2005 ST LOUIS OPEN
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[The St Louis Open Main Draw]   [Last Friday Report]

FIRST ROUND FROM ST LOUIS

James Willstrop, Amr Shabana, Jonathon Power, David Palmer and Thierry Lincou all rolled over their opponents in the first round of the St Louis Open today. Dutch pro Laurens Jan Anjema scored the upset of the tournament defeating Lee Beachill in straight games.

Lauren Jans Anjema stuck to the business at hand and didn't let Lee Beachill's game intimidate him. [more first round photos] (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier)

DUTCHMAN ANJEMA GETS HUGE WIN
Laurens Jan Anjema, the Dutch #1, has scored a monumental upset win here in the suburbs of St. Louis, soundly knocking world #2, Lee Beachill, out of the St Louis MPM Open in straight games. Anjema, already known to the St. Louis crowd from his entertaining win last night over Mexico's Eric Galvez, took full advantage of his knowledge of the glass court and the conditions after two qualifying matches.

Anjema, who seems to be in full early-season form, just looked fit, focused and sharp from the outset. Despite going up against the world #2, Anjema seemed confident and collected. He pursued a solid game plan of excellent length and width, and sent Beachill to the back of the court frequently with his wide crosscourts. Beachill, who's game is very much dependent on counterpunching, was slightly less sharp than Anjema, and seemed a bit thrown off by Anjema's errorless play.

Once Anjema had achieved a two game to zero advantage, the adrenaline of the moment seemed to be what pulled him through. Beachill, perhaps sensing Anjema's total focus and desire, just couldn't raise his game the the level he needed to put a chink in the Dutchman's armor.

PALMER PEERLESS
David Palmer, facing off against a familiar Australian foe, was all business as he outpointed Stewart Boswell in almost an hour. Despite the three games to zero score, it was a very closely fought and closely contested match. The points were long and tactical, but played very cleanly, with few lets or interferences. Palmer's game was virtually errorfree, as as he appeared to grow stronger, Boswell appeared to run out of ideas and energy tonight.

GIUFFRE BEATS HIMSELF
First up were England's James Willstrop and Canadian qualifier Matt Giuffre. Giuffre who had played well and confidently throughout the qualifying round, presented a different persona on court today. Constantly nervous and on the defensive, Giuffre was unable to put anywhere near the degree of pressure on Willstrop that he would have needed to to make this into a match. In short, Giuffre beat himself. While Willstrop unveiled some of his explosiveness, it was mainly Giuffre's many errors that put Willstrop totally at ease, and allowed Willstrop to move up in the court and be on top of every short ball that Giuffre hit that was not an error. Giuffre, who needed to put on some pressure and extend the points to force Willstrop to show his stuff, was unable to do so and surrendered in a quick 40 minutes.

SHABANA TOO MOBILE FOR RYDING

Amr Shabana was focused on the game today against Graham Ryding. (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier)

Graham Ryding is a famous shotmaker. When's he's on he is very good. When's he's not he often loses quickly. Graham was not on today, and Amr Shabana was focused on the game today and ready to take advantage of Graham's lack of shot selectiveness. In a word, Ryding went short too quickly and too often. Shabana was too fast, and the more Shabana counterpunched Graham's short game, the closer Graham cut his margin of error, and the more errors he committed. In a quick 30 minutes, Shabana, the winner just a few days ago of the Heliopolis event in Egypt, was off court and ready for his second round opponent.

POWER IN CONTROL
In contrast was the totally in-control Jonathon Power. Power, who certainly knows how to manage a tournament appearance, appeared highly motivated to husband his energy and fitness for a likely second round do-or-die matchup with arch rival Peter Nicol. Joe Kneipp, who has the talent and experience to play up to Power's level, is a notoriously slow tournament starter, and coupled with his knowledge that he always has difficulties with Power's style, appeared to cause too much impatience and too many errors. Power, the master of match momentum, wasn't about to let Kneipp get into the flow. In rapid fashion, Kneipp appeared disspirited while Power, in the words of the spectators, was putting on a drama class display. Power was happ to get off court quickly, to rest and plan for his second round match.

St Louis MPM Open, First Round, Saturday Sept 17 2005:

[1] Thierry Lincou def John White 11-6 11-9 11-10(2-0) (44m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) def [Q]Matt Giuffre (CAN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (27m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) def Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-1, 11-9, 11-9 (25m)
[4] Jonathon Power (CAN) def Joe Kneipp (AUS) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NL) def [2] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-9 11-6 11-7 (41m)
[3] Daveid Palmer (AUS) def [Q] Steward Boswell (AUS) 11-10(2-0) 11-6 11-5 (43m)
Anthony Ricketts (AUS) def [WC] Michael Puertas (USA) 11-5 11-1 11-4 (16m)
[5] Peter Nicol (ENG) def [Q] Raj Nanda (AUS) 11-1 11-9 11-9 (32m)

 

[St Louis Open Draw] [more first round photos]

Saturday afternoon shoppers were hanging over the balconies to witness the spectacular squash taking place in what is normally a large fountain pool. (Photo ©2005 Debra Tessier)