British Closed .
Wednesday. Day of the first round. It feels like the competition has been building for ages. My first round match was orginally against Sarah Kippax but when Vicky Botwright pulled out my draw changed. I drew lucky loser Sarah-Jane Perry.My match was at 1pm at the National squash centre. I went on court on time. I played well and wanted to stamp my authority from the beginning. Sarah-Jane is a tall, strong up and coming player and I was aware of this. My match was 11/4, 11/3, 11/5 in 18mins and pleased to be through to the quarter-finals playing Dom Lloyd-Walter on the glass court tomorrow.
Thursday. My quarter-final match against Dom was at 6pm. I was feeling alittle bit nervous before hand. My seed position had gone up to 3 and I had abit of pressure on me to make the semi's. I started abit nervously but made a good enough start. I played too many boasts but got myself out of trouble by hitting at good pace and concentrating when the scores got tight. I took the 1st game 11/9. The second was more relaxed. Less boasts and more straight drives and drops. Still not playing my best but I took that game 11/6. The 3rd was my best game. I played better and took more straight drops and volley drops in and Dom made a few errors. I won that game 11/5 and was pleased to get off in 34min. I now play number 1 seed Tania Bailey on Saturday at 1pm who beat Sarah Kippax 3-0.
Saturday. After a rest day on Friday I was looking forward to my semi-final against Tania. I was feeling good and well rested. My warm up was great and I felt sharp. I went on for the first game feeling pumped up, I made a great start keeping the ball deep and trying to take my opportunities short when I got chance. I played well and kept Tania under pressure taking the first game 11/6. The second game was tight. I went 3-0 down and managed to pull it back and after the beginning we were even all the way to 9-9. A big ralley and I won it to go 10-9 up. I made a big push at game ball to win the game on the first chance. After a couple of lets I took the game on a forehand drop 11/9. I came off after the second game and was feeling good. Wanting to finish off the game in 3 I went back on bouncing only to hear the referee call Tania Bailey has retired. I felt Tania was ok but noticed something slightly wrong in the middle of the second game. She was still moving ok but I guess she had a reoccurence of the injury she sustained in Apawamis. I am really pleased to be in my first final against Alison Waters. Looking forward to a shot at the title on Sunday at 3pm.
Sunday.....Finals day! I was really excited for today. A big event, a big stage and a big crowd. The first time i've ever played in a final of this size. I was really up for it and made a great start in front of the big crowd and supporter who had come to watch me. I played well hitting a great length and taking any balls in short I could to attack. I won the 1st 11/6. The rest of the match took a similar pattern. I played well, moved well and felt just beaten to the end of every game. My length maybe wasn't quite as good as the first and Alison played well. I lost the 6/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/9. The fourth was very close. I was leading 8/4 which is a big lead to then lose the game 11/9. Apart from that I was pleased with my performance this week and can't wait to have another shot at the title. KL next at the beginning of March.