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Matthew Provides Fireworks
Joe Kneipp Upset in Round One
By Martin Bronstein © 2003; all rights of reproduction reserved.
August 14, 2003 

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Joe Kneipp fades in Sheffield (photo © 2003 Fritz Borchert)

FIRST ROUND, BOTTOM HALF.

LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD
Nick Matthew lives in Sheffield, his dad runs the well-known Hallamshire Squash club in Sheffield and Nick plays for Hallamshire. Being the only Sheffield player in the tournament, he pulled in a good crowd to watch him play his first round match against the 11th ranked Joe Kneipp of Australia. Few expected Matthew to progress to the quarters, and when Kneipp took the first two games with comparative ease, 15-9, 15-10, pulling out his greater experience to finish off the games in the later stages, it seemed that the expectations would be fulfilled.

Matthew, a member of the England team that won the world junior title in Princeton in ’98, has not impressed since then, being regarded as a solid journeyman rather than a future star. And when he committed the unforgivable junior error of trying to finish off rallies too soon by going for volley drops and hitting tin, it seemed that he would not get rid of the ordinary tag.

But then in the third game, he remembered something called length and started to put pressure on Kneipp, forcing the talented Aussie to play loose boasts from the back of the court. Now they were on equal footing and although Kneipp led 9-7 he was unable to push ahead. Matthew was now matching Kneipp shot for shot, and drop for drop and tied the game at 9-9. Kneipp won the next long rally to show that he was still in control to lead 10-9 and then it all fell apart. The referee decided that an obvious let was not a let and gave the point to Matthew. Kneipp, who had not been affected by other questionable decisions, allowed this call to get to him. To rub salt into the would Mattew’s next length shot hit the nick at the back to give him another fluke of a point and the lead 11-10. Kneipp then went for a forehand drop and hit the tin: 12-10. Matthew was awarded a stroke at the front of the court to give him his 13th point. Kneipp lost his cool and hit the next serve into the tin. Fromm being 10-9 ahead he was now 10-14 down. He hit a winning drop to get a point but he ended t he next rally and the game with another forehand drop into the tin. Matthew had the game 15-11 to put himself back in the match.

He continued his pressure and length in the fourth game as Kneipp hit the self-destruct button to trail 1-9 in just a few minutes. He rallied his reserves, stopped going short and recovered to 6-9 but his heart was not in it and by the time Matthew was 13-6 up Kneipp was hitting ball behind his back. The game was over in under nine minutes , 15-6 for the local boy and Dan Kneipp, who acts as his brother’s coach and trainer, had the job of talking Joe back into the game.

But the balance of power had changed hands and Matthew was now showing that he was a very well rounded player who can attack with flair and speed. He led by one or two points throughout the final game, with Kneipp constantly threatening to catch up but never quite managing it. He hit two wonderful overhead drop shots to climb from 9-12 to 11-12 and then attempted another which hit the tin. With Matthew leading 13-11, Kneipp looked far from happy. He got one more point from a Matthew error and then lost the last two as Matthew caressed a backhand drop winner and then a forehand drop. After the last shot Kneipp hesitated and then shook Matthew’s hand. I was sitting two yards from the front wall and thought Matthew’s shot was good. Tim Garner and three other players were sitting close by and all thought that the final shot had hit the top of the tin. Which is why Kneipp had hesitated: he knew that the he would not win the argument with the referee sitting 30 yards away, so decided to do the gentlemanly thing.

Power in Jovial Mood (photo © 2003 Fritz Borchert)

When oh when are they referee’s going to get into the 21st century?

POWER PACKED WITH PEP
Jonathon Power did his squash cabaret act, a showbiz smile never far from his face and his lethal weapon flashing shots with deadly accuracy. It was just too much for qualifier Nick Taylor of England who had to earn every point in the first two games. Power hardly made an error and covered the court with his usual lightning darts. He continues to use the backhand drop as the basis for his attacks: his opponents know what he does, but seem unable to find a way of blunting that educated use of the back wall. At one point Power played eight shots down the left wall and as Taylor leaned to the left to wait for the nineth, Power sent the ball across court with his patented chop to win the point. He makes squash look easy.

Power ended the first rally of the third game into the tin, giving Taylor the lead for the first time which he kept to 8-7 but then Power took over as the game got scrappier with an increasing number of appeals. On one point when Taylor was denied a let, he claimed that Power had impeded his route to the ball, indicating that Power 'had touched me there' indicating his left buttock. Power looked up at the referee and smiled "But not in that kind of way."

There were five lets at 13-12 and just before the audience lost its will to live, Power finally won the point to reach match point which he won with a stroke.

David Palmer back with a flourish (photo © 2003 Fritz Borchert)

PALMER TAKES NO PRISONERS
David Palmer's match with another qualifier, Adrian Grant, was also one-sided as his better length, width and shot selection - he was near perfect - simply overwhelmed the young Londoner. It was good to see Palmer playing so well after his four month layoff due to surgery. This was his first PSA tournament since the Tournament of Champions in March, which is one helluva layoff when you are world champion and ranked number two.

He said he felt nervous because he had never played Grant before and therefore did not know what to expect.
"But I relaxed in the second games and was happy with my length. I like this new glass court because it rewards good shots. The floor is better than the ASB court for me. All I have to do now is get some match fitness," he told me after his 15-9, 15-6, 15-9 victory over Grant.

FIRST ROUND BOTTOM HALF

Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Joe Kneipp (AUS) 9-15,10-15, 15-11, 15-16, 15-12 (85 mins)
Jonathon Power (CAN) bt Nick Taylor (ENG) 15-5, 15-6, 15-12 (53 mins)
Lee Beachill (Eng) bt Mark Chaloner (ENG) 15-8, 15-7, 15-14 (50mins)
David Palmer (AUS) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 15-9, 15-6, 15-9 (46 mins)

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