19-dec, Final :

[2] Laura L.Massaro bt [1] Rachael Grinham    
             11/7, 11/9, 9/11, 7/11, 11/9 (66m)

Laura upsets the
odds in Monaco

The sumo against the jockey. Heavyweight against a flyweight. It is not that Rachael Grinham sends the dial spinning across the scales – far from it – but in title terms she is very much a titan. Twenty eight WISPA Tour titles including a World Open championship and a clutch of British Opens and other big names. Her opponent in the final of the 13th Monte Carlo Classic can only boast four so far, and none a major.

A mis-match? Only in these bald terms for the second seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro has clambered into the world top ten and has really become a very effective operator. She did have an off night in the quarters but that is rare for her; and not only did she pull through then, but was back to her best in her semi final against Vanessa Atkinson.

Grinham, meanwhile, has sublime as well as sloppy spells. By her own admission she had not played well a week ago in Sharm El Sheikh, losing to Jenny Duncalf in the final, but so far in Monte Carlo she had been impressive.

The seating at the Monte Carlo Squash Club which is in Stade Louis II, a large sports centre though strangely enough not in Monte Carlo, was full. Monte Carlo is the central district of the Principality of Monaco, home of the famous casino and streets where the Formula 1 cars roar around each May. The club is actually in another district in the tiny Principality, a few thousand metres away.

Of course one man who knows these details better than anybody is the man who presides over Monaco – His Serene Highness Prince Albert. And he, the guest of honour, was occupying the central seat of the front row when the action began.

Prince Albert has played squash in the court in the imposing Prince’s Palace so was well aware of the superb quality of play that he was watching.

The Australian top seed started as she had left off in the semi final; all action, volleying with her characteristic hold, lobbing with alacrity and nimbly chasing. Lengthorn-Massaro was trying to settle into her rhythm which is much straighter.

But although Grinham took an early lead it was the Englishwoman who reeled her in, began to get in early and took the first game with a rasping cross court drive.

And much the same was to follow in the second where Grinham established a 9/4 lead with some great placement only to go walkabout. Three shots caught the top of the tin, a boast fell short and Lengthorn’s solid defence coupled with some tight straight backhand drops, a few forays into Grinham’s lobbing territory hauled her back. When she was poised at 10/9 Lengthorn-Massaro completed the comeback in one hand with an inch perfect forehand boast from the service box.

Game 11/9 and the second seed was two games up.

The third game had all the ingredients of the first two, but perhaps even more ooohh moments as the players reached drops and recovered from the back. Grinham reached 10/7 and looked set to save the match when two game balls were squandered. The third game going too? No, this time she held on with an overhead nick and had clawed herself back in the match.

The pattern continued in the fourth game. The former world number one still looking like she was stepping on hot coals, so quickly was each foot raised; her opponent still keeping her shape. Yet again the Australian went ahead, but this time there was no reversal and the match was tied.

The full gallery gave both players a rousing reception as they entered the court for the decider; such had been the calibre of the encounter.

And the fifth didn’t tail off in terms of quality or excitement. The players edged their scores upwards with nothing to choose between them. It reached seven all before Lengthorn-Massaro profited from a cross court drive and a telling drop to put daylight between her and her opponent. A long rally later and Grinham was at 8/9. a further one where Lengthorn-Massaro was adjudged not to be able to play a punched ball because it was past her and it was nine all. But here Grinham sportingly offered a let despite having being give a stroke as she felt that Lengthorn-Massaro could have actually made a return. The referee acquiesced and it was back to 8/9. But a missed drop provided the second seed with a match ball. And although this was saved with an overhead kill, a front wall squirting nick took Lengthorn-Massaro over the finish line after 66 minutes of the highest quality all court squash.

Prince Albert, one of the International Olympic Committee members who will be evaluating the squash bid for a place on the Olympics programme in 2016 entered to present the Classic trophy, and commented how much he had enjoyed the match.

The loser was surprisingly upbeat. Grinham commented ’When it finished I wasn’t actually disappointed as I did play well. It wasn’t that I could have played better. I was hitting well and getting a lot back. It was just a shame that I couldn’t take at least one of the first two games as I was leading in both.

But I did get to a point where the match as back within my reach and I made a few errors that I shouldn’t have though it was a long match and she held it together well.’

Signing off, she said what so many others did later on finals night, ‘I don’t think that we could have had a better match for Prince Albert’.

The winner was understandably all smiles. ‘I just wanted to play similarly to the way I did yesterday. It’s easier said than done but I just tried to play the best I could. I knew I would have to run as much as I could to get close to Rachael’.

She added, ‘This was a big win for me as I hadn’t beaten any of the top three. I am now really looking forward to January!’

The 13th Classic, as enjoyably staged as ever was certainly not an unlucky number for Lengthorn-Massaro who ended her year in a Monte Carlo high.
  

Engy follows Karim's
progress in Saudi

Qualifiers:

18-Dec, Semis:

[1] Rachael Grinham bt [4] Isabelle Stoehr
        11/5, 11/3, 12/10 (26m)
[2] Laura L.Massaro bt [3] Vanessa Atkinson
        11/3, 11/4, 11/8 (27m)

No stopping top seeds
in Monaco ...

It had taken ten goes for Isabelle Stoehr to reach the last four of the Monte Carlo Classic. If at first you do not succeed……………

Meanwhile, Rachael Grinham has included a final in her visits but not won the title – yet. The French girl has improved her best but can go no further, while the Grinham dream is still alive.

Having played sublimely yesterday – her opponent described Grinham as having been on fire – Stoehr must have been hoping that it wouldn’t continue tonight. But the fine form did. The world number three bounced around covering everything. While Stoehr has a touch and deception that confounds so many opponents, nearly everything was coming back, often returned with interest.

