David, Atkinson and Grinham Breeze Along
Three upsets marked day one action in the $40,000 Apawamis Open at Rye, New York. Qualifier Engy Kheirallah beat Omneya Abdel Kawy; determined Madeline Perry upset Jenny Duncalf, and veteran 18th ranked Fiona Geaves beat world #5 Vicky Botwright, when she was forced to retire part way through the fifth game.

Engy Kheirallah scored the upset win over Abdel Kawy after qualifying. (photo © 2006, Debra Tessier)

In an all-Egypt contest, 20th ranked Engy Kheirallah won a long see-saw battle with 11th ranked Omneya Abdel Kawy. All smiles off the court, Kheirallah and Abdel Kawy looked decidedly unhappy to be matched up against each other in the first round of this important early-season contest. While Kheirallah was able to muster an intense determination in the face of playing her compatriot, Abdel Kawy looked decidedly disgruntled to be out there.

Abdel Kawy was unhappy with her own play as well. While Abdel Kawy can usually count on her great deception, misdirection plays, and masterful racquet control to gain her an advantage, when facing Kheirallah, who after all is quite familiar with Abdel Kawy's game, the element of surprise is largely absent.

Kheirallah determinedly tracked down Abdel Kawy's short game, pushing Abdel Kawy into an even-more frenzied shooting spree than usual. And each of Abdel Kawy's errors seemed to put her into a darker mood.

When Kheirallah took a 5-0 lead in the fourth game, it looked like Abdel Kawy was going to disinterestedly throw in the towel.

But Omneya is too instictive a competitor for that. Mustering her motivation and resolve, Abdel Kawy ran off a breathtaking series of dead winners to go from 0-5 to 9-5. It looked like Kheirallah had too tough a job to do to regain momentum in the fifth game.

But Kheirallah, who has been looking more and more like a seasoned elite player on each outing, put forth an impressive effort in the fifth game to neutralize Abdel Kawy's shotmaking and force her into longer points. Abdel Kawy even reached match ball with an 8-6 lead, but Kheirallah intensified the pace, lured Abdel Kawy into several inadvised low percentage shots, and walked away with a 10-8 win and a date with Nicol David, who looked smooth and in-control in dispensing with fire-red haired Annelize Naude.

Prior to the Egyptian showdown, English veteran Fiona Geaves advanced past world #5 Vicky Botwright. The two played evenly for four games, but Botwright re-injured a foot at the end of the fourth game and had to retire after one point was played in the fifth game.

There had been a lot of anticipation leading up to the contest between fifth-seed Natalie Grainger and Alison Waters. Waters, who has shot up the WISPA rankings over the past 12 months, however looked nervous and was unable to cope effectively with Grainger's canny use of pace and the court. Any time that Waters was able to wrong foot Grainger, she came away with the point; but Grainger was able to keep Waters enough off balance to keep her from doing much else than chase down Grainger's shots and stay in the points. It was a surprisingly easy win for Grainger.

Also much anticipated was the matchup between friends and sparring partners, Tania Bailey and Dominque Lloyd-Walter. But Bailey came out extremely sharp and focused and Lloyd-Walter was a little off kilter. Though Lloyd-Walter played well and solidly, she was not inspired at the outset. Midway through the second game, Lloyd-Walter did come alive, demonstrating some of her startling natural anticipation and lightning reflexes. But it was too little too late this time around, as Bailey was firmly in control and extremely confident by this point. Bailey couldn't do anything wrong as she subdued Lloyd-Walter in the last match of the day.

The Bailey - Atkinson matchup tomorrow could prove interesting, as will the Grinham - Perry contest.

Apawamis Open 2006
First Round Results:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) def Annelize Naude (NL) 9-3 9-1 9-6
[Q] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) def [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 10-8 3-9 9-1 5-9 10-8
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) def Pamela Nimmo (SCO) 9-4 9-4 9-7
Madeline Perry (IRL) def [8] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 4-9 9-0 9-7 9-7
[5] Natalie Grainger (USA) def Alison Waters (ENG) 9-4 9-3 9-5
[Q] Fiona Geaves (ENG) def [4] Vicky Botwright (ENG) 5-9 7-9 9-7 9-6 9-8 1-0 ret.
[7] Tania Bailey (ENG) def [Q] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 9-2 9-5 9-1
[2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) def [Q] Latasha Khan (USA) 9-7 9-2 9-6

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