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[1] Marina De Juan (Esp) 3-0 Ninon Lemarchand (Fra)
           11/4, 11/4, 11/2 (19m)
[6] Paulina Krzwicka (Pol) 3-0 Johanna Pigeat (Fra)
           11/7, 11/7, 11/2 (26m)

WHAT A START OF THE DAY

Remind me to SHOOT WHO EVER DECIDED TO PLAY THREE MATCHES AT THE SAME TIME!!!! Oh boy, when you are in a second language, and you try to take pics, and still make sense of what’s going on , I tell you, IT’S FUN!

First I looked a bit at the young Ninon Lemarchand, French junior ofU11, 13, and she was a bit outplayed to start with, Marina in control racing to a 7/1 lead in the first game, 9/2, Ninon fiercely fighting clawing back to 4/10, but De Juan wrapping it up 11/4.

In the second game De Juan moved Ninon to all for corners, 9/2, couple errors from the Spanish girl closing the game to 11/4. Third, Ninon paid the price of the effort produced, made too many errors, and Marina storming to a 8/1 lead, closing it out 11/2

“She is going to be a good player” smile Marina “she played at a pace you do not expect for a young age, and she fought very hard for every shot”. One to watch for the future then….

Then I looked at Paulina from Poland against Johanna from France. I didn’t know either of them, and I was pleasantly surprised with the combativeness of the French girl, who had a very good strong game, hitting hard and accurately, and never gave up. And even if Paulina got the win in the first two games, it was only at the end of very long rallies. Good battle.

Paulina:  She has a very strong basic squash, she found good length and tight drives, and I was a bit surprised as we do not have many players in Poland that play that game.

Luckily for me, she was not attacking enough to put me under pressure and that helped me. Still, the fact she was not opening the court at all forced me to work more that I would have expected or like!
 

[4] Joel Makin (Wal) 3-0 [8] Chris Fuller (Eng)
           11/7, 12/10, 11/6 (43m)

Third match at the same time was Joel against Chris, with an Englishman more daring than usual, and maybe that high percentage cost him dearly in the second, he was up 10/8, was forced in a tie-break, and goes for a winner return of serve that find the tin. 12/10 Joel, 2/0. Hard to come back from there mentally….

Still, a very pleasant match indeed, fluid squash, very few decision, and still that strength from Joel, very few errors, mid pace, low percentage. So hard to put under pressure.

Chris did what he had to do to try and get the Welsh out of his comfort zone, he got a bit unlucky maybe with one or two decisions – but I was on the extreme side, not a good position to judge…

Joel: I thought that Chris played a much more attacking game than he normally does, and I thought he played better. But he then made a few more unforced errors.

I tried to move him, and made him work, while keeping the error count down. And that second is the turning point, probably.

Chris: I felt more comfortable today than I did yesterday, I told you I didn’t have much squash, so I knew that if I wanted to win, I had to do something.

I just couldn’t find the right balance at the end of the second game, went for a bit of silly shot, and I was maybe not as sharp as I would have liked to be to keep with him, but played the way I wanted to.
 

[8] Marion Romba (Fra) 3-0 Emmanuelle Le Brun (Fra)
           11/6, 11/4, 11/6 (26m)
[4] Cindy Merlo (Sui) 3-0 Axelle Legrand (Fra)
            11/5, 11/5, 11/5 (15m)

[7] Christophe André (Fra) 3-1 [3] Piedro Schweertman (Ned)
           11/8, 9/11, 11/4, 12/10 (50m)

Losing the plot

There is always a moment in a tournament where you think, what the … I want to go home. Ref not bringing back the score sheet, game lasting 15m not a chance to even glance at the match/girls, players disappearing.

This is one of those moments… So, here is what I got out of those three matches.

A strong Romba that dominated a spirited Le Brun, but the youth and professional training that the 16 years old is getting with the French Team made the difference I feel. A strong crowd support for the tall and fit lady was not enough to carry her past Romba’s court coverage.

All my apologies to Cindy Merlo and her opponent Axelle Legrand from France, not a chance to see anything or click you girls.

As for Christophe against Piedro, I was the third, completely dominated by the French man after losing the 2nd in a close game 11/9, 11/4, quite comfy. But as usual, Piedro fought with his unorthodox squash and his lefty game to put the Frenchman under enormous pressure, forcing him to make a few errors in the middle of the game, opening the lead 5/2, only to see his lead melting away when Christophe strung 4 points in a row. 5/5, 6/6. 7/7.

The Dutch seems to find his rhythm, counterattacking beautifully and hitting the right pace, 9/7, then 10/9 for Piedro, and a long rally there, with a kill of a shot to finish it, 10/10. A silly error give the Frenchman a match ball, 11/10, and quite conveniently, Christophe ends it on his lethal weapon today, his backhand, 12/10….

Christophe: I stopped squash for about 7 years, so I always seem to have a little gap physically, like a little deficit I’m not able to overcome, not sure I’ll ever will. I seem to start very fast, only to get winded a bit. I should manage my effort better, I’m working on it.

I don’t have game plan really, I’m an instinctive player, I only try and take the time away from my opponent, and to go pass them.

