31-Aug, Finals:

[2] Lucie Fialova (Cze) 3-0 Tamika Saxby (Aus)
           11/6, 11/7, 11/1 (33m)
[1] Lucas Serme (Fra) 3-0 [4] Carlos Cornes (Esp)
          11/8, 11/6, 11/3 (45m)

Rotterdam Open Squash - Day 4 - Finals

In the first game of the women's final between Lucie Fialova and Tamika Saxby, Fialova seemed to be more comfortable on the court. Tamika managed to fight her way back after a 5 point gap in the first game.

She continued to place nice shots just above the tin in the second game, but lost valuable stroke points. Fialova directly punished her in some instances where she was in the wrong position on the court and managed to increasingly build the mental pressure. In addition, Lucie's left-handed backhand cross was difficult for Tamika to counter. After a short final, Fialova came out the winner.

“I knew Tamika beat first-placed Aisling Blake yesterday, and she looked just d fresh coming onto the court. However, I was not nervous when I started the match, and really just tried to be comfortable and enjoy it from the start. Tamika started out very well, but then started to make mistakes that I managed to use to my advantage. I am happy I won, and will now start preparing for my next tournament in Egypt.”


 
"The pressure was clearly high from the start of the match, and when things became physical it was even more difficult to maintain focus. Beating Aisling Blake earlier in the tournament was great for me, winning today would have been a bonus. I am not disappointed with how I played"

Meanwhile, the Men...

Lucas Serme clearly managed to win his final men's match against Carlos Cornes by maintain the lead throughout the match, making it clear to Carlos that he had something up his sleeve to all he would try to do. Carlos managed to create an advantage of 4 and 5 points in the first and second game, but also showed some ugly shots on the tin in the second game.

“I had a tough start in the match as I was still tired from yesterday’s matches. So, I aimed for long rallies, while trying to have Carlos move around the court a lot. When I saw he became more and more tired and started to make mistakes, I could relax and play basic squash, which paid off in the end. This gives me good hope for my next upcoming tournaments, a 25k one in Washington and a 10k one in Phoenix.”



"I was too much focused on winning instead of playing a winning match, and Lucas read that well. With a player like Lucas you need to be fully switched on during all the rallies.

Congratulations to Lucas! I am not happy about my loss, but thought it was a great tournament for the players. An excellent start of my upcoming tournaments in Portugal in September and India in October."

Finals Photos plus more...

30-Aug: Semis & Quarters

Semis
[1] Lucas Serme 3-0 [4] Tim Weber                      11/8, 11/7, 11/5 (41m)
[4] Carlos Cornes 3-1 [2] Dougie Kempsell 8 /11, 11/4, 11/5, 11/3 (44m)

Tamika Saxby 3-0 Birgit Coufal                             11/8, 11/9, 11/5 (35m)
[2] Lucie Fialova 3-2 Sabrina Sobhy 12/10, 8/11, 11/4, 7/11, 11/9 (54m)
 
Draw          Quarters Reports

A few more photos...

SEMIS - THE MEN

From the beginning, Tim Weber played a very agressive match against Lucas Serme and seemed determined to put up a good fight. He showed great technique, especially in perfectly placed, unexpected cross court shots. Serme's response appeared to be to avoid distraction, stick to his game plan and force Weber to apply risk to his offensive moves more and more. Ultimately, Tim needed to play on instinct more and more, while Serme could ease back into routine.

Although seemed to be bothered by cramps in the last game, he won the match 3-0 after 65 minutes.

At first glance, control over the game was equally shared between Carlos Cornes and Dougie Kempsell in their semi-final match. However, after Kempsell won the first game, and despite his resilience in the further games, Cornes applied significant pressure that resulted in relatively quick losses of game two to four for Kempsell, resulting in a match win for Cornes.

"Tonight Carlos was simply the stronger player. He placed low, hard shots, kept up the pace and kept me moving about and simply never let up" said a disappointed Kempsell.

SEMIS - AND THE LADIES

"Being as fit as I currently feel helps much mentally whenever you step onto the court for a match" said Tamika Saxby after her match against Birgit Coufal. "Birgit is a real fighter though, so that came in very handy" she added.

