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 National
City Burning
River Classic 2008
18-12 Feb, Cleveland Racquet Club, $27k |
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The Pro-Am Doubles pairings |
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National
City Burning
River Classic 2008
18-12 Feb, Cleveland Racquet Club, $27k |
Round One
20 Feb |
Quarters
21 Feb |
Semis
22 Feb |
Final
23 Beb |
[1] Natalie Grainger
(Usa)
9/2, 9/2, 9/1
Emma Beddoes (Eng) |
[1] Natalie Grainger
9/3, 9/0, 9/1
[5] Latasha Khan |
[1] Natalie Grainger
9/0, 9/1, 9/1
[4] Dominique
Lloyd-Walter |
[1] Natalie Grainger
9/1, 9/4, 9/0
[2] Kasey Brown |
[5] Latasha Khan (Usa)
9/1, 9/2, 9/0
[Q] Joelle King (Nzl) |
[4] Dominique
Lloyd-Walter (Eng)
9/4, 9/3, 9/3
Tara Mullins (Can) |
[4] Dominique
Lloyd-Walter
9/1, 9/6, 9/0
Aisling Blake |
[6] Louise Crome (Nzl)
2/9, 9/1, 9/7, 0/9, 9/4
Aisling Blake (Irl) |
[Q] Kirsty Mcphee (Eng)
9/4, 9/0, 9/6
[7] Lauren Briggs (Eng) |
[7] Lauren Briggs
9-4, 9-2, 9-5
Suzie Pierrepont |
[7] Lauren Briggs
9/1, 9/7, 9/6
[2] Kasey Brown |
Suzie Pierrepont (Eng)
5/9, 9/5, 9/2, 9/2
[3] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) |
Alana Miller (Can)
10/8, 7/9, 9/0, 9/1
[8] Line Hansen (Den) |
[8] Line Hansen
9/4, 9-/, 9/2
[2] Kasey Brown |
Laura Mylotte (Irl)
9/2, 9/4, 9/6
[2] Kasey Brown (Aus) |
19-Feb,
Qualifying Finals:
Kirsty
McPhee (Eng) bt Eman El Amir (Egy)
2-9, 9-6, 9-6, 10-8
Joelle
King (Nzl) bt Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
9-1, 9-0, 9-3
 18-Feb,
Qualifying Round One:
Kirsty Mcphee (Eng) bt Amy Smedira (Usa) 9-0, 9-2, 9-1
Eman El Amir (Egy bt Imelda Salazar (Msa) 9-4, 9-2, 9-1
Joelle King (Nzl) bt Pia Trikha (Usa) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
Amanda Sobhy bt Sarah Parsons (Can) 9-6, 9-6, 6-9, 5-9, 9-5
2007 Event
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22-Feb, Semis
Top two will face off
in Cleveland final…
Nathan Dugan reports
Defending champion Natalie Grainger will face Kasey Brown
in the final tomorrow of the 2008 National City Burning River
Classic.
 The Australian was the first to make it into the final after a third
straight 3-0 victory. The score line didn’t do the match justice
though as there was a number of times during the match that the
world number 15 seemed to be just hanging in.
Brown raced off to a 7-0 lead in the first before English opponent
Lauren Briggs was able to score a point. The 9-1 first game
was not what the crowd was expecting based on the previous night
performances.
However 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. All too often a quick volley
went begging and Brown would win the point on a counter attack. 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 though as Brown miss hit a straight back hand kill
to progress to match ball. She attempted a couple more kills in the
next rally before eventually ending the match with a wrong footing
straight forehand drive. The match lasted 65 minutes and means the
number two seed has averaged almost an hour a match despite not
dropping a game thus far.
 Natalie Grainger progressed to the final for a second
straight year by defeating world number 20 Dominique Lloyd Walter
in devastating fashion. Grainger had looked sharp in the early
rounds but I’m not sure anyone would have predicted the match
outcome from this evening.
