It will be Grinham vs Grinham
April 7, 2005, WISPA News
SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2005 all Rights Reserved;

Plaza of the Americas. (photo: © 2005 Debra Tessier)

Ask any top sportsman or woman and they will tell you that timing is everything. They may be referring to stroke production but the same holds true for preparation………and in this respect Natalie Grainger’s timing was horribly off.

She had looked less than convincing in reaching the quarter finals of the Texas Open and when she took to the glass court against third seed Natalie Grinham there was little spark. It could be seen in her face and her play. Although she had beaten Grinham 3/0 in the last eight of the Kuwait Open a month ago there seemed no prospect of a repeat this time.

Grinham was clearly adopting a different approach in Dallas than she had I the Gulf. Then she had played defensively allowing her opponent to set the agenda. This time from the moment the racket had been spun she was attacking.

Although Grainger has racketwork to die for, Grinham was relentless in chasing down every ball, hustling for points and generally acting like a wasp that simply will not be dislodged from circling. Too often Grainger dominated a rally only to lose it at the end with a frustrated tin. Too often, Grainger could only turn away wondering why she was not doing better.

Natalie Grinham chased down everything Natalie Grainger could muster.(photo: © 2005 Debra Tessier)

The answer emerged after she had been beaten 3/0. "I got carried away last week and simply overtrained. Things were going so well I couldn’t bring myself to stop." She said. "Mind you, Natalie was playing very well and was very quick" she added. Not tapering off properly had left her step too slow tonight.

Unfortunately poorly executed peaking!

The lunchtime crowd had only one match to enjoy as their pastramis on rye were munched and lattes sipped as Jenny Tranfield was forced to concede her tie to the older Grinham. She had felt ankle tendon twist in a way that they are not designed to when sent the wrong way during the first game of her match against Shelley Kitchen the night before. While she managed to ignore it and complete the win, morning practice indicated that all was not right – a diagnosis confirmed by the England Squash physio who prescribed a few days rest to settle it down.

So, a sister act in the semi finals; something that has occurred fairly regularly. Indeed in this event two years ago on the same court Natalie registered her first ever win against Rachael. Strangely though, the last time they played a WISPA Tour final was over four years ago, a fact explained away by Natalie, "Whenever we are in different halves of the draw one or both of us stuffs it up!"

Vicky Botwright controlled the match against Nicol David. (photo: © 2005 Debra Tessier)

As the last vestiges of sun dropped away the second set of semis began with fourth seed Nicol David was pitted against Vicky Botwright who has become a solid top ten member in recent months. Sporting a skirt and large bruised thigh in matching black.

David had been on-form, winning the Kuwait Open last month, but on-form bowed to on-fire. Gone were Botwright's tentative strokes, present were an array of tight drops and strong volleys. She raced ahead with David seemingly not settled, took the first and then held her own as David began to strike the ball with a little more conviction and fewer bemused shakes of her head. When Botwright took the second with a straight drop that David couldn't quite prise away the side wall it still seemed likely that there was going to be more episodes in the series. Yet the fightback never materialised. David was demoralised and Botwright not faltering. Had the Malaysian won the second there was a lingering thought that she may have eased herself back into contention, but the supposition was not tested.

With a whoop Botwright saluted her success and left the court to put ice back on her thigh. David wandered away wondering how it had all gone so wrong. When asked this very question she mustered up the thought that she hadn't focused properly and fed her opponent too much. "She stopped me playing my game and she didn't make many errors. She deserved it," David said.

Botwright, ectsatic about having unexpectedly made the last four, was reliving the uncharacteristic lack of fightback from her opponent. "Nicol has a tendency to be down in games then win them. Maybe this court suited me better as it holds a shot," she said before celebrating with a trip to watch the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.

Linda Elriani and Vanessa Atkinson gave it their all in a top notch quarter final match. (photo: © 2005 Debra Tessier)

The final match was all that was expected from an on-song Linda Elriani and top performing Vanessa Atkinson. Both blended lobs with volley boasts to stretch their opponent and slotted in telling drives to further their aim of leaving their opponent in a corner. Very little changed throughout the high quality match. Atkinson took the first, but Elriani got away in the second, Atkinson regained the initiative in the third. The crowd simply enjoyed the fare.

However, in the fourth game Elriani was able to dictate the play more, sending the world champion back and dropping well. Taking it she levelled the scores to send the match into a decider. Here positions were reversed as Atkinson piled on the first four points. A moment of concern as she started hobbling was resolved by a little flexing and Atkinson resumed the fight; and battle it really was. Elriani picked up points, wiped her handle on her waistband towel and dragged herself back into contention, but two overhead attacking boasts and an Elriani tin took the second seed to match ball. This was saved, as was the next, but at the third time of asking Atkinson crept home at the end of the rollercoaster ride.

“My lapses of concentration were ridiculous! Linda was so on top when I did and played really good squash," Atkinson said after. Meanwhile Elriani was philosophical in defeat knowing that her solid run of form was continuing. "I’m really enjoying playing again even though I lost today. I just want to keep it going--ideally right through to the Commonwealth Games," she said. This leaves a semi final menu of a Grinham match up followed by Atkinson against Botwright looking for the chance to play the winner.

TEXAS OPEN

QUARTER FINALS – 7 APRIL 2005

Rachael Grinham (Aus) (1) beat Jenny Tranfield (Eng) (8) walkover
Natalie Grinham (Aus) (3) beat Natalie Grainger (USA) (6) 9/3 9/5 9/4 (36m)
Vicky Botwright (Eng) (7) beat Nicol David (Mas) (4) 9/1 9/7 9/2 (35m)
Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) (2) beat Linda Elriani (Eng) (5) 9/3 1/9 9/5 0/9 9/6 (51m)

Note: Matches use the WSF 9 point traditional hand-out scoring, with a 1 or 2 point tiebreaker at 8-8.

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