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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [6] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (Eng)
               11/5, 11/4, 9/11, 9/11, 11/6 (60m)
[4] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
              11/8, 11/3, 11/2 (24m)
[8] Alison Waters (Eng) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (Aus)
              11/9, 11/6, 12/10 (35m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Ned) bt [7] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned)
               11/4, 11/7, 6/11, 11/5 (40m)

[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [8] Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa)
              11/6, 11/5, 11/6 (39m)
[4] John White (Sco) bt [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col)
               11/3, 4/11, 11/8, 11/7 (39m)
[3] Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt [7] Dylan Bennett (Ned)
              12/10, 11/1, 11/4 (39m)
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt [6] Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
               11/9, 11/9, 8/11, 11/6 (81m)
 

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[8] Alison Waters (Eng) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (Aus)
              11/9, 11/6, 12/10 (35m)

Waters makes it count

Alison Waters scored one of her best-ever wins as she put out the reigning World and Dutch Open champion Rachael Grinham in straight games, but it was a bit of a nerve-wracker at the end!

With Rachael looking a little out of sorts, unable to get her opponent out of position as she normally does so well, Alison recovered from 8/4 down in the first to take it 11/9, helped by a few errors from her opponent.

The Englishwoman was well in control in the second, consolidating a 5/1 advantage to double her lead. And so it continued into the third as Alison went 6/0 up in no time, Rachael looking all at sea.

But three tins from Alison gave her opponent a glimmer of hope, and, lengthening the rallies, Rachael started to work her way back into a match that appeared all but lost.

At 8/5 Alison tinned an easy volley and you could almost see the nerves takes hold. The rallies lengthened more, and Rachael levelled at 9-all. Alison earned a match ball with a volley nick but tinned her dropshot at the end of another long rally to take it into extra points.

Having worked her way back so well, Rachael inexplicably tried two dropshots from way behind the service line in the next two rallies. Both hit the tin, and Alison had her best win ...

"I didn't feel I was properly there today, I wasn't able to focus well enough and was making wrong decisions. Even at the end I was able to rally more and get back into it by playing more defensively, then played those two stupid shots to lose it when I knew that type of shot wasn't working for me today.

"She was clearly hitting better than me today though, even when the ball was off the wall I wasn't able to hit it accurately enough. That's how it goes sometimes, it was clearly her day today …"

"My hands are still shaking after that, it was getting very edgy at the end!

"I was trying to keep my length, she's so dangerous when she's in front of you and her hold makes it deadly, so I was pleased how I managed to contain her for most of the match.

"I thought I was so close to winning at 6/0 in the third, then I made a few errors to let her back into it but still got to 8/4 and I was thinking 'I can't lose this now', but she came back and then gave me those last two points.

"My mum and her friend were here watching yesterday and they were nervous wrecks then, so today they'll definitely need a stiff drink today!"

"I felt more at ease today right from the start. Whether I'd won or lost my first one it was always going to relax me - although I was a bit too relaxed at times today, I lost my length for a while in the third. But of course there are going to be things I have to relearn or improve after such a long time off, some of the things I used to do automatically."

[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [8] Jesse Engelbrecht (Rsa)
              11/6, 11/5, 11/6 (39m)

Steady as she goes for Nick

Nick Matthew's return to action continued today, as the world number eight had too much firepower for Jesse Engelbrecht, himself returning from a layoff, albeit shorter and not enforced like Nick's.

Nevertheless, an enjoyable match for the smallish afternoon crowd, and a learning or re-learning experience for both players.

"That was good fun, a great start to the season, in at the deep end against the world number eight, but I enjoyed it a lot.

"It's only in the last six months that I've got to play the top guys, but I've played half of the top ten now - you always go on with a bit of doubt, of course, but the more you play at that level it can only help your game."

[4] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
              11/8, 11/3, 11/2 (24m)

Grainger on song

A powerful performance from world number four Natalie Grainger, and after she pulled away from five-all in the first it was pretty much one-way traffic.

Jenny Duncalf, having one of her off days, couldn't stem the tide. She weighed in with a few errors to dent her own cause, and by the third she had that 'I'm not going to win this one' look.

Even the lucky nicks were going Grainger's way today ("there are no lucky nicks, I aim for them all!" she said afterwards), and the final drive that died in the back corner just about summed up both of their days ...

"I'm very happy with that, everything seemed to be working well today.

"I'm trying to play a really solid game these days, I'm hitting the ball better and moving well, trying to play with real purpose.

"I moved to Greenwich recently and I've been working with Peter Briggs, the head pro at Apawamis, and I've done some work with Rodney Martin. It's such a hotbed of an area, there's so many pros around, I can almost pick a guy a day to have a hit with, it's a nice position for me and I'm having great fun …"

"I was a bit nervous in the early part of the match, and he built a good lead in the first. Once I got into my stride I tried to make it tough, tried not to give him any more openings.

"He really needed that first game, it would have given him a wad of confidence, and I knew losing it would hurt him. In the second and third I just tried to straighten it up, taking the shots if they came, but not making any unforced errors."

[3] Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt [7] Dylan Bennett (Ned)
              12/10, 11/1, 11/4 (39m)

Pilley weathers the early storm

Third seed Cameron Pilley was put under severe pressure in a first game in which Dylan Bennett played really well, taking the initiative away from his opponent with some good, attacking squash.

The Australian settled, pegged back the lead but still found himself game ball down at 9/10. Three tins from the Dutchman gave the game away, and his head was gone during a quick second game.

Dylan competed much better in the third, was unlucky on the balance of play to find himself 6/0 down, but the momentum was very much with Cameron by now, and he had no intention of letting it slip, finishing with a lovely volley kill - "I save those up," he said afterwards.

