It was off to the glass court at Camana Bay tonight, with
Cayman's Hon. Premier Bush (centre, on Natalie Grainger's left)
declaring the tournament open.
Before that though there were two more first round matches at
South Sound, which saw third seed Rachael Grinham safely through
while qualifier Sarah Kippax won an entertaining tussle with
eighth seed Samantha Teran.
After the opening ceremony at Camana Bay the packed crowd
witnessed three matches on the glass court in the warm but windy
conditions.
Play some Steel Pan music while
you read the reports ...
Camille denies Cayman dream ...
"It's great having all the top players here, but we didn't
invite you over so that you could beat our players," joked Dan
Kneipp to Camille Serme after the French number one had put out
Cayman wildcard Marlene West in straight games.
Marlene made the world number 11 work for it though, matching
her opponent point for point for most of the first game, then
saving three game balls in the first to force extra points. She
never quite managed to get one of her own though, and Camille
closed it out 14/12, and predictably enough won the next two
more comfortably.
"It's my first time on a glass court for about ten years,"
explained Marlene, "it takes quite a lot of getting used to. On
a normal court I'd just try keeping the rallies going, but
Camille was putting the ball right in the back corners and it
was dying. I enjoyed it though!"
Camille explained her start: "I was a bit nervous, and we were
waiting to get on for a long time which didn't help. I'd never
seen Marlene play before and to be honest she was better than I
thought she'd be!
"Once I got the first game I felt more relaxed, now I need to
prepare for what should be a really tough match tomorrow."
Nicol faces down Kiwis ...
You
need all the help you can get when you're playing the world
champion, world number one and defending Cayman Open champion,
but even an on-court Haka in the face of the Malaysian star
wasn't enough for Jaclyn Hawkes.
Nicol was Nicol, bouncing around the court, retrieving
everything and putting the ball where her opponent least wants
it. The Kiwi challenged in patches but it was mostly one way
traffic.
"When you come onto court in a setting and in front of a crowd
like this you just want to give it your best," said Nicol.
"The Haka was fascinating, I've never seen one close up before,
it was exciting and it got me going, to be honest!"
Afternoon
Session:
Rachael gets a head start ...
The final session of play at South Sound Squash Club saw two
contrasting matches as Rachael Grinham did the expected
as she beat qualifier Manuela Manetta in straight games,
while Samantha Teran and Sarah Kippax treated the
crowd to yet another five game thriller, this time the qualifier
coming out on top.
In
truth Manuela contributed to her own downfall, going 0/6, 0/7
and 0/3 down in the three games, and against someone as
experienced and skilful as Rachael, even on these hot bouncy
courts, that's a recipe for disaster.
The Italian stuck in, made Rachael work as she pulled back as
close as 6/7 in the first and third games, but that was as close
as she could get, Rachael pulling clear in both to move into the
quarters.
"Manuela's a good athlete, good reach and good racket skills
too, so she's always dangerous," admitted Rachael. "I was lucky
to get those good starts, although sometimes you're not sure if
it's a good thing, you feel under pressure to finish the games
off quickly and if they start coming back it can start getting
to you.
"We play a few tournaments on hot courts like this these days,
so it's not unusual conditions, but I am looking forward to
getting on that glass court."
Sarah survives Samantha ...
After a tough qualifying final against Tenille Swartz (it was
'only' 31 minutes but it felt longer and harder than that) Sarah
Kippax found herself embroiled in another gruelling encounter,
this time against the determined Mexican Samantha Teran, which
went the full distance and took over twice as long as her
previous match.
Two
players not particularly noted for their finishing skill on a
hot court, it was as you would imagine it, plenty of hard
driving rallies, use of the lofted ball to relieve the pressure,
plenty of attacking boasts and plenty of admirable defence.
Not that they weren't attacking, there was plenty of that too,
but the conditions precluded too many outright winners in favour
of working an opening before applying the finishing touch.
There
was never much between then, rarely did one or the other score
more than a couple of points in a row. Great for the crowd, not
so much so for the players' nerves.
Kippax took the first with two dying drives, Teran saved two
games balls at 8/10 before levelling on extra points, Kippax did
the same in the third to regain the lead. Samantha was always
marginally ahead in the fourth, and led the decider 5/2 and 9/7.
A risky long dropshot into the tin from Sarah brought up match
point to the Mexican, who ballooned the ball out of court on the
next point. A dropshot from slightly further up the court went
in to level matters for the Englishwoman and we were into extra
points.
A forehand boast brought up match ball the other way round, and
after forcing a weak return out of the back corner Sarah popped
in a dropshot which Samantha raced up the court after, but was
to her distress denied a let and the upset was complete.
"It's always a tough one against Samantha," said said a relieved
winner, "she's so gutsy and picks everything up. At two-one I
actually thought it was two-all, it was that tough!
"I'm really pleased, this is the best I've done in a tournament
of this level so I'm delighted. I need to work out my tactics
against Rachael, she's a very tricky player, but for now I'll
just enjoy the win."
You
need all the help you can get when you're playing the world
champion, world number one and defending Cayman Open champion,
but even an on-court Haka in the face of the Malaysian star
wasn't enough for Jaclyn Hawkes.
