Gregory Gaultier was on fire tonight against Anthony Ricketts. photo © 2006 Debra Tessier. more photos

WHO WILL BLINK FIRST?

[The Draw]
Tonight was a night when Gregory Gaultier showed his full potential, James Willstrop showed his sportsmanship, Jonathon Power exhibited his sense of humor and David Palmer fell prey to the bad air of New York.

It was Gaultier's night and his foil was Australian Anthony Ricketts.

Their second round match was a full demonstration of the high level of play and parity in PSA squash in 2006.  It wasn't that Ricketts played badly – he played well, but Gaultier played better. There were few cracks in the Frenchman's game tonight.

Gaultier was relaxed, patient, creative and demonstrative, all at the same time.  In short, his game was on fire, his showmanship was on target, and the result was a win and a resounding ovation from the enthusiastic crowd of 400.

With Anthony Ricketts and Gregory Gaultier taking the court, you know that one or the other of them has an even chance succumbing to a loss of focus.

Ricketts, who plays an extremely intense version of squash, seemed to become more and more wound up from that moment. photo © 2006 Debra Tessier.

Today, it was Anthony Ricketts who blinked first. And it was forced by Gaultier's pressure. Gaultier played such even controlled squash from the outset, that after several extremely long and evenly played points, he forced an initial error  from Ricketts.  Anthony Ricketts, who plays an extremely intense version of squash, seemed to become more and more wound up from that moment.

The match began with Gaultier showing that he was going to make Anthony Ricketts work hard from the word go.  It was a cross court battle for much of the first two games.  Gaultier  was in no mood to give the ball to Ricketts on the forehand, where Ricketts could unleash his powerful drives and kills.

Gregory Gaultier was taking the speed off of Ricketts drives, returning them at measured pace, making it difficult for Ricketts to develop the pace he preferred.

When given the chance, Ricketts produced some ferocious pace on the forehand, some attacking drives and well placed forehand drops, all of which kept Gaultier scrambling and moving.  Ricketts won a number of points, but not enough, in the first and second games.

Anthony Ricketts forced Gaultier to every corner of the court. Gaultier didn't panic, retrieving almost every ball and winning the first at eight.

In the second, Ricketts, with some cause, questioned several of the refereeing calls, but kept himself under control. Again though, Gaultier was patient, moving effortlessly and playing error free squash.

Ricketts was making Gaultier work extremely hard, and In the third game that hard work showed, with suddenly a string of unforced errors by Gaultier giving Ricketts a lead that he didn't relinquish.

A SCINTILLATING RALLY

In the fourth game, though, Gaultier played scintillating squash.  There was almost nothing that Ricketts could do.  The killer was a  monumental and memorable rally at 3-0 in favor of Gaultier, which ended with Ricketts hitting a shot across the middle of the court, which Gualtier volleyed behind his back, playing an unplayable shot deep  to the forehand court.  Gaultier and the crowd erupted together.

Ricketts wasn’t through – on the next serve, Ricketts took the serve, volleying to the nick. It seemed he had stopped Gaultier’s momentum.  But now Gaultier was confident, on fire and totally on.  Gaultier was relaxed, in the groove, and able to control the ball from any position with his racquet in front of him or behind, balanced or unbalanced. It was all Gaultier from here on out, as he ran out the fourth game, startlingly giving up only one point all game to the world # 4 player.

BOSWELL MAKES NICOL WORK

Stewart Boswell made Peter Nicol run and stretch and run some more. photo © 2006 Debra Tessier.

The minute Peter Nicol gets on court in Grand Central, it brings flashbacks to the great duels between Nicol and Power at this venue.  And Nicol looks as fit as ever, though tonight Stewart Boswell made Nicol run and stretch and run some more.  The match was much closer than the scoreline indicates.  It was a race against time for Nicol.  The question was, would Boswell be able to keep Nicol out on court long enough to tire him out.  And the answer was no. And the reason largely was the front right corner of the court where Nicol was able to catch Boswell time and time again either out of position or with just a little to far to stretch.

