Best is still to come,
warns Matthew
Richard Eaton
 World
Open champion Nick Matthew, who is trying to win the
Kuwait PSA Cup as part of his bid to become year-end world
number one again, has warned that the best is yet to come.
The Englishman surprised some people by winning his second World
Open title at the age of 31 a fortnight ago in Rotterdam, but
Matthew believes he is still improving.
“I'm nowhere near the finished article,” he insisted. “At this
stage of your career you start to make invisible improvements
and that’s what keeps me motivated, working with David
Pearson (his coach).
“I try to improve for improvement’s sake. The game’s psychology
is an infinite thing and I can improve in that way.”
Matthew’s remarkable progress after a career-threatening
shoulder injury in 2008 happened partly because he was
courageous in being honest about any weaknesses – and he is the
same here.
“There are a lot of things I can do better,” he says. “There are
four areas – tactical, technical, physical and mental, and out
of the four, technical is the weakest for me.
“That is something I always like to stay on top of, no matter
what. It’s exciting. And as long as it still excites me I will
be hungry for success.”
Matthew completed the defence of his World Open title by
overcoming Gregory Gaultier in the final, although the
Frenchman gained some revenge in Hong Kong last week.
Despite a wise reluctance to talk too much about winning a
third, it is evident that Matthew thinks it is possible. “It
seems strange to be talking about it already now,” he said. “I
just want to get back in and get this year done.
"I would be delighted to win one of these two (Kuwait and the
Punj Lloyd PSA Masters in Delhi). And consolidate being world
number one, first and foremost. Then I will sit down and draw up
my list for 2012. But there is no doubt the World Open will be
top of that list.”
 However
Matthew knows that further improvement may not be enough, as
rivals may improve more - notably Ramy Ashour, the
24-year-old former world champion from Egypt who is sidelined
with a chronic hamstring problem.
“It can be a fine line winning a squash match. I could still
improve and not win many tournaments,” Matthew acknowledges.
Between the summer and now the World Open is the only tournament
I’ve won - yet I feel like I have improved as a player.”
That’s only one reason why winning here is central to his
immediate focus. “At this tournament I have never got to the
later stage,” he pointed out. “I would like to show the public
of each country that I am there (at number one) for a reason.
And that's something I would really like to do here.”
Last week’s loss to Gaultier has indicated why he can do that.
“It was a difficult match but the desire to win and the hunger
were there," he asserted. "That’s an important measure at this
point of my career. It bodes well.”
Matthew later learned that he will start his campaign to win the
title over the next six days with a match against Nicolas
Mueller. The developing Swiss player beat Gregoire Marche,
the world number 53 from France, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6.
And Gaultier's first opponent will be Omar Abdel Aziz,
the Egyptian who overcame his compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad 8-11,
11-9, 11-6, 12-10.
Meanwhile Amr Shabana, the four-times World Open champion
from Egypt and a former champion here too, will face Simon
Rosner, the German who is pushing towards the top 20 for the
first time and who had a good win over Marwan El Shorbagy, the
world junior champion.
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Photos
from World Open semi-final v Darwish |