At 9-0 and 7-0 in the second Lloyd-Walter looked mightily relieved
just to have scored a point. Grainger was playing with accuracy,
power and more importantly with an aggressive use of the volley,
unlike anything we had seen so far this week. Lloyd-Walter was only
able to match her one point achievement in the third as Grainger hit
one winning volley drop after another.
After the match Lloyd-Walter commented “Any time you are just
thinking about winning a point, it is never a good sign.” With the
form she displayed tonight, Grainger will definitely go into the
final a strong favourite, but anything can happen in one match,
especially when you are playing a brick wall of an opponent in Kasey
Brown.
Just before the play commenced for the day, a travelling team from
Citysquash, an urban squash program from Manhatten, played against a
select Cleveland junior side. The Citysquash team lead by Brian
Patterson was on the return leg form a trip which had seen them
compete in Pittsburg, Cincinatti and Chicago. It was a great
opportunity to see their program in action as this is a direction
the Cleveland squash community would like to go in the near future.
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21-Feb, Quarters
No
upsets as top seeds progress…
Nathan Dugan reports
The higher ranked player in each match progressed through to the
semi-finals this evening without the loss of a single game between
them.
Kasey Brown started what turned out to be a good night for
the seeds by running the legs from under Line Hanson. Hanson,
like Mylotte in the first round, battled hard against the Aussie
keeping her on court for just shy of an hour.
Hanson took the lead in the first and second games, but the
tenacious world number 15 kept tracking ball after ball down until
an error came from the Danes racquet. At 8-4 game ball in the first
Brown must have run a dozen court sprints as Hanson was unable to
find the outright winner. Eventually as so many rallies before ended
Hanson went for just a little too much and court the top of the tin.
By the third game the pace of play was leaving Hanson looking
somewhat deflated as her brick wall of an opponent seemed to just
relish the idea of more running. Yet to drop a game Brown is looking
strong, although the two hours already spent on court may start
coming into play as the week progresses.
Suzie Pierrepont was unable to find the same magic that she
produced in the first round going out to Lauren Briggs with
just 11 points to show to her name. Briggs moved about the court
with an effortless ease and seemed to have no problem maneuvering
round her larger opponent. Pierrepont was unable to make much of an
impact in the first two games but showed signs of a comeback going
up 4-0 in the third.
Briggs changed the pattern of play at that point and moved away from
the straight drives that Pierrepont had been picking off on the
volley. She added more delay to her shots and started hitting 8 out
10 balls crosscourt which turned her opponent to good effect. Once
the momentum shifted, Pierrepont had no answer and Briggs moved
through to set up an intriguing semi-final with Kasey Brown.
The top half produced the same semi-final match up as 2007 between
Natalie Grainger and Dominique Lloyd-Walter.
Grainger looked very sharp in dismissing the challenge from US team
mate Latasha Khan. Khan was unable to put a point on the
board until 7-0 down in the first when Grainger showed she was human
by tinning a backhand volley drop. Khan had looked very convincing
in the first round, but was unable to deal with the higher pace that
Grainger was bringing to the court. The number one seed had the
answer to everything that Khan could throw at her and ran out a
convincing winner.
The rematch was made complete when Dominique Lloyd-Walter ended the
run of in-form Irish girl, Aisling Blake. Blake, currently
sitting at her highest ranking to date and fresh off a victory
against sixth seed Louise Crome, was unable to get into her stride
in the first losing 9-1.
The second became a real match though as Blake started finding a
better length and was able to turn Lloyd-Walter with some held cross
court volleys moving into a 6-3 lead. Then followed a spell of five
physically demanding rallies in which Lloyd-Walter came out looking
the stronger. The first step slowed slightly and the errors started
to creep into Blake’s game but the points stayed challenging. One
final forehand tin sealed the fate for Blake as that was to be her
last stand. The third went by 9-0 without much of fight as the
previous days five game match took its toll.
While all the matches were being played, the first round losers were
trying their hands at hardball doubles in a Pro Am. Although with
most of the WISPA Pro’s having never played before, it was at times
a challenge to figure out which was the Pro and which was the Am!
