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TODAY at the British Open
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Sun 23rd Sep - Day SIX - Semis
The top four seeds in both men's and women's events go head to head,
with the Masters also at the
semi-final stage and the Junior
events played to completion ...
Semi-Finals:
[1] Nicol David
(Mas) bt [4] Tania Bailey (Eng)
9/1, 10/8, 9/3 (41m)
[3] Rachael Grinham
(Aus) bt [2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) 9/3, 10/9,
10/8 (54m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier
(Fra) bt [1] Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/9, 5/11, 11/5, 11/9 (62m)
[4] Thierry Lincou
(Fra) bt [2] David Palmer (Aus)
5/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/7 (64m)
First-ever All French Final
For the first time in its 77-yea history, a Frenchman will will the
British Open men's title after Gregory Gaultier and Thierry Lincou
beat the top two seeds in the semi-finals. Gaultier underlined his
good record against world number one Amr Shabana with a 3/1 win
while Lincou reached his second successive final, beating an ailing
world champion David Palmer, just as he did at the same stage last
year.
If there will be a first-time men's winner, either Nicol David or
Rachael Grinham - who contested the final in 2006 - will collect the trophy for the third time. David,
the world champion and world number one who has won the last two
events, ended the last hopes for British success when she beat Tania
Bailey in straight games. Rachael overcame her younger sister
Natalie, also in straight games, to give herself the opportunity to
add to her 2003 and 2004 titles.
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Men's Head to Head |
Women's Head to Head |
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Rachael
Grinham (Aus) bt Natalie Grinham (Aus)
9/3, 10/9, 10/8 (54m)
It's Rachael Again ...
When two players who know each others' games really well meet, the
resulting play can be a little predictable. Not with the Grinhams.
They have unusual games in the first place, in that they play more
unconventional shots than any other players, lobs, drops, flicks and
boasts from anywhere, frequently spinning around and always fleeing
around the court at great pace and picking up everything thrown at
them.
So where they can often bamboozle other players just by playing
their 'normal' game, against each other they have to try harder to
find the shot that makes the opening, or finds the nick.
Few up and down the wall rallies then, but great improvisation and
some hugely entertaining scrambles - just like when the met in the
Forexx Dutch semi-final at the start of the month.
Here, as in Amsterdam, it was Rachael who came out on top. She
tended to be the one pressing, and she was the one who worked the
openings better, and finished them off.
Not that it was at all easy - she came from 2/0 down to win the
first comfortably, but saw an 8/5 lead disappear in the second and
saved a game ball before doubling her lead with a lovely long
dropshot.
She led 6/4 in the third, saw that lead disappear too as Natalie
geed herself up with a few Grainger-like "C'mon" calls, and saved a
game ball at 7/8 with another long drop.
Three more points, all won or set up with backhand volley-drops, and
a third final beckoned for Rachael ...
 "For
the past week, I haven’t had a lot of practice, I haven’t been able
to train at all, between all the tournaments and the fact that I
still have Achilles problems.
"I lack a bit of match practice, and today, like yesterday, I found
myself going in and out of focus, whereas she kept more focused for
the whole time. She is so much faster than the others at the front,
and I couldn’t respond fast enough today, and it was difficult for
me to find a game plan and stay focused the whole time.
"She played well and didn’t make a lot of errors, and mentally, it’s
so hard for me to play her, because we just know our games inside
out, I need to be so much more focused than with any other player,
which was what I desperately lacked today."
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 "It
was crucial to win the second, from 8/5 up. I knew it would be a
boost for me, and for her it would have meant she had to come back
and win three games. I know she's still not fully fit, just like
when we played in Holland.
"At the moment I'm the one with nothing to lose, I'm not expected to
win and I don't mind losing against her so I'm more relaxed. Here,
and in Holland, I was going for my shots and they were going in,
there's not much she can do when that happens.
"We don't like to call lets against each other, maybe we should more
often, but we don't want it to look like we're after strokes against
each other. There were a couple of decisions I wasn't happy with,
but I'm not going to complain when I'm playing Natalie.
"I was very happy with my movement, there were only one or two
rallies where I was very tired at the end. Considering we're at the
semis of the British Open I'm pleased with how my fitness is holding
up.
"It would be awesome to get a third title, it's one of the most
important in the game and having two is already a great achievement
for me. I haven't had a good couple of years, haven't won many
tournaments lately, so it would be great to do it now …"
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Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt Amr
Shabana (Egy)
11/9, 5/11, 11/5, 11/9
(62m)
INCREDIBLE INTENSITY
Eight tins in the first game for Shabana.
