Simon Parke:
January Player of the Month
By Martin Bronstein © 2003

One of England’s all time great players, Simon Parke, has been gracing courts around the world for 14 1/2 years. But a year ago, it looked as though he was on the way out after surgery to correct a loose bone spur in his left ankle.

He dropped from a top ten player to 45 in the PSA rankings. This was the player who in 1999 beat Jonathon Power and Peter Nicol on successive days to win the US Open, the player who had been a top ten fixture for a decade as well a stalwart of the England team, having played for England as junior and senior over 70 times.

But after a series of first round losses, Parke showed the grit that Yorkshiremen are noted for and pulled a dazzling series of wins in the World Open, before losing to john White in the quarters.

His confidence is now brimming over as he prepares for the Swedish Open, British Nationals and the Tournament of Champions in February.

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Simon Parke spoke to Martin Bronstein from his home in Nottingham:

Simon Parke combines superb fitness with anticipation and court spped.
© 2003 Vaughn Winchell

WHY DID YOU HAVE SUCH A GOOD RUN IN WORLD OPEN?
I have been working hard. If you look at my results since September 01, they haven’t been particularly bad - they were all first rounds where I have met a top five player after playing two qualifying rounds. I was a tired: it’s bad enough if you are fit, but when you are coming back after an injury, it’s a tall order.

The World 0pen (Dec 2002, Antwerp) was the first time in a year that I didn’t have to qualify, because it was a 64 draw, so when I played Joe Kneipp in the second round, we were at level pegging, we had both played one match.

HOW LONG WERE YOU OUT OF ACTION BECAUSE OF THE SURGERY ON YOUR ANKLE?
It was only two months but I underestimated how long it would take me to get back. I also underestimated how low I could drop in the rankings – I went down 45, and Chris Walker will tell you how hard it is to get back once you dropped so far. But I just kept persevering - I knew it would happen eventually. I won the Salt Lake City in July and that was a good confidence builder. It is a small event, but I still had to beat Alex Gough and Nick Taylor. That was another event that I did not have to qualify for which proves my point that qualifying puts you at a disadvantage.

WHAT WAS HARDEST FOR YOU TO REGAIN, FITNESS OR SHARPNESS?
I think it was closer to sharpness: you think you can easily get back into the competitive spirit, which you do to an extent, but everyone else has been carrying on while you were away. Also, the game does change a little bit here and there, subtly. And then new players like Darwish come along and you have never played them before and they are really hungry to beat you. If you lose, it’s a set-back and your confidence goes. An injury affects your confidence, so it is mental rather than physical. And now the reverse is happening, with a good run in the World Open, I’m feeling really confident.

WHEN YOU PLAYED KNEIPP, HE WAS ON A WINNING RUN AND FULL OF CONFIDENCE.
Yes, but I had never lost to him before. Mind you, I had not played him recently during his run when he went to the top 15. Bit I have seen him play a lot – he’s not one of the young kids, so he’s been around a while and I knew what to expect. I knew that if I stuck to my own game I would come through.
I have been training a lot with John White who has now moved to Nottingham, so I’ve had some good hard practice matches with him and actually got a win over him in practice, which is the first time in two years.

FUNNY, JOHN NEVER MENTIONED THAT TO ME….
No, he wouldn’t.

WHO ELSE DO YOU TRAIN WITH IN NOTTINGHAM?
There’s Joey Barrington, Jonah’s son, and this morning I’m playing John Rooney, the Irish number three, and Jason Nicolle is still playing a bit. Nottingham isn’t as good as it used to be: Alex Gough has left to move down south, Derek Ryan has left for Manchester and Peter Marshall is no longer playing, he’s doing a bit of coaching.

YOU ARE 30 YEARS OLD NOW; ARE YOU LOOKING TO EMULATE CHRIS WALKER?

Parke almost stopped Jonathon Power in the 2000 US Open
© 2003 Vaughn Winchell

I’d like to. I am stretching more and picking my tournaments more carefully. I am getting niggling injuries. Straight after the Open I had a knee problem that stayed with me for six weeks. I was going to play in Dayton, Ohio at the end of January but I withdrew because of the knee. When I went to the physio about the knee, she told me that I should never do another court sprint for the rest of my life. Obviously I was really upset about that. But she twisted my arm and I eventually agreed. Anyway, now I am preparing for three tournaments in February, The Swedish Open, the British Nationals and the Tournament of Champions in New York.