I tried to play on his backhand, but I’m told I didn’t do that too much, I thought I did!

Still, my attacks went in today, I’m happy with that, happy that the last two months of work paid off.
 

Ritchie: We are both aggressive players so sometimes, it can get scruffy, but it was a good battle out there, fair.

I think I behaved myself well, I controlled my temper, and it was nice to play against a Frenchman in France, it’s nice sometimes to have people shouting against you, instead of for you like at home, it’s far less pressure.



Off court during this summer, I worked with a sport psychologist, and I think that’s what I’m the happiest with. I think I have learned something, and I’m getting better.

On court, I worked with Robo and Camps (Chris Robertson and David Campion), about hitting in space, and on my deceptions and hold. I feel I clicked quite well.

This is my second tournament of the season, I won Belfast last week, I had a couple of scrappy games, didn’t lose my temper, didn’t get involved with the ref, and that’s what I’m the most proud of and happy with.

[3] Emma Custance Baker (Eng) 3-0 Oceane Michelot (Fra)           11/4, 11/3, 11/1 (16m)
[5] Julianne Courtice (Eng) 3-0 Maelle Fuhrer (Fra)
            11/2, 11/2, 11/0 (15m)
[3] Richie Fallows (Eng) 3-0 Baptiste Masotti (Fra)
           11/6, 12/10, 11/8 (43m)

Sorry Ladies, I had to give up on you. By the time I finish writing about the men – and it’s not long matches either, but you both have finished and are under the shower. Cannot take pics or anything.

I missed Ritchie and Ba first game, but managed to see the rest, arriving at an little injury break, 7/6 Baptiste lead, after a collision between the two young athletes, who are both fit, taking the ball early, and aggressive players.

They both are inclined to be famous for losing their temper and have particularly short fuse. Not that I would know what it means, I’m famous for my calm and steadiness, and that all over the world.

I have great affection for both of them, and I’m happy to say that Ritchie today behaved very well – what I saw anyway. No blocking, no arguing, perfect really.

Baptiste also behaved well, only was penalised when he got frustrated at the end of the second.

Rewind.

7/6, he comes back on court, and is very steady, Ritchie attacking a lot, and Ba being as positive and fast on the ball. 9/6 up goes the French and without doing anything wrong, sees the points running away from him. Ritchie “déroule” as we say in French, just finds his groove and lovely short shots, short rallies, accurate and fast pace.

An error makes it 9/10, a lovely backhand low drive, 10/10, and a stroke, 11/10. No WAY! shout Ba to himself, angry and frustrated to have left his lead melt.

And when a superb kill ends the game, 12/10 for Ritchie, Ba throws his racquet with vigour against the frontal wall, the ref doesn’t have any choice than penalising him with conduct stroke, as in we start the game with 1/0 for Ritchie.

Baptiste will take 9 points to calm down, 7/2, but will find his game and superb squash, 7/8. Too little too late though, 10/7, 11/8 Ritchie.

Laura Paquemar (Fra) 3-0 [7] Fanny Segers (Fra)
            11/2, 11/7, 13/11 (24m)
[2] Charlotte Delsinne (Fra) 3-0 Sabrina Belliot (Fra)
           11/7, 12/10, 11/7 (21m)

Laura: I don’t think she got into her match at the start, so I was able to speed up the pace, and to implant my own game. That confidence I took from the first game helped me to come back in the second where I was down 5/2.

And then the 3rd well, was a big battle, yes I know we did a lot of errors, I blame it on the courts, too warm… nahh, not the courts fault, just us….

Jaymie:
Last time we played was two years ago, and he literally blew me off court, he did so many reverse angles, I just didn’t see anything, I was not moving that well and he hammered me in no time at all.

Today, I think those courts were suiting me more than him, I tried and kept it tight and straight, my length went nicely to the back, while he was trying to hit very hard but it was too loose, and it didn’t do him much good.

First game pretty crucial, only taking it 11/9, that was a confidence boost that was, as I didn’t play squash at that kind of level for a long time. In the second, I was up 5/1 but found myself 8/9, so I just told myself to keeping it tight, no errors. Also, my straight drops worked well today.

I don’t think Mazen was enjoying it on there today, he didn’t do as many reversed angles I’ve normally seen him do.

I tried to show I was relaxed, outside that is, inside is another story, but I managed to convinced him I was relaxed at the end!

Wining 3/0 is brilliant, I’m happy with that, it’s my best performance in PSA for a while.
 

[5] Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) 3-0 [1] Mazen Gamal (Egy)
           11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (42m)

Jaymie takes his revenge

Last time those two played, it was in Sharm, and it didn’t go that well for the Englishman, who by his own accord “got blown off court”!

But today, on a very warm court – it was 31°C here in Nantes today, lovely sun and all, and the court was quite bouncy at the front, while more dead at the back.

Second could have been crucial, as Jaymie was up comfy 8/3 9/4, only to find his opponent right back on his heels, 8/9. But the Englishman was able to put a bit of pressure at the back to find two nice winners, 11/8.

As for the third, Jaymie was in control pretty much, 5/1, 6/2, again a nice claw back from Mazen 6/8, but it was not going to be enough, 10/6 match ball and 11/7, 42m.

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