(updated 28-jan-10 22:12 )    [DRAW/RESULTS]   

Willstrop Reclaims the Top of the Pyramid

James Willstrop Rules the TOC at Grand Central in New York. photo © 2010 Rob White Photography.

James Willstrop is back to where he should be: at the top of the pyramid. This incredibly talented (and incredibly tall) Englishman has put a year of mediocre results (caused by a troublesome ankle) behind him and today demonstrated to a packed Vanderbilt Hall crowd in Grand Central Terminus just how very good he is by beating the Egyptian marvel and world number one Ramy Ashour in comprehensive fashion.

These two electrifying players produced 49 minutes of squash that cannot be bettered by any two players alive today. Between them they have cornered the market in original shots  and can give masterclasses in the traditional racket arts.  Both of them can do so much with a flick of the wrist that you feel that all the other players watching them would happily snap their rackets in half and take up macramé.

At the beginning of the week I said that any one of the top eight players could win; just look at the winners of the last six major tournaments and you will see different names on the cup.  I would venture to suggest that few people would have put money on Willstrop, who had to play Amr Shabana, Karim Darwish and Ramy Ashour  - to win this tournament. That is the entire Egyptian national squash team. 

While it is true that  Shabana and Darwish did not really test Willstrop, maybe his strategy and accuracy took the heart out of them.  Because finally tonight, that is what Willstrop did to  Ashour: he had an answer for everything that Ashour tried. Yes, the charismatic Egyptian had his share of backhand cross court winners but nowhere near enough and the stats would probably reveal that he lost as many points with that shot as the ball hit the tin. But then Willstrop can also hit winners. His trademark shot is a drop volley as the ball leaves the front wall. He must have played that shot ten times tonight and each time Ashour found the ball resting in the nick, unplayable.

Ashour is a confidence player; as he showed yesterday against Nick Matthews. When his game is working and his shots disappearing down the nick,  his confidence rises, his arm relaxes and he is almost unbeatable.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Ashour started with that brio in the first game to fashion a 6-3 lead and then got a lucky bounce at the back wall to lead 7-4 and the signs for Willstrop were ominous. But this was in the first three minutes and Willstrop played his way back into the game with a strategy that he maintained throughout the match. Yes, keeping it tight, but also going for his shots  at the right time.

(For Ashour’s benefit that should be in capitals: AT THE RIGHT TIME).

All the players know that Ashour gets  many of his winners in the right front corner. Few seem to do anything with that knowledge. Willstrop did and he was onto that ball in a flash. The real object when playing Ashour  is to keep the ball away from his backhand. If you have to play the ball down the left wall keep it very high or very low. This Willstrop did with meticulous discipline, gaining valuable points on the low balls as Ashour went for the backhand drop and found the tin. The high lobs were pretty good too: Ashour was unable to get one point from his overhead backhand flick, a shot that helped to undo Matthew yesterday.

This first game turned into fine drama as Willstrop worked his way back to tie the game  at 9-9, the last two points coming from a forehand drop and a beautiful backhand volley drop.  Ashour replied with  a backhand drop of his own to get to game ball and then undid the good work with another backhand drop into the tin.
At 10-10 all it was still difficult to call the winner, but Willstrop’s strategy of low cross court slams, sometimes with a wicked hold before the racket whooshed through the air, were  a valuable part of his game.  It got him to 11-10 and when Ashour ended the next rally with an overhead drop into the tin, the die was cast. Willstrop wins, 12-10 in 12 minutes.  That 12 minutes seemed like a lifetime.

The second game also last 12 minutes but it seemed like six.  Willstrop came out full of confidence while Ashour was shaky. He had never had real problems beating Willstrop even when he was just out of the  juniors, and now he was being out -thought and outshot. Ashour was being dominated and he was quickly 1-5 down as he  tried to impose his game of winners on proceedings with the predictable results  - the sound of rubber ball on tin. It was only  then  he started to play longer rallies and  used length  to play himself back in but Willstrop’s discipline and iron hard determination was impenetrable and while  Ashour made some inroads , Willstrop maintained his lead.  At 8-4 Willstrop found the ball sitting up for him at the front right corner, he feinted a shot and then BANG! a rocket-like cross court slam. Ashour had seen it before and raced to the back left corner, reached in and hit a winning boast while facing the back wall. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it.

That give Ashour his 5th point in the game – and his last as Willstrop  got an easy stroke to get to 9-5 and  was gifted the final  two points with Ashour errors.

WILLSTROP TIRING?

Willstrop was two games up and looking good. Ashour started the third game with an error as he attempted a long drop from the back of the court, but then  controlled his instincts to put Willstrop under pressure  to lead 6-2.  Was Willstrop tiring? Had the effort of the first two games been too much? Willstrop answered those  questions as  hit a deeply cut backhand cross court to start his come-back,  then two identical forehand cross court slams, followed by a tight forehand to get back to 6-6. An error put Ashour ahead again and then a huge rally, all over the court, slams drops lobs, unbelievable retrievals but in the end it was Willstrop who had the last word. Psychologically damaging to Ashour who usually has the last word with a winner.

And so they fought to 9-9 and another huge rally, this time won by Ashour as Willstrop’s forehand hit the tin. Finally,  Ashour’s signature shot, the backhand cross court into the nick, was successful and the Egyptian had the game. 11-9.

WILLSTROP’S WONDRFUL WINNERS
 Nobody would have predicted what happened in the fourth.  Willstrop simply ran away with the game, four wonderful winners gave him a 7-1 lead. He teased Ashour at the front right corner with feather drop on feather drop, an outrageous plan against someone like Ashour, but this was Willstrop’s day and he knew it. He could do as he bloodywell liked and nobody on the planet could stop him. Ashour  realized, as we all did, that  even he could not come back from that deficit and within  seven minutes the game was over with a Willstrop forehand volley drop, 11-3 to seal a momentous, if not historic victory 3/1.

I wrote many years ago that I thought Willstrop was the most talented player to come out of Britain and tonight he proved me right. This victory will give him back the confidence that had been draining away as he fought the ankle injury.  By the end of this year he will be fighting Ashour and Nick Matthew for the number one spot. This is going to be one helluva year for the PSA.

JP MORGAN TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS 2010
FINAL   [Complete Draw and Results]

[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt  [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 12-10 11-5 9-11 11-3