Everyone involved had a great time though with the winning team of
Alana Miller and Rachel Leizman pictured here in the white defeating
Laura Mylotte and Andrea Dawson.
On paper it looked as though the Cleveland Racquet Club crowd were
in for some tough first round matches with unpredictable
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20-Feb, Round One
2007 FINALIST STUMBLES
AT FIRST HURDLE
Nathan Dugan reports
On paper it looked as though the Cleveland Racquet Club crowd were
in for some tough first round matches with unpredictable outcomes.
They were not to be disappointed as Isabelle Stoehr, last
years’ beaten finalist and number three seed, went crashing out at
the hands of Suzie Pierrepont. Stoehr started in command
winning the first 9-5, but as the match progressed the contact
between players became more frequent, and the usually fluent Stoehr
became increasingly unsettled. Pierrepont, by far the tallest player
in the draw, was the benefactor and put in a solid performance with
very few errors. The fight seen from the French champion last year
dwindled as Pierrepont ran away with the third and fourth.
Lauren Briggs didn’t have as much trouble ending Kirsty
McPhee’s run in the tournament. She raced off to a 6-0 lead before
McPhee was able to rally and retrieve the game to within two points.
This was as close as McPhee could get to make an impact though as
the previous days play looked as though it may have been affecting
her first step. The seventh seed went on to win in three.
Kasey Brown showed her intent on becoming the 2008 champion
with an impressive display against Laura Mylotte. Jumping onto balls
at the front and maintain a very attacking length, she was able to
restrict the attacking options from Mylotte, forcing errors from the
back of the court from her opponent. Brown’s 3-0 victory sees her
move into the quarter finals for the second year running.
Canadian champion Alana Miller and Danish champion Line Hanson
produced two highly intense games, before the wind seemed to be
knocked from the Canadian's sails. Line took the first 10-8 but it
was a sublime backhand drop winner at 8-7 game ball down that
allowed her to be in that position. The second game went much the
same as the first with Miller taking the early lead before Hanson
clawed her way back. Once again Miller reached 8-7, but this time a
loose ball from the Dane rewarded Miller a penalty stroke and the
reward of the second game. The two tough first games took a toll
though on the Canadian and she was only able to muster one more
point before the end of the match.
In the top half of the draw Dominique Lloyd-Walter started in
impressive fashion, her shot selection was text book as she worked
her opponent, Tara Mullins, around the court. Tara showed some signs
of her racquet artistry but never quite had the physical strength to
match the fourth seed on the day.
Lloyd-Walter's quarter final opponent will be Ireland's Aisling
Blake who knocked out sixth seed Louise Crome. Both players are
based at the same club in Amsterdam and are regular training
partners. This showed during the match as each player read their
opponents game throughout. Neither player seemed to be playing their
best squash at the same time with Crome taking the first 9-2 and
Blake the second 9-1. The third game was evenly poised from start to
finish and the referee was becoming more frequently called into
play. Blake snuck the third 9-7 which should have given her the
momentum to start the fourth, but the New Zealander hit back in a
sensational manor winning the game 9-0. At 4-4 in the fifth Crome
found the tin with a miss hit forehand drive which combined with a
couple of quick winners from Blake put her firmly in the driving
seat. Blake was becoming more vocal with every let call, at one
point calling her opponent’s appeal “a little bit cheeky!” She was
able to maintain focus though and sealed the fifth 9-4.
 Top
seed for the second year running and defending Champion, Natalie
Grainger started her campaign to retain the title in a confident
manor. She let world number 54 Emma Beddoes put just five points on
the board for the evening, despite a tremendous physical effort
which left the crowd in awe of her retrieving.
Grainger’s quarter final will be a rematch of the 2007 US National
final with Latasha Khan. Khan gave 19 year old qualifier
Joelle King a lesson in ball placement, with a wonderful display of
racquet control and pace variation. The pace of shot that had been
so effective for King in qualifying didn’t seem to faze Khan in the
slightest and she struggled to put any pressure on the former US
champion.
