Wed 21st, Day EIGHT
The men's and women's events
almost caught up with each other now, both at the quarter-final
stage with the remaining six semi-finalists to be decided in
Grand Central ... and two massive upsets to report
[2] Laura Massaro (Eng) 3-2 [6]
Camille Serme (Fra)
3/11, 4/11, 11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (71m)
[3] Raneem El Welily (Egy) 3-1 Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
11/5, 11/5, 2/11, 11/4 (29m)
[4] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-2 [8] Nour El Tayeb (Egy)
11/5, 10/12, 11/3, 12/14, 11/9 (65m)
[5] Alison Waters (Eng) 3-1 [1] Nicol David (Mas)
11/9, 10/12, 11/7, 11/1 (56m)
[3] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-1 [8] Simon Rosner (Ger)
10/12, 11/4, 11/7, 11/6 (66m)
Miguel Rodriguez (Col) 3-2 [2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
11/13, 14/12, 8/11, 11/8, 11/9 (88m)
PSA Roundup: Magnificent Miguel
motors past
Gaultier in Manhattan
Colombia's Miguel Angel Rodriguez pulled off the biggest victory of
his career, reinforcing his credentials as a genuine top-ten player,
with a dramatic and thrilling 3-2 victory over 2014 runner-up
Gregory Gaultier in the quarter-finals,.
 After
beating World No.6 Peter Barker in a gruelling 120-minute encounter
in the second round to book his place in the last eight of a PSA
World Series for the first time ever, Rodriguez continued his coming
of age, producing a suburb all-round display to take out the World
No.2 in 88 exhilarating minutes.
The 29-year-old had failed to take even a game off Gaultier from
five previous occasions but after breaking into the top ten for the
first time this month, to occupy the World No.8 ranking, he produced
the most composed performance of his career to take out the
four-time World Championship runner-up in emotional scenes.
"I'm really happy to be in the semi-finals and I'm going to enjoy
it," said Rodriguez.
 "I
was ready to play against Greg tonight and the strategy that I
prepared with my coach David (Palmer) paid off. I knew if I was
going to play long rallies against Greg I wasn't going to win so I
tried to volley more and use the boast and I'm very happy with the
way I played.
"For me Greg is the toughest player on tour as he's very strong and
it is so difficult to win rallies against him. I was very patient,
but more offensive than I was against Peter and I felt like it all
worked."
Traditionally a crowd favourite at the iconic Grand Central
Terminal, Gaultier found himself in reversed roles as the crowd got
behind the flamboyant man from Bogota, and he delighted the packed
auditorium with an acrobatic display that mixed unbelievable
retrievals with audacious shot-making from start to finish.
After seeing three game-ball opportunities disappear from his hands
as he went one-game down to the Frenchman, Rodriguez would have been
forgiving for doubting himself, but he showed true character to
rebound and level the scores before going on to cause Gaultier
difficulties in all four corners of the courts.
 In
the decisive fifth-game Rodriguez found himself 9-5 down but steeled
for a spirited last hurrah and it paid off, as he won six
consecutive points to take the match at the first opportunity and
set up a semi-final match against World No.4 Nick Matthew.
"When I lost that first game, I knew it would be tough to come
back because mentally that is so hard but I felt good when I got
that second game.
“Then I was playing very good at the start of the fifth and I played
some nice drop shots and I could feel he was getting tired and at
9-6 I told myself that I was capable of winning and I so pleased to
come through."
 Matthew, the third seed, recovered from losing a brutal first game
to Simon Rosner, missing out on two game ball opportunities as the
German took the lead 12-10, but reasserted to take the next three
games.
"I have played Nick a few times before," said Rodriguez, "but I
have time to recover and rest so I'll be ready for tomorrow," he
said.
WSA Roundup
Waters Defeats David; Massaro Makes
Semis
It was a day of superlative squash and one stunning upset at the
J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Terminal.
Just as it has been every day and for every session, the stands were
filled and the eager fans got their money’s worth, as each match
provided its own unique drama.
 The
most stunning result was the defeat of defending champion Nicol
David by world #5 Alison Waters, who came into the match
having beaten David only once in 24 previous meetings. That lone
defeat was in 2012 at the Carol Weymuller Open which was also the
last time that David lost in the quarterfinal stage of a tournament.
