Anthony Ricketts:
October Player of the Month

Anthony Ricketts won himself some fans with his performance in last month's US Open. His aggressive play and confidence on court got him past John White and despite a 3-0 loss, proved he could challenge Peter Nicol once again.

Ricketts is another success of the Australia Institute of Sport scholarships. He seems to play smarter and stronger with each appearance. His recent break into the top ten and performance in Hong Kong and Boston make him a worthy SquashTalk October Player of the Month.

Sept 15, 2002, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. © 2002 SquashTalk
All photos © 2002, by Debra Tessier, squashphotos.com

By Martin Bronstein

Twenty-three seems to be a good age for Australians. Anthony Ricketts has suddenly jumped up the rankings to enter the top ten and in the US Open, he knocked out John White, world number five. The same happened to Stewart Boswell a year ago, when he was 23. And according to Rodney Martin, who has had a say in Ricketts’ career for the last six year, Ricketts is now in the position that Boswell was a year ago.

Ricketts started squash in Sydney, where his mother managed some squash courts together with Geoff Roberts, who was to become Rickett’s first coach. Up until the age of nine he was soccer and tennis mad, but from the moment his mother put a squash racquet in his hand, he had found his metier. “I was on the court four hours a day, I just loved it,” he remembers. Despite initial misgivings about living in England, Ricketts has now made his base in Yorkshire and trains with Lee Beachill and Adrian Grant on a regular basis.

Martin Bronstein spends a few moments with Anthony Ricketts at the US Open

He has some devastating winners in his armory which gives him the valuable advantage of putting an end to a rally when the opportunity presents itself. He is also, according to Rodney Martin, one of the fittest men on the circuit.

In the last year he has beaten Ong Beng Hee, Martin Heath, Joseph Kneipp, Graham Ryding, Thierry Lincou and Mark Chaloner, all ranked above him. In the Pakistan Open in March he led Peter Nicol 7-5 in the fifth before losing 12-15. Five months later in Hong Kong he led world number three David Palmer two games to love before losing in five. Last October he was ranked 28th in the world; in September he had jumped to number 10. Anthony Ricketts has arrived.

He is an affable guy, with a ready quip and a quick laugh. He’s easy to talk to and opened up readily for this interview with Martin Bronstein soon after he had beaten John White in Boston.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST TITLE YOU WON?
I won the Under 11 New South Wales Junior title and my first national was the Under 15 national championship. I went right through juniors with Stewart Boswell but he was always year ahead of me. He’d win a title and then move up a group and I would win it the next year.

HOW LONG WERE YOU AT THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT?
I went into the AIS when I was 15 where I also did my last two years of schooling. After two years Stewart and I went on the circuit together, that was in 1997, the year after we represented Australia in the world junior championships in Cairo. I went to the Institute because when I went to tournaments I saw the way the guys from the Institute played and I realized that it would make a lot of difference to my game if I went. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

WHAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SURGE UP THE RANKINGS?
Towards the end of last year I wasn’t happy with my ranking and some of my results. I felt as though I was pushing the top players around the ten ranking and that I was capable of beating them, and every so often I would, but it wouldn’t show on my rankings. So round about September of last year after the Hong Kong Open I decided to play as many tournaments as I could and take the pressure of myself, just play, play, play to get my ranking up, and it worked.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST GOOD RESULT?
When I made the semi-finals in Hong Kong in 2000 is the best tournament result. Single match would be when I was up 7-5 in the fifth against Peter Nicol in Pakistan – and lost. Those are the things that keep me going and drive me. I know I’ve still got a lot to learn and improve on.

WERE YOU ALWAYS A BIG HITTER?
Not really, I think I just started to hit the ball harder when I played on the glass court. I also had a growth spurt when I was about 15 and that was I started to hit the ball harder.

WHO WAS YOUR IDOL ?
Rodney Martin was the man when I was a junior and he was the player we all spoke about. And when I came on the circuit Rodney Eyles was always around and helping us on the court. But Rod Martin has been an influence on me because I’ve been working with him since I was at the Institute. I don’t base my style on any one player. I try to develop my strengths, which are endurance and I’m aggressive, which can sometimes work against me.

HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTER YOUR VICTORY OVER JOHN WHITE?
I felt relieved more than anything. I felt in patches I played well and controlled the match. I also felt that I got distracted from my game plan and played pretty weak in parts. To be up two love and then lose it to two games apiece …yes, just relieved to win.

HAVE YOU SET YOURSELF GOALS?
I want to be top eight by the end of this year and in the top four next year.

	Video interview view with Real Player (1.9MB) view with Windows Media Player (1.9MB)
Anthony Ricketts (r)won the exhibition pre-final Challenger at the US Open. Simon Parke(l) (photos:© 2002, by Debra Tessier)	Interview after his loss to Peter Nicol

© 2002 Squashtalk, No reproduction without express permission (editor@squashtalk.com)

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