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19-Feb, Qualifying Finals:
And they were two...
Nathan Dugan reports
The match between Kirsty McPhee and Eman El Amir
provided the Cleveland crowd with a mix of fine attacking play,
numerous lets and a few too many errors from the Egyptians racquet.
El Amir started the match firing on all cylinders; she took the
first game handily, displaying some of the same attacking style that
had been so effective a day earlier. McPhee showed her Yorkshire
grit in the second though, bringing the match back to level terms.
As McPhee extended the rallies and the bumping became a little more
frequent, the errors started to creep in to Amir’s game. In five out
of seven rallies at the end of the third game, Amir clipped the red
line with her opponent surely beaten.
This gifted McPhee a game advantage and she made the most of it by racing
to a 5-0 lead in the fourth. The match was not over yet though as
Amir produced so moments of fine shot making to close the gap.
McPhee edged to a first match ball at 8-7 only to see a winner come
of Amir’s backhand four strokes later.
 McPhee had a second match ball at 9-8 but a somewhat kamikaze short
return of serve from Amir, crept just over the tin and play
continued. Another error came from the Egyptian when attempting a
drop shot from deep in the court giving the English lass a third
match ball, which she converted with a forehand drop winner. McPhee
moves into the main draw where she will face fellow Brit, Lauren
Briggs.
 The final spot in the main draw was secured for the loss of just
four points by Joelle King.
The nineteen year old ended the
hopes of US junior rising star Amanda Sobhy with a purposeful
display of squash. Sobhy wasn’t given the time she enjoyed the night
before and found the going tough, but her achievements this week
underlined the potential of the young female squash players in
America.
King will face fifth seed Latasha Khan in the main draw on
Wednesday.
18-Feb, Qualifying Round One:
Burning River Begins ...
Nathan Dugan reports
Kirsty McPhee served the first ball in the 2008 National City
Burning River Classic. Seeded one in the qualifiers, McPhee took on
local Cleveland Racquet Club junior Amy Smedira in the first
match of the evening. Amy started nervously falling to a quick 9-0
in the first. Once the nerves were gone the US under 15 No.2 was
able to get into the rallies and took 3 points off the world number
60.
The second match between Imelda Salazar and Eman El Amir
produced the first upset on paper, although El Amir a former top 30
world player may well have been the form favourite. At 4-4 in the
first it looked like we would be in for a tough match but then the
Egyptians superior racquet work on the night took command. With a
display of attacking volleys and boasts she was able to restrict her
Mexican opponent to just a further three points setting up an
intriguing final qualifying round with McPhee.
Joelle King made her intentions of qualifying very clear in
her first match against another local Racquet Club Member Pia
Trikha. The strong Kiwi came out hitting with authority using a
pace of stroke that Trikha almost certainly had not seen before. The
under 17 US open quarter finalist could only muster one point in the
second game but it was not through a lack of effort.
King’s opponent for the second qualifying place in the main draw
will be against another US junior, Amanda Sobhy. At 14 years
of age the US junior open champ showed her potential by causing the
major upset of the evening defeating world number 81 Sarah
Parsons. The Canadian probably went into the game feeling fairly
confident after seeing her fellow seeded players dispatch local
American youth, but after losing the first 9-6 she knew it was game
on! Sobhy came out very aggressively but showed signs of tiring
early in the second when she threw away a 4-0 lead in one hand. She
proved her willingness to battle though and pushed to take the game
9-6 using her deceptive flicks to good effect.
Parsons used her physical fitness and experience to get her back
into the match, and with the games tied at 2 a piece she looked the
favourite to progress to Tuesday. Sobhy had other ideas however and
raced to a 7-0 lead. Once again her legs wilted though and Parsons
was back to 7-5 in one hand. That would be as close as Parsons would
get to claiming the match though, as a winning forehand volley from
the young left hander gave Sobhy what is sure to be one of many
upsets on the WISPA tour
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23-Feb,
Final:
