FINAL RESULT:
Vanessa Atkinson bt Rachael Grinham
9/10,0/9,9/4,9/3,9/2

Click here for the DRAW

Well atleast I made the final this time !!

I obviously wasn't overjoyed with the result considering I was leading 2-0 and then lost, but I didn't even have the energy in the end to be upset about it either.  I was just glad that it was finally over since it had been a long week.

The match started out quite well, I think the first game was the only one where we both played well at the same time.  It was fairly even throughout and could have went either way - as it happened I won the final point on a stroke.  That must have hurt Vanessa mentally cos she came on for the second game and didn't get into it at all, letting me run away with the game 9-0 quite quickly.  From my point of view that's the worst thing that could have happened.  I guess I was kinda lulled into a false sense of security, cos from that point I think everybody in the place (myself included) assumed I should close the match comfortably from there.  That would be fair enough if Vanessa continued playing as she was in the second, but instead she had picked herself up and started rallying properly, which kinda took me by surprise and instead of rallying back and waiting for the right opportunities I was desperately trying to win the rallies early to finish the match as everyone was expecting.  As the match dragged on she gained confidence and I grew more desperate hitting more and more shots in the tin by the end.

Mentally, I just wasn't strong enough today.  It's not at all unlike Vanessa to be so up and down in one match (she had the same kind of results in every round this week except the semi) so I should really be prepared for that.  I need to be 110% focussed to have the chance of winning and I wasn't quite there today.  I realised it aswell looking back where there were a couple of rallies when I should have asked for lets (for possible strokes) but I didn't - and that tells me that my head wasn't where it should be.

On the bright side though I'm celebrating my FIRST final of 2005 !!!  Yay me !!....

Action Photos by Debra Tessier
(Photographer for SquashTalk.com)
For Final Photo Gallery (SquashTalk)
click here

Action Photos by Debra Tessier
(Photographer for SquashTalk.com)
For Semi-Final Photo Gallery (SquashTalk)
click here

RACH REPORTS

It's weird, Natalie and I are still yet to have a real close battle... the winner changes from time to time but I think most of the time the score has been 3-0.  Today's match definitely wasn't one of our better encounters either.  Personally I was happy with the match - naturally because I came out winner (!!) but also I felt I was moving well and placing the ball well for the most part.  I did hit some loose shots at times but Nat didn't seem able to take advantage of them today and was making a lot of errors.  I imagine I also had the advantage today given that I came into the match relatively fresh after being given a walkover in the quarters yesterday... that could explain why my shots were coming and she was making more errors.

Tomorrow's final will be against Vanessa Atkinson.  I've lost to Vanessa the last few times we've played which were in the last months of 2004, and in the past 6 months Vanessa's lost only one match - just barely - in last month's Kuwait Open Semi-final.  So it's pretty fair to say that she's the player to beat at the moment.  I'm looking forward to it.  I just hope I can play well and I'll be happy.

QUARTER-FINALS:
Rachael Grinham bt Jenny Tranfield   w/o
Natalie Grinham bt Natalie Grainger   9/3,9/5,9/4

RACH REPORTS

Nat Gets Grainger Back !!

After losing miserably in straight sets to Grainger in last month's Kuwait Open it was obvious today that Nat was not about to go out this time without putting up a real fight.  Right from go she was on a mission.  This time attacking, not just hanging in and hoping to scrape everything back.  Still, Grainger is a natural with the racket and although Nat played much tighter squash than last time Grainger managed to hit a lot of good shots but today Nat was not so out of position and was able to get most of them back.  And then came the errors from Grainger's racket.

It was good to see Nat play that well though, I haven't seen her that determined on the squash court for a while.  She got engaged over Christmas and it seems that she's been fairly pre-occupied with wedding plans lately, but today her head was definitely in the right place.

I was fortunate today as a result of someone else's misfortune...  Jenny had felt something not right in her achilles during her last match but since she was already warm and in the middle of a match she was able to complete with no problems.  But once she cooled down she realised she may have a problem.  She went to practise in the morning and felt as though she could probably play but the risk of her doing more damage was not worth it since we have another major tournament coming up a week after this followed by European Team Championships.

So Nat and I finally meet again... the last time I can remember that we played was in Brunei in August last year which I won, although Nat beat me on this court in this very venue 2 years ago.  I think our head-to-head count of the past few years is probably about even, so you never know what will happen.  ...But whatever happens there will be a Grinham in the final atleast !!

Action Photos by Debra Tessier
(Photographer for SquashTalk.com)
For Quarter-Final Photo Gallery (SquashTalk)  click here

RACH REPORTS

Nat looked like she was gonna get through to the quarters fairly comfortably today but at 2-0 and 7-4 down in the 3rd Omneya refused to give up and really put up a fight to take the 3rd game and contest the 4th aswell.  The first two games were not easy despite what the score may suggest, but Nat never looked in danger at that point as Omneya was typically going for a lot of short balls and made a lot of errors.  Normally I would have expected Omneya to hit winners in the beginning and take the first game if anything and then gradually tire and begin to make mistakes... but it was nothing like that.  She made the errors in the beginning and then suddenly tightened up her game - played more length and waited for the right opportunities to play her short shots and hit some really good winners.

Nat has the chance now for a re-match against Natalie Grainger after Nat lost to her in straight sets in Kuwait a couple of weeks ago.  Grainger managed to escape with a 3-2 win today after Jenny Duncalf took the first two games.

I had a really good win today to beat Tania Bailey 3-0.  At the top of her form she made it to World #5 I think (even with Fitzy, Carol & Cassie still around), but recently has had problems with fatigue and as a result of having to withdraw from many tournaments her ranking has dropped down to about #15.  But if she's well enough to play she's very tough, one of those players who can likely cause an upset in the seedings.  But I played very well today.  It was definitely a relief to play on the glass court where you can hit the ball to the corners and it will stay there.  We had a tough first game and then it seemed like she got tired after that.

Tomorrow I get to play against Jenny Tranfield in the quarters.  I'll expect that to be tough to since Jenny's a real fighter.
 

Rach vs Alana Miller (CAN) in 1st Round at YMCA.

RACH REPORTS

I didn't like the club court very much so I'm glad to be through that match and onto the glass court now.  The ball just seems to be so hard to keep out of the middle of the court, everything bounces well off the back wall and anything cross really bounces right out into the middle.  I played well though, and was probably aided by the fact that my opponent only arrived in Dallas less than 2 hours before we had to play after missing her flight yesterday.  I have the day off tomorrow while the second half of the draw is completed, and then I'll be up against Tania Bailey on Wednesday on the glass court that's set up in the Plaza of The Americas.

Nat got past Katie Patrick... she has never played her before so that's always a bit awkward in the beginning when you're not sure what to expect, but Nat played hard from the beginning and Katie never really got a chance.  Nat now has Omneya Abdel Kawy in the second round.

2005 Texas Open
MAIN DRAW

Mon & Tue
4th & 5th Apr
Round 1

Wed
6th Apr
Last 16

Thu
7th Apr
Quarters

Fri
8th Apr
Semis

Sat
9th Apr
Final

1

Rachael Grinham (AUS)

R.GRINHAM
9/4,9/4,9/0

R.GRINHAM
9/5,9/1,9/1

R.GRINHAM
w/o

R.GRINHAM
9/4,9/5,9/1

ATKINSON
9/10,0/9,9/4,9/3,9/2

Alana Miller (CAN)

15

Tania Bailey (ENG)

BAILEY
9/4,9/7,9/2

Laura Lengthorn (ENG)

8

Jenny Tranfield (ENG)

TRANFIELD
2/9,9/0,9/2,9/0

TRANFIELD
9/3,9/1,9/3

Sharon Wee (MAS)

11

Shelley Kitchen (NZL)

KITCHEN
9/3,9/1,9/0

Line Hansen (DEN)

3

Natalie Grinham (AUS)

N.GRINHAM
9/1,9/3,9/0

N.GRINHAM
9/2,9/2,8/10,9/5

N.GRINHAM
9/3,9/5,9/4

Katie Patrick (CAN)

9

Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY_

ABDEL KAWY
9/6,10/8,4/9,9/1

Pamela Nimmo (SCO)

6

Natalie Grainger (USA)

GRAINGER
9/0,4/9,9/2,10/8

GRAINGER
7/9,6/9,9/1,9/3,9/7

Melanie Jans Burke (CAN)

10

Jenny Duncalf (ENG)

DUNCALF
9/7,9/3,9/0

Amelia Pittock (AUS)

Samantha Teran (MEX)

TERAN
5/9,9/1,9/5,5/9,9/2

BOTWRIGHT
9/5,9/3,9/1

BOTWRIGHT
9/1,9/7,9/2

ATKINSON
9/3,9/2,10/8

16

Rebecca Chiu (HKG)

Carla Khan (PAK)

BOTWRIGHT
9/1,9/3,9/1

7

Vicky Botwright (ENG)

Isabelle Stoehr (FRA)

STOEHR
w/o

DAVID
9/5,4/9,9/1,9/2

13

Fiona Geaves (ENG)

Latasha Khan (USA)

DAVID
9/2,9/6,9/6

4

Nicol David (MAS)

Runa Reta (CAN)

PERRY
9/2,9/4,9/1

ELRIANI
9/3,9/0,9/1

ATKINSON
9/3,1/9,9/5,0/9,9/6

12

Madeline Perry (IRE)

Stephanie Brind (ENG)

ELRIANI
10/9,9/3,9/3

5

Linda Elriani (ENG)

Alison Waters (ENG)

WATERS
7/9,9/7,9/5,9/1

ATKINSON
9/5,6/9,6/9,9/2,9/0

14

Annelize Naude (NED)

Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG)

ATKINSON
9/5,9/6,4/9,92

2

Vanessa Atkinson (NED