Vanessa Outlasts Local Pro Geaves
Oct 28 2005, by Rob Dinerman      [Weymuller Main Draw]   [Weymuller photos]
Squashtalk Independent News; © 2005 SquashTalk LLC

Weymuller 05 photos by Stockton Photo Inc.

Trailing first one game to love and then two games to one, top seed Vanessa Atkinson came on like the World Open champion she is by roaring past her valiant but ultimately overwhelmed 37-year-old opponent Fiona Geaves in by far the most exciting match of last night's opening round in the Carol Weymuller Invitational in Brooklyn Heights. Geaves, who recently joined the coaching staff of the host Heights Casino club, was supported throughout by a raucous crowd of the club's large junior program (as was also true of Geaves's Heights Casino colleague Meredeth Quick), but Atkinson nevertheless imposed her game and won going away.

Atkinson's determined charge through the 9-2, 0-0 closing laps has earned her a spot in the quarterfinals, where she will play eighth seed Isabelle Stoehr, who won in straight games in her first-round encounter against qualifier Lauren Briggs in a match in which both players were so similarly clad (in gray shorts and shirts) that they more closely resembled a doubles team than opponents battling for a spot in the quarters of an important WISPA tournament.

In fact, every match other than Atkinson-Geaves went the three-game minimum, with the seeds handily prevailing in almost all cases, the lone exception being seventh seed Annelize Naude's ouster at the hands of Alison Waters, who jumped out early and never looked back in claiming a 9-6, 2 and 5 victory over n opponent ranked two spots ahead of her on the current WISPA list. The other results were second seed and reigning British Open champion Nicol David over Melissa Martin, one of four qualifiers none of whom survived last night's round of 16 action; sixth seed Shelley Kitchen over a pardonably tired Amelia Pittock, who had weathered a fierce five-game struggle with Laura Lengthorne in Wednesday night's final-round qualifying match; fourth seed Vicky Botwright over Rebecca Chiu; third seed and 2005 British Open finalist Natalia Grinham over Quick; and Jenny Duncalf over U. S. champion Latasha Khan.

The latter earned early-game leads in all three frames, but in each case a strong mid-game surge by Duncalf put her too far ahead for a late Khan rally to catch her. Both women were hitting their backhand rails beautifully, Duncalf due to her remarkable footwork and balance, while Khan relies more on wonderfully clean wrist action. Khan repulsed three match-balls in the final frame of this 9-4, 5 and 5 tally, moving in fact from 3-8 (after an initial 3-0) to 5-8, but Duncalf hit a beautiful backhand straight-drop winner, then collected a Khan mid-court tin to seal her right to face Grinham this evening.

RESULTS:   Women's Carol Weymuller Squash Open, Heights Casino, New York, USA
[Main Draw]
1st round:
[1] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Fiona Geaves (ENG) 2-9, 9-3, 3-9, 9-5, 9-0
[8] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [Q] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-5, 9-0, 9-5
[3] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt Meredeth Quick (USA)   9-1, 9-1, 9-3
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Latasha Khan (USA) 9-4, 9-5, 9-5
Alison Waters (ENG) bt [7] Annelize Naude (NED)   9-6, 9-2, 9-5
[4] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG)  9-1, 9-0, 9-3
[6] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9-4, 9-2, 9-0
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Melissa Martin (AUS) 9-6, 9-1, 10-8

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