Womens World Open Squash - Belfast Northern Ireland

DAVID AND GRINHAM SHOW STYLE AND CLASS
It was one of those rare days in squash when both semi-finals were worth watching and both for different reasons. They had two things in common: both featured a Grinham and lasted around threequarters of an hour.

First up was the upset player Natalie Grainger facing Natalie Grinham and they put on a show of pure skill and creativity that was sheer joy to watch. Indeed by the time the match had finished you might have thought they were playing for the prize of who could hit the most drop shot winners from the back of the court. In 30 years of watching squash I have never seen so many winners fired from the back of the court on both sides.

The word fearless comes to mind. Despite the final score this was a meeting of equals; both players started little nervously and the tension was clear to see on their faces.

After nine short rallies the score was still 1-0 for Grinham, so no indications here. Then the match started in earnest and the rallies, for the most part, consisted of three or four length-shots from each player before one of them went short. They could both hit fine length and perfect cross-courts but they seemed to relish the chance to go for the winner. The front left corner will soon need replacing after the battering it got from both players. Grinham likes to shape for a backhand drive only to deliver a sly cross- court. It was amazing how many times she sent Grainger the wrong way. On the other hand Grainger likes the soft cross-court at the front of the court and she too mined that profitably.

As usual it was Grainger who made more errors but at 1-3, hit her stride as the winners hit the nick or found Grinham just a yard short. Now Grainger was 4-3 ahead and in my mind was ready to take over the game and possibly the match, so good was her control. But then she hit the ball out of court; Grinham earned her fourth point with one of her precise forehand drops and then Grainger lost it as three more errors helped to put Grinham at game ball. The final point was a stroke and Grinham had the first game.

Grainger, because of her new fitness level, is more confident and this showed from the start of the second game. They were both now thoroughly dug in and the next 17 minutes was worth the trip over the Irish Sea(and all the bloody rain). The rallies were short but potent – there was simply no way of predicting what shot would come next and they fired the ball – and each other – all over the court. Grinham was fast and nimble and while Grainger is no slouch, she can still be caught out by the unexpected boast or wrong-way drop.

Grainger led 4-2 and looked ready to dominate (again!) but Grinham played her way back to tie the game at 4-4 and then 5-5 when they went toe-to-toe with the serve changing hands four times before Grinham surprised Grainger with a forehand cross-court cut which Grainger thought was going to be a straight drive. Then a stroke put her at 7-5. Grainger came straight back at her with a lovely backhand boast and a backhand crosscourt slam that almost broke the front wall. It was 7-7 and they stayed at that score for another six rallies. It was Grainger’s turn to break the impasse and another of her glorious backhand volley drops hit the nick to put her at game ball 8-7. Grinham, looking no more tired than when the match started coolly hit a backhand volley drop to get serve back and then the same shot ended the next rally as it hit the tin.

Once again Grainger served for the game; this was an important point- if she won it, the match was tied and they started the third almost like starting the match again. But she spoiled her own party by hitting the tin with her favourite volley drop. Grinham then took the next three points, the last a long backhand drop that left Grainger standing on the T, and the seventeen minute game was over 10-8 for Grinham.

This was a blow for Grainger. She said later that she felt that she deserved that second game and Grinham had snatched it away, that if she had won it, things would have been different. She showed no signs of distress in the third game and showed she still had bags of fight in turning –1-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Her ability to hit a string of winners is a powerful weapon, but a player can only do that every so often.

From 6-6 Grinham, still very composed, still very agile, still very confident, hit a forehand drive, then earned a penalty stroke to reach match ball. It was here that Grainger tried one winner too many and instead of waiting for the right moment, went for a forehand low drive which clanged the tin. The match was over and they both deserved the applause that followed them off the court.

Grainger told the press later that she was delighted to be back contesting at the top level and being fit and after a break in her native South Africa over Christmas, will be back in the States contesting two tournaments in the new year. She is continuing her fitness regime and says she has two more titles she wants to win before she retires. I hope her matches are captured on film, they will show one of the best shotmakers the women’s game has seen.

THE TOTALLY AMAZING, INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLE NICOL DAVID

And I mean every word. This diminutive Malysian woman may well turn out to be the greatest of them all. She is, remember, still only 23 years old and with due respect to the other players, she has outstripped them all over the court. What struck me most today was her remarkable speed. Rachael Grinham is a very shrewd player and can send the best of them the wrong way. She sent David the wrong way on a number of occasions but David is so fast she can change directions in a flash and still get the ball back. There were recoveries that had the spectators gasping with her speed and agility but also her ability to play an offensive shot even at full stretch.

After a while you could feel sorry for Grinham. What did she have to do to catch this small bolt of lightning on the wrong foot?

David did not start well- the first game was barely three shots old and she hit the tin with a forehand volley. Although she then went to a 3-0 lead, there followed a string of errors. In fact trailing 3-7 she had hit seven unforced errors. But that stopped right there and then. A crosscourt that died in the back corner got her back in the service box and from that moment on she never hit another error as she ran the game out 9-7. It had taken 18 minutes, which indicated that the rallies were longer and this was an entirely different style of squash to the first semi-final. Lots of length, Grinham’s fine control of the crosscourt lobs and David’s ability to get everything back ensured that there were no short rallies.

David was in overdrive for the second game and there simply was nothing that Grinham could do to find a winner. She served four times and managed just one point as David denied her even a smell of of victory. It was obvious at this point that David would be in the final facing her opponent’s youngest sister.

The third game went the same way as the second and with the same score. It wasn’t a walkover - it lasted 13 minutes, longer than most games in the tournament – but Grinham had to give way to an opponent who is six years younger than her and who would probably have been prepared to run for another two hours if the need arose.

And so we look forward to a final between two small players who are both agile, fast and fit. I shall be very disappointed if it turns out to be anything other than memorable.

WOMEN'S WORLD OPEN
SEMI FINALS

[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 9-7 9-1 9-1 (46m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [14] Natalie Grainger (USA) 9-4 10-8 9-6 (45m)

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