Waters seems to be riding the momentum that she generated in
December when she won the deciding match that gave England the world
team championship, followed by her quarterfinal defeat of then
defending world champion Laura Massaro at the World Open.
“Nicol clearly wasn’t at her best,” said Waters in her
post-match interview, and indeed, many in the crowd were wondering
if there was something wrong with the 31-year-old Malaysian, who
seemed to be lacking her trademark energy.
Waters edged ahead at the start, winning the first game 11-9; David
responded by winning the second, 12-10. Waters, who was playing
absolutely first rate squash, grabbed the third 11-7. Still, most in
the capacity crowd were waiting for David to take her game to the
next level or to find a way to win, as she has so many times in the
past. Instead, Waters jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth game,
getting great depth on the ball and then wrong footing the usually
agile David several times with a deceptive two wall boast to win the
game 11-9. .
”She seemed very tired at the end,” Waters noted, “and I worked
very hard to make that happen. Still, squash is very much a mental
game and I was just focusing on playing one point at a time.”
Waters never wavered in that focus, winning the deciding game 11-1.
 Waters
meets 19-year-old Nour El Sherbini in the semifinals after
the Egyptian player ousted her countrywoman, 21-year-old Nour El
Tayeb, by the barest of margins, 11-9, in the fifth. The two
players treated the afternoon crowd to a superb match that showcased
their fearless, contrasting styles. El Sherbini’s mother, calling
into her daughter at the conclusion of the match from Egypt where it
was 2AM affirmed that it was “very high quality.”
The tall and powerful El Sherbini played a classic attacking game,
controlling the center of the court by driving her opponent deep and
then deftly placing the ball in the front corners when she had an
opening.
 El
Tayeb was the retriever, nullifying Sherbini’s power by varying her
shots and lifting the ball, occasionally throwing in a split lunge
or a floor dive to return seemingly ungettable balls. El Sherbini
seemed to dominate the match and yet El Tayeb hung in, winning a
fourth game tiebreak after saving two match balls and rebounding in
the fifth from 3-7 and 6-9 before succumbing 11-9.
“We have been playing each other since I was 10,” Sherbini said,
“and it is always close. I was focused on keeping the ball away from
her because she can flick it from anywhere in the court. Winning a
match like this gives me confidence going into the next round.”
The second women’s semifinal will feature world no. 3 Laura
Massaro against world no. 2 Raneem El Welily.
 The
Englishwoman woman needed five games and 72 minutes to defeat
Camille Serme for a place in the final four. The Frenchwoman started
the match bouncing on her toes and looking hungry for victory as she
quickly shot out to an 11-3, 11-4 lead.
“I did not want to lose this match,” said Massaro. “I was a touch
flat in the beginning, but I stayed calm and finally started getting
good length and hitting my targets.”
After winning the third game 11-7, Massaro fell behind in the
fourth, 1-5 and 2-6. “I always feel like I can come back and that
helps me dig deep,” she explained. Recovering to 6-7, the
31-year-old suddenly displayed more spring in her step and reeled
off the next seven points to force the match into a fifth game
decider. Serme seemed to tighten up ever so slightly and the fifth
was nip and tuck through 6-5, after which Massaro surged ahead to
win the deciding game 11-7.
 Massaro’s
semifinal opponent, Raneem El Welily, dismissed the young American
star, Amanda Sobhy, in four games.
“Last year I was little overwhelmed by the ToC - all the people,
all the noise- and I lost in the first round,” El Welily commented.
“This year, I am much more comfortable here.”
Comfortable might be an understatement. El Welily’s 21-year-old
opponent played well, yet lost decisively.
“I have a lot to do to get to no. 2,” Sobhy said after the match.
“Raneem had an answer for everything I threw at her today.”
Perhaps not quite everything as Sobhy did win the third game 11-2,
after El Welily asked for, and got, a new ball, which the Harvard
senior started smacking into the nick for winners. .The 25-year-old
Egyptian re-asserted her authority in the fourth by driving Sobhy
deep into the court to prevent the Long Island native from having an
opportunity to keep hitting those front court nicks.
|
Alison tweets
|
