GRINHAM WAS GREAT BUT DAVID WAS STRONGER

Rachael  Grinham started the final as she left off in the semi-final – supremely confident and wonderfully creative.  No other player on the circuit plays the game she plays and  the slow-starting  Nicol David had no answer to the drops, lobs half-volleys  and effortless ball control.

When Grinham went 3-0 up on some woeful mistakes by David, it looked as though she would be taking the trophy home again. But  Nicol settled down very slowly and tried to play herself in by elongating the rallies.  She still seemed slow to the front and her racket work was less than her best. Grinham was still in control and David was doing a lot of work to stay with her and the constant pressure from Grinham’s meticulous placement was forcing more errors from the Malaysian. The play resembled  a wise old teacher demonstrating the art of timing and placement to an eager but inept student.

Rachael Grinham held the early advantage. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.

The key ( turning) point for me was when Nicol, trailing 3-7, not only stayed in a long  rally that had both players visiting all parts of the court, but started to dictate in  a very minor way. The engine had finally warmed up and the oil had reached all the moving parts.

David won that point with  a backhand boast, beautifully disguised to leave Grinham flatfooted on the T.  Grinham went on to win the long 17-minutes game 9-4, but the important point is that she had worked nearly as hard as  David, who had made seven errors.

Nicol ended  the first rally of the second game by hitting the ball out of court  but then Grinham did the same thing on the second rally.  Grinham started to take control again and went to a 4-2 lead despite 20% of the lights going black. The players stopped for a couple of minutes and then decided that they could still play in the light that remained.

David  was now beginning to get to the front quicker and she was picking up all  Grinhams drops. Suddenly she was  volleying more and from 3-5 down the match turned in no uncertain way as Grinham committed four unforced errors in the next six rallies.

There was a standoff with David leading 6-5 as the serve changed hands  five times before David could get the seventh point with a fine lob that died at the back of the court. David was impudently taking a leaf out of Grinham’s book and giving the Cairo-based native some of her own medicine.

Nicol David took over midway through the second game. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.

David was attacking more, she was more precise and the errors had disappeared. She took the last two points with a fine length and a backhand drop to win 9-5 after 18 hard – and intelligent minutes.

Nobody was prepared for what happened next. And I can put it in just a few words: Grinham was pooped. David took the third and fourth games  in just 13 minutes. And Grinham did not get a point. 

The 54 minute match had shown again what a terrific squash brain Nicol David has and what a tremendous fighter she is.

The first WISPA event in Hyderabad. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.

“I wasn’t nervous,” claimed David, “she was just playing so well. I realized that I had to get faster  and get in front of her. I had to get her out of her comfort zone. I started to copy her when I realized that the ball was not bouncing at the back of the court so I started to lob her. I used the volley to  put pressure on her and then in the third game I started moving faster – I was faster at the end than I was at the beginning.”

As for Grinham, sister Natalie said that she had not seen Rachael play that well since she was moving up to number one.

“She got tired because she has not been pushed that hard for a long time and so she just didn’t have the fitness,” Natalie added.

Rachael said that she very happy with the way she played but  having to beat Tania Bailey and her sister before the final was hard going.

I sit here writing this as the fireworks are going off, detonating within feet of my back and I begin to feel like a war correspondent in Iraq. It has been an all-round success and you can be sure that  we’ll all be back next year.

NOTE: I was not involved in an auto accident and  not one mosquito got a piece of me. I thank you all for your prayers.

QATAR AIRWAYS CHALLEGE
Final
[1] Nicol David (MAS)   bt  [2] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 4-9, 9-5,9-0,9-0  (54 mins)

                    [Main Draw]

The new ASB tour court with class floor innovation. Photo 2006 © Alex Wan.