Qatar Classic 2001 - Fitz-Gerald Dominant


SquashTalk > Qatar Classic 2001, Doha, Qatar > Sarah Fitz-Gerald wins Qatar

Qatar 2001 PSA Draw/Results WISPA Draw Reports Qualifiers Day One Day Two Round of 16 Quarters Semis Finals PSA Profiles WISPA Profiles WISPA Day 1 WISPA Quarters WISPA Semis WISPA Finals Walkers Notebook: One Two Three Four	*Sarah Fitz-Gerald Dominates* Oct 8, Finals at Doha Qatar		Squashtalk Pro Squash Headlines Event Engine Squash: Tourney of Champs US Open YMG Capital Classic World Men's Open Qatar Classic Cathay Pacific Superseries Qatar Masters '02 British Open Pakistan Open Macau Open Melbourne 01 Al Ahram Video recordings Player profiles Rankings Calendar

	Fitz-Gerald without Rival by Ron Beck, Oct 82001 Special to SquashTalk, © 2001 [Qatar completed draw] Sarah Fitz-Gerald (1) (AUS) bt Leilani Joyce (2) (NZ) 9-0 9-2 9-1 (27 minutes) Sarah Fitz-Gerald proved today what we have known for the past year --- a Sarah Fitz-Gerald back in health and back in shape is a whirlwind on the court. Bring on the hurricane shelters for her opponents. Fitz-Gerald easily snagged the high-profile Qatar Classic title, surrendering only 13 points over the entire tournament, against top-flight competition. Fitz-Gerald has four strong advantages in her corner: Power, agility, fitness, and her mental approach. The only one of the four which shows moments of weakness --- the mental aspect --- surfaced in Hong Kong, when she surrendered the Cathay Pacific Open to Leilani Joyce. This week, clearly focused on atoning for that blemish in her 2000 competition record, Fitz-Gerald approached her match with Joyce with a vengeance, especially after Joyce remarks to the local press intimating that she felt ready to take on Fitz-Gerald. What Fitz-Gerald showed was a level of superiority over her closest rival that was almost embarassing. Fitz-Gerald needs a foil. It looks too easy for her. In four "world champion challenge" exhibitions against former world Champion Cassie Campion, Fitz-Gerald looked completely dominating. Now against Joyce, Fitz-Gerald exhibited domination as well. Fitz-Gerald must be thinking back to the rivalry she shared with Michelle Martin, that ended with Martin's retirement after the world open in Seattle two years ago (won by Cassie Campion, with Fitz-Gerald out with a knee injury at that juncture.) Carol Owens, the world #3 who most closely matches Fitz-Gerald in the agility and fitness departments, will now need to step up in Melbourne. Melbourne is also Owens' home town, though Owens has forsaken her Australian flag to play for New Zealand. Fitz-Gerald defeated Owens at the British Open in June, though Owens extended the straight-game match to 52 minutes, and pressed Fitz-Gerald at all times. Joyce also needs to regroup and develop a strategy for Melbourne. Joyce, whose reach and accuracy are her strongest weapons, experiences difficulty against Fitz-Gerald whenever Fitz-Gerald can keep her off balance and in the rear of the court, as she so simply demonstrated in Qatar on Monday. Fitz-Gerald told SquashTalk: "Since returning to the World Tour last year following surgery on my left knee, I have trained harder than at any time in my career. Reclaiming the World No1 ranking and winning today has given me tremendous confidence going in to the World Championships next week but my goal has always been to win in Melbourne and I am 100% focussed on trying to win the title in front of my home supporters." All three now move on to Melbourne and have a week to prepare.

COLLEGE USA Schedules Team previews DEPARTMENTS Latest news Tournament Calendar Bronstein Global Gallery Player of the month Videos History Pakistan Squash School Squash Camp Index Features Index Player Profiles Worldwide Clubs Worldwide Links Rankings Jobs More Good stuff: About Squash Just starting Books Juniors Squash Women's Squash Regional Reports


		Squashtalk.com All materials © 1999-2003. Communicate with us at info@squashtalk.com. Published by Squashtalk LLC, 95 Martha's Point Rd. Concord MA 01742 USA, Editor and Publisher Ron Beck, Graphics editor Debra Tessier Send comments, ideas, contributions and feedback to the webmaster. Copyright © 1999-2003 SquashTalk, all rights reserved, may not be reproduced in any form except for one-time personal use.