Sabrina Sobhy seemed fearless in her match against Lucie Fialova. After losing the first game she started played even more accurately in the second game, with balls seemingly magneted to the walls at times. Having lost the third game she added risky but effective dropshots to the mix in the fourth game. Finally she did not manage to resist the pressure of Lucie's play by routine to win the 5th game, losing the match 2-3.

"We know each other well, and I knew my main challenge would be the long rallies and solid lengths she plays" mentioned Sobhy after the match.

Quarters Men

The match between Lucas Serme and Mark Fuller turned out to be a true trench war, with both players playing carefully and waiting for the other to make mistakes first. Especially Fuller limited waiting time and played no risk shots, but Serme managed to counter those generally well.

After a balanced three games, both players started to take more risk, and Serme managed to win the fourth games 15-13, thereby ending the match after a long 82min. "I feeling well enough to know I am getting closer and closer to winning my first PSA tournament. Unfortunately Serme is easy to play, but difficult to beat" explained Fuller.

As well as they know each other, Andre Haschker and Tim Weber definitely did not let their friendship get in the way of giving spectators of their quarter final match a great match to watch. With similar styles of playing and Haschker being slightly less accurate but also faster than Weber, Weber won the match after a one win comeback by Haschker in the third game.

With a strong and confident presence on the court, Carlos Cornes managed to win 3-0 from Jan van de Herrewegen. An match between Carlos and Jan's earlier this year ended in the same score, but Jan significantly improved his game play since then.

Said Jan, "It was a tough, good old-fashioned match. Carlos has killer boasts, and it was often difficult to get back to the tee in time". After some minor mistakes in the first two games, Jan came close to winning the third game, but lost it 12-10. I was happy to win in 3 games, especially as Jan started all games very well", was Carlos' take on the match.

A mini Commonwealth Games showdown, the match between Britt Ashley Davis and Scottsman Dougie Kempsell was a highlight of the day. Both players appeared to be a mirror image of each other in game style, with lots of movement around the court and some superfast volley smashes from both players. While spectators watched in awe both took turns in winning games and battling it out in the fifth game, which ultimately ended in a winning stroke point for Kempsell.

LADIES QUARTERS

Somewhat surprisingly, first placed Aisling Blake did not manage to fend off the aggressively playing Tamika Saxby, especially when Saxby started to speed up from the second game onwards. In three short games, Saxby gained her semi spot by winning 3-0.

"I did not have the patience to grind it out, struggled to find length and could not keep her from dominating the T" a disappointed Aisling explained her defeat. "Winning that first crucial game proved to be so important once more. Aisling's boasts were the most difficult thing to deal with" commented Tamika.

Subtlety versus powerplay was the name of the game for the match between Lotte Eriksen and Birgit Coufal. Lotte ultimately was overpowered although she continued to move around the court well.

"My plan was to keep it simple and tight, as I knew Lotte will be all over you if you make even one step away from the plan. Generally I felt comfortable on the court as the people of Victoria, especially my friend Elma, make me feel like I play at home" Coufal said.

Lots of pace changes were seen when Nele Gilis and Sabrina Sobhy played what first seemed a match between equals. After winning the first game, Gilis struggled to find her pace and Sobhy moved around the court better. Although Gilis fought her way back by 5 points after being behind inan exciting fourth game she did not manage to win and lost the match.

For Lucie Fialova it seemed a normal day at the office to play against Leonie Holt until Holt started to fight back hard in the second game.

"When she started to take the lead in the second game, her dropshots were dangerous, so I started to play more tight and tried to be patient" said Fialova. Some unfortunate strokes and 5 shots on the tin in the third and fourth game did not help Leonie to in win the match, and Fialova closed the game with a 3-1 win.

"It's disappointing to leave the tournament of course, but 3 wins out of the 4 I played here is not a bad result. I would not take a different approach next time around", Holt said.

29-Aug: First Round Highlights

Rick Penders versus Dougie Kempsell developed to be a monster of a match, lasting an hour and fifteen minutes.