GETTING BACK TO THE OPEN, YOUR MATCH WITH KNEIPP WAS 90 MINUTES WHICH IS A LONG MATCH THESE DAYS. HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTERWARDS?
I’d had tough matches against Gough and Taylor in Salt Lake which were both nearly two hour matches, so I knew I had the fitness . Strangely I felt no stiffness at all after my run in the Open, I felt fine. I had a day off after my match with Kneipp, which helped.

THEN YOU HAD TO PLAY BOSWELL, WORLD NUMBER FOUR AND ON THE WAY UP.
I’d played Stu once before in Qatar and he’d beaten me 3/1. In Antwerp we were playing on the Perspex court which was quite dead and although he is a basic player he’s got a lot of skill. It seems to me that he has a lot of racket ability but he’s fighting the inner demons to want to go for lots of cross-court nicks, but he manages to keep it straight. But if a ball is lose, he will put it away. So my game plan was to hit high, wide and tight because he’s tall and a very good volleyer, so you have to find a away of getting it past him – and I did. There were stages in the match when I was getting hammered: I lost the first game and I was 7-2 down in the second when I saw my wife walk in out of the corner of eye. Not consciously I just started to play better. I was thinking ‘this can’t be an embarrassing loss’ so I thought I should at least make a game of it. And I ended up winning the match, even though I was match ball down in the fourth. I was, naturally ecstatic, but I was surprised that I wasn’t the least bit stiff the next morning. That really surprised me.

SO THEN YOU HAD TO PLAY JOHN WHITE WHO HAD BEATEN YOU SO MANY TIMES IN TRAINING. DON’T YOU GO IN WITH AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX?

Simon Parke battled Peter Nicol to the Final Point in the 2000 Superseries Final (video)
© 2003 Fritz Borchert

I never go on court with an inferiority complex. We always play quite hard in practice and I knew I had beaten him in practice so I was using that. And it worked in the first game, which I won. And then he stepped up a gear and I lost a bit of sparkle and it was fairly straightforward after that. But White is dangerous. He just didn’t beat Peter Nicol in the semis, that was a hammering. I missed that match, but I shall be watching it on tv.
But that often happens to me – I lose to someone and they go on to win the tournament or beat the world number one. It’s satisfying in a way, but then you think ‘if only…’.

WHAT ARE WHITE’S WEAKNESSES?
His shot selection isn’t always the right one…I can say that about myself. Sometimes he goes for the three wall boast when it isn’t on and he can open up the court with an attempted winner that went wrong. And he can also hit the tin four or five times in a row. But there is the other John White that absolutely hammers the world number one.

THAT GREAT RUN IN THE OPEN HAS SHOT YOU UP TO NUMBER 18. WHAT ARE YOUR FURTHER GOALS?
I don’t usually have aims, but by the end of ’02 I wanted to be top twenty, which I achieved. By the summer of this year I want to be back in the top ten. Now that could be quite difficult because there are not a lot of tournaments on – the British Open and the Pakistan Open are still both to be confirmed. So in order for me to get into the top ten I really have make the quarter-finals of all the tournaments I enter.

YOU’VE BEEN PLAYING AT THE TOP FOR NEARLY 15 YEARS. HAVE THERE BEEN TIMES WHEN YOU’VE BEEN BORED?
Before that knee operation, I’d had a couple of months off and I was beginning to get fed up with the injury. In the Super Series Finals in 2001, I didn’t win a match. I was fed up at that stage and thinking is it worth it? Is it time to retire? Then I decided to have the operation and see how it went. Effectively I had about four or five months off mentally, from thinking about squash. That’s probably why it took so long to get back. But it made me a bit hungry and in 2002 I played 13 tournaments, which I haven’t done for years. I just kept going and didn’t give up.

WHEN YOU FINALLY RETIRE WHAT WILL YOU DO?
I will stay in squash, hopefully getting to coach at elite level. I will definitely stay in the game. Squash is in my blood.

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Simon Parke: January Player of the Month By Martin Bronstein © 2003

Simon Parke:
January Player of the Month
By Martin Bronstein © 2003