PALMER STOPPED BY HIS SINUSES
David Palmer was suffering from the time he arrived in New York with a sinus infection. He had struggled through his first round match, but today, with his sinuses still bothering him and his medication doing strange things to his body, Palmer had to give up halfway  through the third game. 

"My sinuses have been bad from the moment I arrived in New York. I hate to give in or lose - but the medication I was given for the sinus problem left me feeling really weak tonight," Palmer said.

He now has to face the long flight back to Australia to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.

POWER IS PHILOSOPHICAL

Alex Gough built up a lead in the second game against Jonathon Power. photo © 2006 Debra Tessier.

The matchup between Power and Alex Gough was a mismatch on paper.  But Alex Gough, who has been playing extremely solidly for the past season and a half, wasn't giving anything away to Jonathon Power tonight.

At the outset, it looked like Power wanted to use this session to work on his forehand drop.  He kept pushing that shot, and seemed dissatisfied with the results.

But he scored enough points to win the first game. It was in the second when things began to get somewhat chippy.

"He seemed to have a strategy of leaning on me to try to distract me today." Jonathon said. "It worked – I got distracted and I was playing horribly".

Gough built up a lead in the second game, and was on the verge of the game at 10-7, when Power turned on his shooting afterburners.  A devastating drop shot, an unreturnable low cross court attacking shot,  and another short slice and the game was tied up. Power recovered to take the second.

The third game devolved into a  minuet of lets, strokes, non-strokes and blocks.  After a few decisions that left Jonathon quizzical, he became philosophical. 

Jonathon came out of the court and said, after a let was awarded, "OK, I set him up perfectly, I’m ready to hit the winning drop.  Tell me what to do now?   I don’t know what to do. Please tell me?"

But it was all delivered with a sense of humor, and Power won over the crowd if not the referee.

"I have a day to rest. Today was terrible. Hopeful I can get my best game back by Wednesday," Power said.

THIS TIME IT'S MATTHEW'S DAY

Too bad the crowd had dwindled to barely 100 by the time the last match of the evening came on. They missed a great show.

I am more impressed with James Willstrop every time I see him play. This time he got to demonstrate to the audience how to handle a loss.  He didn’t have his best game nor the best result, but he  battled intelligently and hard and exhibited the best of sportsmanship in the face of a disappointing outing.

Willstrop and Nick Matthew rejoined the battle which they last left in Chicago. In January in Chicago, Willstrop and Matthew had battled through an electric five games. The edge had gone to Willstrop in the fifth – but just.

Tonight the squash was every bit as high quality, every bit as exciting. Each moved well, each moved the other. Each attacked whenever the opportunity presented.

As in Chicago, the match seemed quite streaky – first Willstrop would win three or four points, then Matthew would pull even.

The difference was that this time Willstrop was just the slightest bit off and Matthew just the slightest bit more comfortable with his front game. So the edge turned slightly for Matthew.

The second game was the turning point.  They tied it up at eight and then produced a series of terrific and entertaining  rallies, which ended in two inopportune tins for Willstrop at 12-12, giving Matthew the game, and given his level of play, an insurmountable lead.

TOC New York 2006
Results, Second Round
[12] Karim Darish (EGY) def [1] David Palmer (AUS) 11-8 11-6 -9-6 ret.
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) def [15] Graham Ryding (CAN) 7-11 11-4 11-6 11-3
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) def [13] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-6 6-11 11-5 11-4
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) def [10] John White (AUS) 11-7 11-7 11-7
[7] Peter Nicol (ENG) def [14] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-5 11-5 11-8
[11] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def [4] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-8 11-7 8-11 11-1
[9] Nick Matthew (ENG) def [6] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-9 11-10 (4-2) 11-8
[2] Jonathon Power (CAN) def [16] Alex Gough (WAL) 11-8 11-10 (2-0) 11-7

The WISPA players are ready to take the glass court tomorrow for the first round . photo © 2006 Debra Tessier. more photos