[2] Natalie Grinham (Ned) bt [7] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned)                   11/4, 11/7, 6/11, 11/5 (40m)

Natalie wins Dutch duel

It will be Natalie Grinham who carries the Dutch flag into the women's semi-finals after the second seed overcame many-time Dutch Champion Vanessa Atkinson in four.

Natalie made a great start, taking the first with ease and building up a good lead in the second - 5/1, 8/3 - with Vanessa struggling to impose herself. Natalie was picking up everything thrown at her, and putting it tight to keep Vanessa on the run.



Toward the end of the second Vanessa started to get a bit of control. It was too late for that game, but in the third she was the one moving her opponent around, and the returns were loose enough to allow her to keep Natalie on the run.

Annoyed at herself, Natalie came out for the fourth in her early-match form and soon established a winning lead. 8/1 was more than enough, despite some considerable comebacks we've seen this week.

"I started off so well and won the first two so easily that I got a little nervous when she started coming back in the third - well, at the end of the second, really. Vanessa's hard to play, she can be quite up and down but I wasn't expecting to be winning that easily.

"I dropped a bit of length in the third and let her back in, I wasn't hitting through the ball as much but she was playing better, much tighter, and even the chances I got I was just spraying the ball around.

"I got a bit angry with myself for that, but I often play better when I'm angry and managed to get it back in the fourth."

[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt [6] Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
               11/9, 11/9, 8/11, 11/6 (81m)

LJ emerges from the 'Chaos'

It looked like the crowd's favourite was heading for a straightforward win when he led 2-0. LJ Anjema was always ahead in those games, even though he only won them narrowly. In the second David Bianchetti started engaging with the referees, as is his wont (collection of quotes to follow).

The Italian earned himself a conduct warning for throwing his racket at the end of the second, a conduct stroke for breaking it over his knee as he left court - "it was already broken," he pleaded - and so started the third a point down.

It seemed to settle him - he calmed down and played squash, good squash, as he halved the deficit, leading throughout the game.

LJ it was who led throughout the fourth though, where it seemed every point was played out several times, so many lets were there. No eruptions though, apart from the crowd when their favourite advanced to the semi-finals with Davide flat on his back after a desperate lunge in an attempt to retrieve the winning shot ...

"I was well ahead in the first two, like 10/5, 10/6, but it got scrappy from then on and I didn't play disciplined enough. Then I was thinking, 'ok, still two-up', but played chaotic squash from then on.

"Davide's always hard to beat, he's very smooth and doesn't give anything away.

"So, not my best squash, but getting through was the important thing. It was just my physicality that carried me through today, my shots weren't nearly good enough but thankfully I can fall back on a basic game plan when that happens.

"I'll regroup for tomorrow and hope I can play more disciplined squash …"

[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [6] Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (Eng)
               11/5, 11/4, 9/11, 9/11, 11/6 (60m)

Nicol Survives

In total control for the first two games, defending champion Nicol David was given a real scare by Laura Lengthorn-Massaro in the last women's quarter-final.

Clearly annoyed at her failure to make an impression in the early stages, Laura turned a one-sided match into a very even one as she matched the world number one in every department for two games, taking both at the death.

The start of the fifth was the crucial as Nicol took a 4/0 lead, extended to 6/0 after the ball was replaced. It didn't look to me as if Nicol was doing anything different, the rallies were just going her way, but Laura's view was that she was being too defensive at that stage.



The second half of the game became even, mirroring the whole match, but the lead was too great. As Laura lunged in vain for the final dropshot her two-footed jump said it all - she had a real chance here tonight, and it surely won't be long before she scores that big win she's threatened for a while ...

"I knew it would be hard, Laura is coming up the rankings and I've had some very hard games with her before, she just keeps coming back and coming back at you.

"I had to keep the pace up as much as I could, but she was using the court very well and I had to work really hard, so hard to keep ahead in that last game …"

"I really believed I had a chance of winning this match, I've been playing really well, so I was very disappointed with how I played in the first two games, I didn't show her anything of the standard I'm playing at.

"Then I thought I played really well in the third and fourth. I knew she'd try to up the pace again at the start of the fifth so I though I'd have to soak it up for a while. But that stopped me attacking the way I had been, and by the time I changed back to how I had been playing she had too big a lead.

"So I'm disappointed with the start of the fifth, but it's a strong showing which will stand me in good stead for the worlds, and I've learned a few things from that …"

"I enjoyed the game and tried to do my best. In the third I was 6/1 up but lost a bit of concentration, I didn't go for winners and just waited, but made a couple of errors.

"I played a few junior tournaments in Europe, but this is the first time I've played a senior event. I'm over here for a few weeks, playing here, in France, Manchester and Spain. I'm proud to play here, and to play a former world number one, it was great fun."

[4] John White (Sco) bt [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col)
               11/3, 4/11, 11/8, 11/7 (39m)

You're pretty much guaranteed entertainment when John White plays, and in the last match of the night he found a willing partner in Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who was willing to run after the hard-hitting Australian's shots at a dizzying pace.

Both were playing some amazing shots - Miguel's racket skills are awesome and he appears to be able to play the ball from any position, at any angle, to the packed crowd's great delight.

In the end John's power and experience won through, but we certainly had fun getting there ...

Entertaining on and off court, here's a selection of John's  comments:

"The refs do a hard job, and when the players try to confuse the referees and confuse themselves … we're all confused.

"I'm giving you a chance here - if you're still confused after I've explained it to you, get out of the seat."

"There was a burning smell on court from the rubber on his shoes, he was running around like a little rabbit!"

"At 6/1 down in the third I told myself I should go home, then I remembered I had four kids at home who needed feeding …"

"It may not look like there's a pattern to my game, but it's my pattern, not theirs."

"I've always played like that and enjoy doing it - I'm having more fun now than when I was a teenager."

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