the world No4. "After a
terrible year end with injuries, I am happy to be playing again, especially
in a place where I feel so comfortable."
Gaultier will next play
Miguel Angel Rodriguez who defeated fellow Colombian Bernardo
Samper in four games. "There are only two professional squash players
from Colombia," said Rodriguez, "and we end up playing each other in the
first round."
Wael El Hindi,
the eighth seed from Egypt, demonstrated a new seriousness of purpose when
he showed up for his first round match against Hungary’s Mark Krajcsak.
"I was a little more nervous this year because New York City is my home now,
and I had a lot of friends and supporters in the crowd,” said the
29-year-old who is the touring pro at Cityview Racquet Club. In the
early going, it was a nip and tuck match, with the lead exchanging hands on
almost every point until El Hindi nabbed the opening game. Krajcsak came
back in the second, taking a 7-4 lead, but El Hindi held his ground to take
the second game and easily closed the match 11-9, 11-8, 11-6.
"I have changed a lot
of things in the last year to get stronger and fitter, because I realised
that moving up in the rankings is about how many matches you can keep
playing at the same level of intensity," said the satisfied new New Yorker.
Waller Wows Grand Central Crowd With
Fight Back Victory
English qualifier
Adrian Waller made an impressive debut in his first appearance on the
famed glass court in New York's Grand Central Terminal in the JP
Morgan Tournament of Champions, defeating 11th seed Olli Tuominen
in the first round of the $97,500 PSA World Tour squash event, the
opening event of the 2010 PSA Super Series.
The 20-year-old
Englishman, who defended four match balls in the fifth game, smiled broadly
as he cooled down after his 60 minute victory. "I am really pleased with
how I was able to come back in the fifth," said left-hander. Although
Waller won the first two games in commanding fashion, Tuominen looked to
have the match well in hand after he secured the third and fourth games, and
was one point from a match victory at 10-6.
But the young man from
Enfield held steady under the pressure from the Finnish veteran 10 years his
senior, tying the score at 10 all. Although he didn’t convert his first
match ball at 11-10, Waller finally clinched victory 11-6, 11-4, 2-11, 6-11,
14-12.
Waller will face
seventh seed David Palmer in the second round. The 33-year-old
Aussie, now based in Orlando, Florida, started the match with his
23-year-old countryman Aaron Frankcomb with a lot of pace and kept it
up throughout his three game victory. "I wanted him to know that he was
going to be in for a hard match," Palmer said of his attacking strategy.
"And I want to try to keep the matches as short as possible."
It was not a short
match for Mohd Ali Anwar Reda who needed 76 minutes to vanquish his
Egyptian countryman, 13th seed Tarek Momen. Like the champion
athlete whose name he shares and wears on his sweatshirt - Muhammad Ali -
Reda did "float like butterfly and sting like a bee" in the first two games,
but lost focus and lost the next two games.
"He changed his game
and cut down on the errors and I got defensive," said Reda of his mid-match
lapse. "Then in the fifth it was anyone’s game." Momen took an early 5-2
lead, but Reda rebounded to forge ahead 7-5 and then 10-7. An unforced
forehand error into the tin by Reda and a passing rail shot by Momen
narrowed Reda’s lead to10-9. Reda’s crosscourt forehand to the back of the
court forced an error from Momen which secured his 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11,
11-9 victory.
Next up for Reda is an
opponent he will face for the first time, sixth seed James Willstrop.
The 26-year-old Englishman, who has given Tournament of Champions' fans
several memorable matches, has a special affinity for the championship. "It
is such an absolute pleasure to play here," said Willstrop after his 11-7,
11-2, 11-5 victory over qualifier Shaun le Roux, a fellow
Yorkshireman.
"I am so pleased for
every match I get to play in Grand Central," added the 2008 runner up.
Top seed Karim
Darwish, ranked world number one for most of 2009, opened the evening
session of play with an authoritative victory over American wildcard entry
Gilly Lane, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9. The 28-year-old Egyptian was pleased
to be back on court after the December holiday hiatus when he had a chance
to rest and recuperate from a back injury. And even though he lost, Lane
was revelling in his first foray on the Grand Central court.
"I have been coming
here since I was 15," said the 24-year-old Philadelphia native whose home
base is now Amsterdam. "I can’t believe that nine years later I am now
playing on this court. I just wish I could have been out there longer."
After his victory,
Darwish remained on court while Tournament Director John Nimick was
presented with a proclamation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
recognising the Tournament of Champions’ unique status as a major sports
championship in a landmark building and declaring Tournament of Champions
week "Squash Week" in New York City.
Darwish’s next opponent
will be fellow countryman Hisham Mohd Ashour who eliminated qualifier
Yasser El Halaby in three games. El Halaby, a four-time collegiate
champion at Princeton University who works in banking in New York City, was
no match for his exuberant opponent who spent his year end break playing
exhibitions and teaching squash clinics at various clubs and schools in the
US.