Stoehr did not look quite at ease with her hamstring but it was her poor length that let her down. Too much was spraying into the middle and became a selection of early Christmas presents for the Australian to put away.

As the 3/0 winner said afterwards, "I felt really good again. And with Isabelle making a few unusual errors it was a good combo for me. I've had some hard matches with her and she can be really dangerous, but she made it a bit easier for me today."

Stoehr agreed. "I didn’t find any length today and she was controlling me. She is really good even when it is tight so you can imagine when it was in the middle!"

Four times they had played before, twice in Monaco, and Grinham now has a perfect 5/0 record.

The second match was an intriguing match-up. Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, the second seed, has been in the ascendency, her world ranking at eight equalling her highest. Indeed, she had beaten opponent Vanessa Atkinson in Monaco last year. But in the quarter finals she was lacklustre and lucky to survive.

Contrasted with that, while Atkinson’s star has been a little on the wane while the 32 year old is spending more time studying, she had looked sharp and relaxed yesterday – very much as she used to.

Would Lengthorn-Massaro up her game? Would Atkinson remain on the boil? Yes to the former, no to the latter. The English second seed was rampant. Taking the ball well, putting it away assuredly and clearly in the zone. The former world champion from The Hague was having a personal nightmare though. Suffice to say it was not one of her more memorable days at the office.

She told a reporter after losing 3/0 in less than half an hour, "For the first half of the opening game I just thought that I needed to wake up. I felt heavy and my body was not reacting to the pace. It was the opposite of yesterday, and she didn’t give me a chance to recover."

The explanation of the chalk and cheese performances from Lengthorn-Massaro was in her head. "I was probably a bit too relaxed yesterday. Today I was focussed in my head but relaxed on the ball. I was really sharp, volleying well and finishing, it was probably the best that I have played for a while."

Finally, the final final of the year. Rachael Grinham was beaten by Jenny Duncalf in the final of the Sharm El Sheikh Open last week, and will certainly not want to lose to another Pom in Monaco.

It could be tempting fate, but the finale of the Monte Carlo Classic could be a Christmas cracker!
  

17-Dec, Quarters:

Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt Tania Bailey (Eng)
      11/8, 11/9, 11/7 (30m)
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt Annelize Naude (Ned)
       Walkover
Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) bt Engy Kheirallah (Egy)
       11/8, 11/4, 11/9 (30m)
Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (Eng) bt Camille Serme (Fra)
        7/11, 11/7, 11/6, 9/11, 12/10 (46m)

Quarters in Monaco

If you set aside a nearby coffee machine built by a mind that clearly intended the outpourings to be entirely undrinkable, everything about the Principality of Monaco is wonderfully agreeable.

The sense of enjoyment extended to the quarter finals of the 13th Monte Carlo Classic, for the match winners and spectators… though not the losers, and especially not for seventh seed Annelize Naude who was forced to concede her quarter final against Isabelle Stoehr without striking a ball. A stomach virus was the diagnosis of the championship doctor, and the stricken player could hardly remain upright, never mind play squash. As she described her plight, "I didn’t feel that great this morning and got progressively worse during the afternoon. It took quite a bit of effort to get out of bed to cross the road to the doctor."

This ensured French representation in the semi finals, which was within a whisker of a twosome. Nineteen year old Camille Serme had shocked eighth seed Dominique Lloyd-Walter in the first round, then took on second seed Laura Lengthorn-Massaro in the quarters. The world number eight was clearly finding Serme a handful, the French girl employing a full range of shots that were less easy to read than Lengthorn-Massaro would have liked.

While Serme came close in the fourth, her biggest chance for victory came at 8/5 up in the decider. She perhaps realised this as four errors later she was 9/8 down. But here one of the lunges that had failed her in the preceding rallies pulled Serme level before a fortunate half court roller from the nick gave her a match ball.

The Englishwoman played an ultimately successful defensive long rally to save it; did the same to get to her own match ball.

Here she hit a high, wide shot that fell in, only for the ball to be caught by Serme who was sure that it was going to drift out. By common consent as well as the rule of the referee it had not, so a strange and somehow anti-climatic end to an exciting tussle.

Asked about that last rally Serme said "I feel a bit stupid for that last ball!" And on the match in general commented, "Before the match I wanted to win but I didn’t think I could. But in the fifth I tried not to think about winning but it was very difficult."

The relieved winner said that she had felt a little flat, but was full of praise for her opponent. "Camille has improved a lot since I played her last time. I learnt a lot for the next time! When she hit those tins in the fifth it relaxed me and I thought aha, I am back in this."

The other berth in the bottom half of the semis was taken by Vanessa Atkinson, who not only played strongly, but held it together when opponent Engy Kheirallah bit back.

Both had spent the build up following the action in Saudi where their other halves were competing. Mrs Engy Darwish learned that husband Karim had beaten Amr Shabana, while Atkinson’s man James Willstrop was about to play after she had prevailed.

The final match promised a great deal, but with Rachael Grinham on fire, even playing well as she certainly did, wasn’t enough for Tania Bailey. Grinham was unstoppable, so light, so fast, so assured. Bailey had picked a bad day to match up against the former world number one.

A rueful Bailey left commenting, "She played really well I thought. Even my best shots were coming back. She was literally on everything."

Grinham will be hoping for something similar when she plays Stoehr for a final slot.

As long as nobody else succumbs to Naude’s nausea or drinks from the undrinkable machine the stage is set for an entertaining semi finals evening at the Monte Carlo Classic 2008 ...
 

2007 Event     2006 Event     2005 Event