In the first game both players tested each other to the full, being in control an equal part of the time. Penders showed some drop shots that were difficult to counter, thereby also taking considerable risk at times. At times the exchange of shots was super fast, with balls smashed just above the tin and in the nick, made for some spectacular rallies.

"A tough match and not my finest squash", Kempsell admitted after the match, "it's difficult to come out on top if you are being pushed in the defense by an opponent with an approach this positive".

Nevertheless, Kempsell managed to win the match by 3-2.

Lucas Serme also played the Rotterdam Open last year, but opened his season in Malaysia last week.

"Rene is smart, experienced and moves very well" he described his opponent for the day, Rene Mijs.

"Clearly my advantage was that this was my first match at the tournament, it's Rene's third. I figured I simply should play my length until I was comfortable to switch to a different game when needed," he continued.

The local crowd was curious to see Roshan Bharos has developed during his stay in the UK. Although Roshan showed some solid and aggressive squash, including no less than six backhand nick balls, and came close to winning a game, Mark Fuller appeared to be a size too big for now and won 3-0.

German player Andre Haschker plays squash like the Germans play soccer, and no better example than the match against Rui Soares.

After losing the first two games in his first match of the season, he worked hard to battle through 4 game balls in the third game to come out winning that game and the fourth and fifth.

The older but clearly also more experienced Haschker said "Rui is gifted with
a racket, especially his backhand dropshots are impressive, and also his forehand dropshots."

The beautiful 61m match showed significant body contact between the players at times, which was dealt with respectfully.

Tim Weber played what he described as his "after summer wake up match" with Jonathan Geekie.

"My approach was to try to make him tired as quickly as possible. He plays the front of the court very well, especially his forehand dropshots are dangerous."

However, after losing the first game, Tim benefited from a few of dropshots that landed on the tin, and managed to win the close the match with a 3-1 win.

Despite some very well-placed drop shots, Mark ter Sluis did not manage to counter for Carlos Cornes' easy movement around the court and lost his quarter final placing to him.

"He is a tricky player who manages to use all of the court in his play, and he is really fast. The first game was very long, and I was happy to win it. I could then relax and to slow him down in the second and third game. My summer training paid off," commented Cornes.

Jan van den Herrewegen and Oliver Pett never played against each other before, and this first encounter ended in a 3-0 win for Van den Herrewegen.

"As for so many here it's my first match after the holiday, but I have made sure to continue trainings and stay fit. That allowed me to stick to my basic game and be comfortable on the court today."

Ashley Davis and Tom de Mulder know each other from youth squash, but it's first time ever Ashley won a match between the two.

"I was consistent, managed to play good volleys. However, when I was winning I lost focus at times, allowing Tom to score points," said Davis.

Aisling Blake played a solid 3-1 winning match against Anna Klimundova, who could only overcome the Aisling's cool determination to win the third game.

"She played nice, clean squash, with an excellent leftie forehand and very strong boasts. A lovely player already, so imagine if she gains more experience," said Aisling.

Well-experienced Lotte Eriksen played a very aggressive match against up and coming Dutch favorite Sanne Veldkamp. Although Sanne showed admirable resistance and consistently tried to play the games her way, that proved to be difficult when she was more and more pushed into defense. The very high speed of play Lotte managed to generate throughout in the game finally resulted in Sanne not always being ready to for her shots, making her lose the match 3-0.

Birgit Coufal and Franziska Hennes played what seemed to be a match between equals. The last time the two crossed rackets, Franziska came out as the winner.

"This time I focused on keeping it simple and build up the games from drives, which worked for the first two games. I then really needed to avoid lazy cross court shots as I got seriously punished for those in the third and fourth games. In the fifth game I volleyed back quickly when Franziska made mistakes, which worked out well," Coufal described the match.

"I knew Birgit is very strong in the front of the court, so I tried to concentrate on working in the back on the court. Reaching the quarters would have been great, but I am not too disappointed with a 3-2 loss as I am just back from a ten day holiday break," was Hennis' view on the match.

Nele Gilis played some mean drop shots and lobs in her match against Cyrielle Peltier, showing to be a generalist on the court, resulting in her 3-1 win.

