Grainger Coasts To Burning River Title
Top seed
Natalie Grainger produced a ruthless performance to beat second seed
Kasey Brown in the final of the Women's National City Burning River
Classic to successfully defend the $27,300 WISPA World Tour
squash title at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland in the US
state of Ohio.
The US
National champion from Washington DC had only lost 11 points coming into the
final and had been in impressive form - as too had her Australian opponent,
who had also yet to drop a game. The pair had never crossed paths before
the Cleveland clash - and it was Grainger who was the first to impose
herself on the match.
Grainger
comfortably took the opening game and, at 8-0 up in the second game, made a
couple of casual errors to give Brown four straight points and a small
glimmer of hope. However, they were to be the last points that the
22-year-old from New South Wales was allowed as Grainger showed no mercy,
winning 9-1, 9-4, 9-0 in just over 20 minutes.
The total
points accumulated by all four of Grainger’s opponents over the course of
the week amounted to just 16 - exactly the same as the world No4 conceded
in last year's final!
The
Cleveland success brings Grainger's WISPA World Tour title tally to 17 - six
of which have been won on 'home soil' since the former English player became
a US citizen just a year ago.
David Fulton,
Chief Executive of Sterling, a National City Company, was on site to present
both players with their cheques. The 2008 champion was also presented with
a diamond Oris watch from Piccione’s jewellers.
Grainger & Brown To Contest Burning River
Final
Top seeds
Natalie Grainger and Kasey Brown will contest the final of the
Women's National City Burning River Classic after securing straight
games wins in the semi-finals of the $27,300 WISPA World Tour squash
event at Cleveland Racquet Club in Cleveland in the US state
of Ohio.
Favourite
Grainger, the US National champion from Washington DC, progressed to the
final for a second straight year by defeating world number 20 Dominique
Lloyd-Walter in devastating fashion. At 9-0 and 7-0 in the second game,
the fourth seed from England looked mightily relieved when she scored her
first point. Grainger was playing with accuracy, power and more importantly
with an aggressive use of the volley.
"Any time
you are just thinking about winning a point, it is never a good sign,"
conceded Lloyd-Walter after the 9-0, 9-1, 9-1 drubbing which took Grainger
into the 35th WISPA Tour final of her career.
Australian
Kasey Brown was the first to make it into the final after a third successive
straight games victory. However, the scoreline didn’t do the match justice
as there were a number of times during the match that the world number 15
seemed to be just hanging in.
The second
seed raced off to a 7-0 lead in the first before English opponent Lauren
Briggs, seeded seven, was able to score a point. The second produced an
incredibly physical battle with both girls retrieving some great pick ups.
The score was tied at 4-4 for several rallies with Briggs working her
opponent around the court but unable to find the finishing ball. A lucky
bounce off the serve gave Briggs a 7-5 lead and it looked as though Brown
was tiring. Even so Brown's retrieving was relentless as she chased down
winner after winner in multiple court sprints. Finally the effort paid off
as Briggs made two errors to the tie the game. A dying length and a volley
winner later, Brown held a valuable 2/0 lead in what was surely the pivotal
point of the match.
Briggs came
out undaunted in the third and moved into a 3-0 lead. The resilient Brown
kept running down shot after shot though not allowing her opponent any cheap
points. Ten minutes later, after a lot of hard earned points from both
players the score was once again tied at 6-6. The crowd could sense if
Briggs could just edge one game the outcome could be very unpredictable, as
Brown looked visibly to be slowing. It was not to be, however, as Brown
progressed to match ball.
The
Australian eventually ended the match with a wrong-footing straight forehand
drive to win 9-1, 9-7, 9-6 in 65 minutes - which means that Brown, now in
her 14th Tour final, has averaged almost an hour a match despite
not dropping a game thus far!
Suzie Stops Stoehr In Cleveland Upset
England's
Suzie Pierrepont pulled off one of the best wins of her life when she
beat third seed Isabelle Stoehr in the opening round of the
Women's National City Burning River Classic to reach the quarter-finals
of the $27,300 WISPA World Tour squash event at Cleveland Racquet
Club in Cleveland in the US state of Ohio.
Stoehr, the 11 times French National champion, started well to win the first
game. But the usually fluent world No19, runner-up twelve months ago,
became increasingly unsettled as the match progressed. Unseeded Pierrepont,
by far the tallest player in the draw, was the benefactor and put in a solid
performance with very few errors.
The 23-year-old from Sussex - still fighting back to recover the ranking
loss since injuring her heel late in 2006 - ran away with the third and
fourth games to record her impressive 5-9, 9-5, 9-2, 9-2 upset.
Ireland's Aisling Blake also upset the form book. The 26-year-old
from Sligo fought back from a game down to beat New Zealand's sixth seed
Louise Crome - a practice partner at the Amsterdam club where they are
both based - 2-9, 9-1, 9-7, 0-9, 9-4. |