Rounding out the
quartet of Egyptian players into the second round is two-time champion
Amr Shabana who ousted his training partner Omar Abdel Aziz in
three games.
Shabana’s next opponent
will be England’s Alister Walker who defeated Amr Swelim. "I
love New York City and this tournament," said Walker. "There is such great
energy here and you can take that out on court with you." Walker, who was
thrilled to have his father watching him play for the first time in 10
years, attributed his victory in a very closely contested three game match
to experience. "It’s knowing how to win the big points," he said after the
match.
Win the big points he
did, nabbing an 11-9, 13-11, 12-10 victory to ensure that his father, who
travelled from Botswana to see Walker play, will have another opportunity to
see his son in action under the glittering chandeliers in Grand Central
Terminal.
Former US College Champions In
Tournament of Champions Draw
Princeton University
graduate Yasser El Halaby and Trinity college alum Bernardo Samper
both earned tickets to ride into the main draw of the JP Morgan
Tournament of Champions with victories in the qualifying finals of the
$97,500 PSA World Tour squash event in New York, the opening
event of the 2010 PSA Super Series.
Egyptian El Halaby, who
now resides in New York City, was precise and prescient, reading his
opponent’s shots with consistent accuracy, in his straight games victory
over Frenchman Gregoire Marche. For Samper, a native of Colombia who
resides in New York, it was tough and steadfast retrieving that resulted in
a four-game victory over Italian Stephane Galifi.
It was a trio of firsts
for Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller, Scotland’s Alan Clyne and
England’s Adrian Waller, all on their first trip to New York City,
qualifying for the first time for the Tournament of Champions and a PSA
Super Series event. Adrian Waller battled for 68 minutes before succumbing
to Australia’s Scott Arnold.
"It was a lively court,
so I had to wait a little while before I started attacking," said Waller
after the match. "Scott hits the ball quite cleanly and I had to get him
out of his rhythm." Clyne beat Pakistan's Yasir Butt in three-game
victory over.
Mueller dropped the
first game to hometown favourite Christopher Gordon. After staying
neck and neck to nine-all, Gordon took the game 11-9. "I stepped up the
pace considerably in the second and third games," said Mueller, winning them
11-4, 11-4. "In the fourth we had several ridiculously long rallies, and
when I was down 9-10, I played the best shot of my life," he continued,
recounting the path to the 12-10 final game win that propelled the Swiss
player into a main draw first round match against five-time US national
champion Julian Illingworth.
Australia’s Ryan
Cuskelly quelled the competitive fire of the draw’s oldest competitor,
defeating Englishman Chris Walker in three lively games. England’s
Shaun Le Roux logged the most court time in his 74-minute defeat of
New Zealand’s higher-ranked Campbell Grayson while Mathieu
Castagnet logged no court time when his opponent Mohammed Abbas
withdrew due to injury.
Also in his first foray
in the Tournament of Champions, the Frenchman will meet world No1 Ramy
Ashour in the first round. Cuskelly, who reached the second round of
the ToC two years ago, will face England's world No2 Nick Matthew in
his opening ToC match.
Wily Walker Advances In Tournament of
Champions Qualifying
Unranked Englishman
Chris Walker scored a major upset in the opening round of the qualifying
tournament in the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, defeating
Australia’s world No 75 Matthew Karwalski in five games in a
70-minute marathon in the $92,500 PSA World Tour squash event in
New York - the opening event of the 2010 PSA Super Series.
The 42–year-old former
world No4, now a squash coach in Connecticut, said: "I would dearly love to
get on the glass court one last time," referring to the sparkling four
walled glass court constructed under the chandeliers in Grand Central
Terminal for the main draw.
First, however, Walker
will have to get past Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly, who defeated TG
Raubenheimer of South Africa in four games.
Two former US
intercollegiate champions are in the hunt for main draw berths. Princeton
University graduate Yasser El Halaby, the only four time winner of
the men’s collegiate crown, looked like he was going to be down 1/2 in games
when his opponent, Pakistani Arshad Iqbal Burki, pulled up short with
a pulled calf muscle and had to retire.
El Halaby will face
Gregoire Marche who eliminated New Zealand’s Kashif Shuja in four
games with relentless retrieving and court speed. Trinity College graduate
Bernardo Samper of Colombia, also a US intercollegiate champion,
defeated local pro Karim Yehia in four games and will next play
Italy’s Stephane Galifi who came back from two games down to defeat
Frenchman Fabien Verseille.
France's Mathieu
Castagnet also moves into the second round and will face tour veteran
Mohammed Abbas who was ranked 13 two years ago. The 29-year-old
Egyptian, coming back after a year-long injury hiatus, dispatched Welshman
Jethro Binns with relative ease in three straight games.
Hometown favourite
Christopher Gordon pleased the crowd at the Harvard Club by defeating
Canada’s David Letourneau in four games. He will next play
Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller for the right to make it to the main
draw and the glass court. |
