British Closed.
I can't believe that the British has come round again. It's Feb '10 already.I love the British. I get to stay at home and play at the National Squash Centre which feels really familiar. Family and friends can come down to Manchester and watch.
So.... my tournament kicked off with a practise on Tuesday with Tania. We had an hours hit on the court I was playing on. It went well. I stayed and had a watch of some of the qualifying matches.
Wednesday was first round day. I had a qualifier and that person was Carrie Ramsey. I was on at 1pm. Carrie played well. However, after my bad result in Cleveland and Greenwich I was really focused and concentrated on playing well. I was moving Carrie around well and although I thought she tried hard and moved well I felt good today and won 11-3, 11-3, 11-4. Rest day on Thursday before the quarter final on Friday against Sarah Kippax.
I was due on court against Sarah at 6pm. I was feeling abit sluggish during the day but wanted to ignore it really. I went down at 3.30pm for a practice on the glass and then watched Danny and a few other people playing in the masters events. I warmed up and tried to get my legs going. I struggled abit but managed to make an ok start. I went 9-5 up playing quite well. Hitting the back corners and then taking the ball in well. I wasn't feeling great physically and so I think when I relaxed at 9-6 I started going short way too early. Sarah played well and picked up all my short shorts and got back to 9-9. I had gameball at 10-9 and lost it before eventually winning 12-10. Abit disappointed with letting so many points go at the end but glad to be 1-0 up. The 2nd game was a similar pattern. I was 9-5 up playing well again and then went short. I guess I don't learn. She came all the way back to 9-9 and again I had gameball at 10-9 but this time I lost it 12-10. I was really disappointed with that and still was feeling quite flat physically. I came off between games and was confused how I was 1-1 and not 2-0 up. I guess because of that I didn't play well in the 3rd or even concentrate on what I needed to do to win the next game. I went 10-3 down in the 3rd feeling completely out of rhythm and Sarah had me running all over the place. I some how managed to get the game back to 10-9 but it was too little too late and I lost it 11-9. The 4th was my best game I think. Down and out Nick spoke to me between games and I needed to up the pace and get mad. I did that well. Put speed on the ball and was off 11-4 quite quickly. I just needed to keep that run going. Sarah played well in the 5th and I was down most of the game. She hit a few errors that made me think I could still do it. At 7-7 I made a big push and luckily I went through to the end of the game and match 11-7. Through by the skin of my teeth to the semi against Alison tomorrow.
The next day I felt ok physically. I didn't go down and practice because it was at 10.50 and I wasn't playing until 6pm. I stayed at home and rested and went over with my mum and her partner Keith at 3pm. We arrive at 4pm and watched Nick and Jeannine play at 5pm. I warmed up well and was feeling more energetic today. I made a good start in the match. I hit hard and powerfully to the back and moved well. I tried to impose myself and dominate the middle. I took the game 12-10 playing well. The 2nd and 3rd were similar. I got abit tired, I guess more from the match the day before than I realised. Alison pushed on hard and took the games fairly easily. After the 3rd Danny said I needed to make a big effort physically. I told myself to enjoy the match, enjoy the physical side and imagine I was playing a friendly. Chase everything down. I doesn't matter how tired you get. I won the 4th playing well. I slowed the pace and kept the ball really straight and then when it was loose I hit with pace or took it short. Alison was trying to up the pace all the time but I tried to keep it where I wanted it. I chased hard and some how managed to take it into a 5th game. The 5th was close. Alison always a couple of points ahead but I got back to 8-8. They were long hard rallies and we were both playing well. At 8-8 I played a great boast and she got to it and pushed in a little backhand drop. It stayed up there and I couldn't get it. It was so close and she won the next point to give her matchball. After another long rally she took that and then the match to win 11-8. Pretty gutted to lose 11-8 but after my performances in America and then the day before against Sarah I was pleased to get that level out again.
Chennai now in 2 weeks!