Said Nele: "Last time we played against each other I lost 3-1, but now the approach to change the pace of the game regularly and make her move a lot worked out well. It helped that I played through summer, so I did not have the disadvantage of having to get into the flow as much as others."

Salut Fram

Petit mot après ma défaite à Rotterdam contre Nele,

Bien difficile de quitter ce wsa de Rotterdam par la petite porte.
Un tournoi de rentrée n'est jamais simple à gérer : je m'en suis aperçue :)

Après un été de travail intensif comme tu le sais, les attentes étaient forcément extrêmement grandes. Je m'incline malheureusement d'entrée contre Nele, hauteur d'un match très solide.

De mon côté, j'ai vraiment tout donné mais ai eu du mal à appliquer tous les points travaillés ces dernières semaines. Il me reste à accepter que certaines choses prennent du temps mais tu peux compter sur moi pour essayer de rebondir dès la semaine prochaine lors de ma tournée au US et Mexico.

Félicitation à Coline, Laura et Camille. A très bientôt pour de bonnes nouvelles ;)
                                                 
 

Linda Hruzikova and Lucie Fialova played each other once before, and the 3-0 win for Lucie is her second.

"I had a very simple game plan: play consistent, not think about winning directly," Lucie described her approach to the match.

28-Aug-2014: Highlights day one – qualifying rounds

To the joy of the many Dutch spectators, many of the Dutch men have progressed.

In Thursday's first round qualification games, specifically interesting was the game where Joe Green lost his number 1 seed to Rene Mijs. Rick Penders played a tough 52min match against Egyptian Ahmed Hussein, and managed to win after being led 2 games down.

Seventeen year old Tess Jutte played his PSA debut, but unfortunately lost 3-0 from well-experienced Jonatahan Geekie in this afternoon round.

Three women locals winning the first qualification round were Margriet Huisman, Dagmar Vermeulen and Danielle Rossmeissl. Twelve year old Fleur Maas gained valuable experience during her WSA debut, but did not manage to win a game and lost her first round qualifing match.

In the qualifying finals...

Rick Penders and Bart Ravelli was bound to be a close match but Rick better managed to keep his game flowing nicely, possibly as he is in earlier preparation for the upcoming Dutch Eredivisie, and won the match 3-0.

“Bart and I had great battles in the past, so what you have seen today was a relatively easy match” said Penders.

The most spectacular men’s match of the day was between Jonathan Geekie and Roee Avraham, ending in a 3-2 win for Geekie.

“I was looking to quickly close the game, but found I really needed discipline to not look for volleys too quickly.” said Geekie. Avraham commented “Usually my lobs work very well, but as Jonathan countered these very well I had too much challenge maintaining my game plan and not let him take the lead too much.”

Rene Mijs, being on familiar ground after playing Eredivisie at Victoria Squash Rotterdam for a decade, managed to use this advantage to win 3-1 from Miroslaw Celler. “After a challenging first game I managed to regain focus in a tough second game and managed to get out on top in the third game”, as he described it.

As for the ladies...

Finally none of the Dutch women were successful in breaking through to the main tournament. Huisman, Vermeulen, Ter Sluis and Rossmeissl all lost their final round qualification match.

"Franziska obviously had the age benefit, especially with the physical power she brought to the court, which is a result of trainings of the current up and coming generation of female players. That aside, she clearly is a lady with potential, and it was a deserved win for Franziska", commented Rossmeissl, who entered the qualification draw with very short notice.

The match between Margriet Huisman and Lily Taylor was close and spectacular. Hard work and perfect boasts from Margriet made it that a fifth game was necessary. Finally, Lily was the one who won the match. As Vlassaks said: “ Margriet was in the fifth already focust on the result instead of the performance”

Against Leonie Holt, Tessa ter Sluis combined speedy drives with smartly placed dropshots and boasts. "She started with great shots and much power, and I had to get used to her floaty serve. I worked to slow her down and not let her own the game, and that worked", said Leonie Holt, who entered the main draw by winning 3-1.
 

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