Eight tins in the third game for Shabana.
Against one of the toughest fastest most skilful, fit and hungry for
victory up and coming players, it was never going to be good enough,
was it.
Still, in the second, when he was in the match, both mentally, and
physically committed to the rallies, Amr was out of this world,
disposing of the young Greg Gaultier with elegance, accuracy, touch
and flair.
And yes, in the third in particular, Amr and Greg were ever so
patient, the rallies, all with an intensity, a pace, a power I’ve up
to now rarely seen with such a consistency throughout a match, but
the Egyptian just seemed to find the tin time and time again.
Greg was superb today, it must be stressed. His calmness on court,
his presence on the T - he hardly seems to move from the middle,
allowing him to get to any part of the court in a fraction of a
second – and the fact he keeps his arms so close to the body, you
can’t predict where his low percentage out of the blue shots are
going to come from, making him one of the most lethal opponents on
the circuit.
 A
point to be noted. Amr had his left ankle strangely strapped, like
for an ligament injury. Was that impairing his movement slightly?
If it was the case, at the speed and strength Greg was playing at,
it would have slowed Shabana just enough to be out of balance
slightly enough to make the unforced error again and again.
We’ll never know, as the Prince of Egypt disappeared as soon as the
match finished. But one unhappy Egyptian makes a very happy
Frenchman, who for the first time in his young career, is now a
British Open Finalist.
Bien joué, Greg.
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"It’s always been a kind of a dream of mine, getting to the final of
the British, well, winning the British Open I mean.
"I’m very happy with my game, I’m happy to be back after a bad
injury, and tomorrow, I’m not going to give 100%, not 500%, but
1,000%!!!!!
"Amr and I we have a lot of respect for each other, he is really a
great guy, he is such a fair player, he and I don’t cheat, and look
at him, at the end of the third game, on a ball that sets up a game
ball, he gives me the point, how fair is that.
"I have learnt so much from him over the years, he is such an
example for me and for the sport, he’s been number one for a long
time now, and I just hope I get a future like his."
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Nicol
David (Mas) bt Tania Bailey (Eng)
9/1, 10/8,
9/3 (41m)
Three in a row for Nicol
Finals that is, not titles. Not yet.
Having survived a real scare yesterday, the defending champion was
surely going to on her mettle right from the start … and she was. No
sign of her sometime slow start tonight as, after an opening eight
rallies that left the score at one-all, she took the initiative and
looked sharp and focused as she closed out the game in a single
hand.
 Things
were looking grim for the English number one when Nicol continued in
the same vein to take a very quick 7/0 lead in the second, but aided
by few lackadaisical errors from Nicol, she began pulling points
back. Tania wasn't dominating Nicol like Natalie Grainger did for
two games last night, but she was holding her own in what was
becoming an even match.
Nicol got to 8/5, Tania levelled, but then put two quick balls into
the tin to fall two games behind – and that's a mountain against
Nicol.
The third was a rather scrappy affair, lots of lets, both playing
some good points and some bad points, but slowly, slowly it was
Nicol eking out the points. 3/2, 5/3 … a period of handouts and
lets, then it was 7/3 … another messy period, Tania put one in the
tin and Nicol finished it off with a reverse angle that left Tania
flat-footed and out.
So it's a repeat of the Dutch Open final in Manchester as Nicol and
Rachael both aim for their third British Open title. It's a
hat-trick for someone, but for who?
 "Before
I went on I felt ok, and in the knockup too, but as soon as I had to
push in the first my legs wouldn't go as fast as I wanted them to.
It took me a game and a half to get going, and at 8-all in the
second I needed to push on but made a few errors.
"You have to hit a bit lower against Nicol, and when you're playing
someone who plays at that pace and takes it so early it's difficult
even when you're fresh.
"It got a bit messy in the third, there's not normally many lets
when we play but we were both trying to get hold of the middle of
the court, you can't give that up against anyone, especially Nicol.
"I'm working on a few things technically and I'll never stop
training and pushing myself. There's still improvements I can make,
but Nicol's a great player and at the moment she's the best …"
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"A three-nil scoreline doesn't show what a good game we played.
"From our last few matches she got the hang of what to do, and I had
to work hard in every rally. It was a tough match, and I'm glad I
pulled through.
"It's great to have my support team here, the Sports Council of
Malaysia support me really well, and Ronald and Liz do all the
preparation, which allows me to just go on and do my thing!"
