(updated 24-jan-10 7:28 )    [DRAW/RESULTS]

A LOADED BOTTOM HALF OF THE DRAW
Saudi Open finalists Nick Matthew and Ramy Ashour got into action in New York today in first round action. But with many mis-matches in Saturday's first round lineup, in the eight matches played there wasn't all that much to excite the crowd - with the possible exception of the entertaining Colombians. For Matthew, he survived a threat in the first game to coast home into the second round. Ashour eased into the next round in the nightcap.

MATTHEW TIRES CUSKELLY
Nick Matthew was first up, facing Australian qualifier Ryan Cuskelly. Cuskelly surprised Matthew and the audience by solidly taking the first game, and playing Matthew even half way into the second. Cuskelly was looking mobile, accurate and cool. Matthew, to be fair was looking like he was working his way into a comfortable rhythm.

It was half way through the second game that Cuskelly began to learn that fitness at the elite levels of PSA squash is an entirely different animal. While Matthew was looking comfortable and collected - though a bit tentative; Cuskelly was starting to breath hard has Matthew moved him around. At the Midpoint of the game, Cuskelly caught Matthew in the ankle with the ball.  "I was a little flat in the first game and getting hit with the ball, which annoyed me, gave me the fire in the belly I needed to get going," Matthew said.

As Matthew noticeably settled and began taking the open shots to the front, Cuskelly was laboring more and more. He was game but unable to match Matthew in the third. Matthew's magic is that while he is able to make his game appear simple and uniteresting at times, he can explosively attack at the front, and a series of combinations that moved Cuskelly around the court relentlessly, especially forcing him to stretch to the front.

In the fourth, Cuskelly came out renewed, taking a brief early lead, but Matthew made him run some more and Cuskelly was out of gas. Another year or two, and he will be one of those players able to compete at this level.

ROSNER TOO DISCIPLINED FOR LAVIGNE
Renan Lavigne, the quintessential scrambler, likes to introduce some degree of chaos into a match. Simon Rosner likes the TOC court. His length shots hugged the walls - both high and low. His boasts stayed low. Even his round-the-world angle shots worked just right. For Lavigne, Rosner kept this much too under control. Rosner kept a lid on Lavigne, kept Lavigne out of his comfort zone, kept Lavigne stretching.

When Lavigne finally was able to liberate his scramble, and put together some stron points, it was much too late. He came back from match ball at 10-6 in the third to take three solid points in a row, but Rosner stayed patient and took the opening in the third to close out a straight-game win.

Lavigne signalled he may be retiring this season. He commented  "I wasn’t mentally tough today, but I am glad to get play here one last time,

NO PATIENCE FOR JULIAN
America's hope, Julian Illingworth came crashing down to earth in the first round matchup, the 6PM billing at Grand Central.

For Julian it was a head-scratching outing. Illingworth, who has been edging up the rankings tables seems to have taken a step backwards with this high-visibility appearance. Illingworth reported afterwords that he was laboring with a sore wriste. However, given a great draw - against little known qualifier Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland, Illingworth came out in just the wrong frame of mind and with the wrong tactics. He was exhibiting little patience or tactical thinking in his play.

Every time he seemed to be putting together a solid run of points, he would throw in an inexplicable flurry of attempts at outright winners to the front of the court. These, more often than not, either produced outright errors on the part of Illingworth or else put him so far out of position that at one very crucial juncture of the third game - where he had a chance to claw back into the match - he produce the same poor combination of shots three times in a row, forcing himself to play a Mueller length shot off the back wall three times in succession and putting himself in a stroke position three times in a row.

Illingworth has played enough on these glass courts that he should have been able to produce more precise length, rather than many shots that caught the glass and jumped out - especially if his wrist were giving him shotmaking troubles - and should have been much more patient and selective in his attacks to the front.

All the same, he was in a position near the end of the third game to perhaps steal that game and sadly ended his outing with two impatient errors.

GREGORY IN FOCUS
Gregory Gaultier showed his determination to start out the 2010 campaign well, with a highly focused and efficient performance against Alan Clyne of Scotland. Gaultier would outclass Clyne on any day, at this stage of Clyne's development. But with a formidable field later on in the draw, Gaultier was particularly in no mood to waste shots, time or effort this Saturday evening. He played solid, tight squash, showing his respect for the event and the audience, and was off court in barely a half hour..  "I was real excited to come back here to Grand Central," said the world No4.  "After a terrible year end with injuries, I am happy to be playing again, especially in a place where I feel so comfortable."

RAMY PLAYS WELL ENOUGH TO WIN
Ramy started "easy" in his opening match against qualifier Matthieu Castagnet of France. Castagnet was here to take best advantage of his main-stage opportunity in front of a Saturday evening New York crowd and against the number one in the world. Castagnet came out charging, attacking and shooting. To the Frenchman's credit he was at ease, error free and aggressive on the court. However, despite Castagnet taking early leads in the various games tonight, there really wasn't a moment when Ramy Ashour didn't appear in charge and in control of what was happening out there. Ramy seemed to be feeling out the court, feeling out the new season, feeling out his thought processes. When he needed to, he erased several point deficits, seemingly in the blink of an eye, by upping the pace, upping the pressure.

Of course, the top players know that attacking Ramy up front is a strategy fraught with difficulty and risk. Castagnet took just that strategy, to the interest and entertainment of the audience, but not to advances his chances at a win.

Ramy got off court with a comfortable win and a round of 16 date with Nicolas Mueller, a further warmup to a likely fireworks-filled quarterfinal meeting with Gaultier.

ONE GOOD GAME

The intra-Colombian showdown between Bernardo Samper and Miguel Angel Rodriguez was highly anticipated. It wasn't the showdown we had expected. It wasn't close. But it was interesting and exciting, as undisciplined squash often is. These two Colombians, who know each others' games well, had no interest in a conservative approach. It was attack, attack, attack.

After the first game- in which Samper took a big lead and held on to win 13-11, Rodriguez decided he had been too conservative. He started out the second with frequent and immediate attacks to the front. He caught Samper flat-footed with a rapid fire 11-3 second, evening the contest. From there, Samper was constantly on the defensive, trying to catch up to Rodriguez. With the combination of Rodriguez knowing Samper's game, and Samper's inability to slow it down a bit and mix in some basic squash, it was a frenetic race around the court; one which ended in Rodriguez favor too often.

Really, this last contest of the evening was the most interesting one all day, a day of one sided match and shows of dominance. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a few closer matches, but there really are only a few with that potential -- it looks to be the quarterfinals before the fireworks really begin.

RESULTS, 2010 Tournament of Champions, First Round  [Main Draw]

SATURDAY:
Simon Rosner (GER) bt [16] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-6 11-5 11-9
[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 11-9 11-8 11-6 (45m)
[10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) 11-6 11-5 11-3
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 8-11 11-6 11-2 11-7
[Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [15] Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-9 11-7 11-9
[5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-9 11-7 11-5
[14] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Bernardo Samper (COL) 11-13- 11-3 11-9 11-6
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-6 11-4 11-5

ALREADY PLAYED FRIDAY:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Gilly Lane (USA) 11-3 11-3 11-9
[12] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Yasser El Halaby (EGY) 11-7 12-10 11-7
[7] David Palmer (AUS) bt Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) 11-6 11-7 11-3
[Q] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt [11] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-6 11-4 2-11 6-11 14-12
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 12-10 12-10 11-8
[9] Alister Walker (ENG) bt Amr Swelim (ITA)11-9 13-11 12-10
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Shaun le Roux (ENG) 11-7 11-2 11-5
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [13] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-5 11-9 9-11 8-11 11-9