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18-Sep:
Day TWO - Qualifying Finals
Draws & Results
Women's Qualifying Finals
Diana Garcia beat Sarah Cardwell 11/5, 11/5, 11/2.
 The
day started with a slight surprise, a good one for the Mexican
fans, when Diana Garcia pulled of a fine victory over Sarah
Cardwell of Australia.
Both the first two games went exactly the same, Sarah opening a
5/1 lead, then Diana racing through in one hand to finish each
game at 11/5. The third was even more comfortable for Diana as
she eased through 11/2 to take the match 3 – 0.
A great start for the Mexicans. Diana will now play Siyoli
Waters in the first round.
Yathreb Adel beat Gaby Huber 11/6, 11/6, 11/7.
The next match up saw the first of a duo of 17 year old Egyptian
ladies, Yathreb Adel, winning in three against a much more
experienced opponent in Switzerland’s Gaby Huber.
Although Gaby fought valiantly in each game Yathreb was always
on top on the score sheet, and finished each game off with a few
points lead. Yathreb now plays Kylie Lindsay.
Mariam Metwally beat Lotte Eriksen 11/3, 11/3, 11/2.
The second of the Egyptian duo had an even more comfortable
passage through to the main draw as she allowed her Norwegian
opponent a total of only 8 points in all three games. Mariam now
plays Victoria Lust (ENG).
Kristen Lange beat Ivonne Diaz 11/7, 6/11, 11/6, 13/11, 11/3.
 The
final match of the women’s qualifiers turned out to be the best
match of the day and very nearly gave the small but vociferous
Mexican fans another surprise, but in the end did not quite
materialise.
The young American Kristen started off very well to lead the
first game 9/5 then despite Ivonne pulling back two, Kristen
finished off at 11/7. Ivonne dashed into a 6/0 lead in the
second, got game ball at 10/5 and finished the game at 11/6. The
third game turned completely around as Kristen took control and
won the game 11/6, but there was a lot more to come. Kristen
took an early 5/3 lead in the fourth, then moved to 8/5 and got
match ball at 10/8.
However, with the crowd cheering her on all the way, Ivonne
fought back brilliantly, and with some fantastic squash from
both players, she managed to pull back from the brink to win the
game 13/11. Unfortunately Ivonne must have used up all her
energy in that battle as Kristen took control of the deciding
game to win it 11/3.
An excellent match to finish off this session, a brilliant
effort from Ivonne, but Kristen rightly goes through to the main
draw where she will play Joey Chan.
We then had a break in the day whilst we moved to the Glass
Court for the men’s action.
Men’s Qualifying Finals
Henrik Mustonen beat Jamie Haycocks 11/4, 11/8, 11/9.
 First
up for the men on the Glass Court saw Henrik take the first game
quite comfortably 11/4, then move into an early 5/2 and 7/3 lead
in the second and get game ball at 10/4. Jamie pulled back to
8/10 but could not stop Henrik finishing off at 11/8.
In the third Henrik opened up an 8/4 lead, Jamie pulled back to
7/8, Henrik got match ball at 10/7, Jamie saved two match points
before Henrik finished off at 11/9. Henrik now plays Gregoire
Marche.
Matthew Karwalski beat Arturo Salazar 11/8, 9/11, 11/4, 11/6.
 Matthew
took an early lead in the first 7/3, but slowly Arturo, with
great support from the crowd, pulled back as close as 8/9 before
Matt took the game 11/8. Again Matt took an early lead 6/2
before Arturo fought back brilliantly to the delight of the
crowd and took the second game 11/9.
Unfortunately that effort must have taken too much out of Arturo
as Matt took the next two games much more comfortably. Matthew (WR
#57) now has the monumental task of facing the No 1 seed and WR
#2 Greg Gaultier.
Karim Ali Fathi beat Steve Finitsis 6/11, 11/6, 11/3, 11/9.
 As
the night drew later so the matches appeared longer, and this
one seemed to be going on forever at times. With Karim not
seeming to be up to his usual standard, Steve used all his
experience to take the first game 11/6. With Steve starting
slightly on top in the second Karim started to find his usual
court craft to turn the tables and take the second at the same
score.
Steve appeared to be tiring very quickly in the third as Karim
coasted through to11/3. In the fourth Karim opened up an early
7/2 lead, Steve pulled back to 6/7, Karim opened out to 9/6,
then despite Steve finding the strength from somewhere to level
at 9/9 Karim finally ended the match with an 11/9 win, after
just over an hour of play. Karim now plays Borja Golan (ESP).
Alfredo Avila beat Campbell Grayson 11/6, 15/13, 11/8.
 Last
match up was a great pick-me-up for the Mexican crowd after
waiting for so long for this match to start. Alfredo, a 22 year
old from Mexico City, has apparently been causing a few upsets
recently in PSA tournaments, and he certainly did so again here
tonight in front of a very partisan crowd.
Currently ranked #58 in the world he took on Campbell, currently
ranked # 41, and he took the first game in comfortable fashion
at 11/6, despite Campbell saving 3 game balls. The second game
became a real tussle as Alfredo eased into an early 7/5 then 8/6
lead, Campbell then led 9/8, Alfredo got game ball at 10/9 but
Campbell levelled and got game ball himself at 12/11, and again
at 13/12, but Alfredo was not to be outdone as he threw himself
all over the court to make some brilliant retrieves and finished
the game off at 15/13.
Alfredo then moved into an early lead in the third 5/0, then up
to 9/4 and despite Campbell putting up a valiant effort at the
end Alfredo finished the game off 11/8, to the absolute delight
of the crowd at 11.25 pm. The Mexican crowd I am sure will be
hoping he can pull off another surprise tomorrow as he faces
Adrian Waller in the main draw.
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Egyptian Duo through
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