"It was a great experience winning my first British Open title in
Manchester two years ago on this court, I hope I can do it again
tomorrow and I hope everyone that's been giving me such great
support comes back too …"
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Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt David Palmer (Aus)
5/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/7 (64m)
Lincou sets up all-French final
 Thierry
Lincou repeated his victory over David Palmer in last year's Dunlop
British Open semi-finals, but this time around it was a very
different affair. Then, it was Lincou who had had the harder earlier
matches, but it was Lincou who used all his reserves to deny the
Australian.
Here, it was Palmer who came into the match with more court-time
under his belt, and, hampered as he was by a leg injury, he couldn't
repeat his opponent's heroics of last year.
Palmer started well, helped by Lincou's usual reticence out of the
blocks, led the first 5/1 and 10/2 before the Frenchman started to
get into his stride, but too late.
Thierry made a few errors in the second too, but stayed in touch,
and it was when Lincou was leading 8/7 that Palmer called for the
physio to be ready at the game interval.
 Lincou
took the second 11/8 to level, and with his opponent clearly
struggling with his movement eased ahead in the third. At 7/4 Palmer
took a 3-minute injury timeout, but fared no better on his return,
going down 11/4.
The world champion came out firing in the fourth though, hitting low
and hard as he went for the quick winner. It was his only chance
really, and for a while it worked as he led 4/1. But Lincou picked
up the pace again, and levelled at 7-all.
Probably sensing that his bid was about to expire, Palmer became
agitated about the ball being wet when his opponent served it, but
the discussions merely delayed the inevitable as Lincou took the
last few points and celebrated his return to the final in
extravagant style ...
So, it's an all-French final, just as it was in the English Open 13
months ago. Lincou won that one, but Gregory Gaultier has come on a
lot since then. Fancy a bet, anyone ?
 "It’s
not the same injury at all as last night, it’s the other leg. At 8/7
in the second, I pulled a muscle, and the match was over.
"There was nothing I could do on my right leg, my dominating leg. We
put a cold spray on it, didn’t make any difference."
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"I’m happy to win of course, but I’m unhappy for David, I’ve just
come out of a long injury, I know what it is and what you feel. We
are both 31, and I know that the road doesn’t stop there, for either
of us, there’s still plenty of time left.
"I didn’t notice that he was struggling on the forehand, but the way
to play is not to change anything, because if you do, you lose your
focus, it’s so hard to play somebody who’s injured.
"I find I’m playing better as the tournament is unfolding, because
I’m getting more and more relaxed as the match goes on.
"Does anybody have some advice on how to win the first game?
Anybody? I knew that he was going to want to win the first one
desperately, because of his match yesterday, so I was trying my
best, but I just couldn’t get past him, I was behind him all the
time.
"There were a few lets, but we both like to volley, and when you
play a not so good shot, the ball is coming back to you, and you’ve
got two people trying to play the ball, but that’s part of the game,
just part of the game…
"Greg does like to counter attack, he likes to cut the ball in the
centre of the court, that’s why Shabana’s game suits him perfectly.
You have to keep the ball deep and precise, and play a game all at
the back, tight to prevent him playing his shots, as he is so good
with the racquet. You’ve got to be patient, and keep him behind you.
"When I heard the result of Greg’s match, I sent him a text to tell
him how happy I was, how this victory confirmed his ascendancy over
Shabana, and how delighted I was that he was in the final , and it
was so nice of him to come and support me for my match, I must say.
"As for tomorrow, we’ll see. The moment is magic, and one must
appreciate it as such. May the best win. But with two Frenchmen in
the final of the British, France is already a winner …"
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HAPPY AND SAD…
 How
do you describe a match where one of the protagonists gets injured
in the second game? What do you say?
Well done to the other one to have kept his concentration and not
let his opponent's misfortunate alter his path to a “sure” victory”?
Of course, because it’s never easy to play an opponent with an
injury. You start playing around the injury, don’t you, and you lose
your game plan, and the plot…
Or do you feel for the loser, the warrior who can’t defend his
chances the way he deserves to? Do you salute the courage and game
plan of a player, who, on one and a half legs, went on playing,
hitting the ball so hard it could have pierced the glass wall,
betting it all on hammering the Frenchman to the back to prevent him
from playing short, and nearly succeeding to force a fifth, keeping
the suspense up to 7/7 in the fourth?
Both I guess.
Fantastic for Thierry to get to his second final of the British Open
in a row, of course, and even more, assuring France of its first
ever British Open title. But your heart cannot help bleeding for
David, who certainly didn’t deserve to go out the tournament that
way.
History is being made for France. How proud the French must feel
tonight….
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