What was your strategy before the match?
My game plan was to play tight, very tight, and not give him any openings. David is very dangerous in the middle, and volleys extremely well so you have to take him out of the centre.

But it didn’t go well at the beginning…
To start with I think I wanted to play too short and score the point early, but I soon realised that I had to work the man. I was in a pretty positive spirit, I wanted to play, I wanted to win, maybe too much to start with, so as usual I started very badly - me and my super starts ...

Yes, we’re used to them by now, mate…
And then?
Well, I knew I had to find my length, make him stretch, and I felt more comfortable during the match than I think he was. Once I found a good compromise between defence and attack things started going my way. I was in good control of the T, and I could feel he was a bit tired. I had the feeling his legs were maybe a bit heavy from his previous matches, so I didn't hesitate to play short.

Good feeling now then…
Yop. This victory means a lot to me as I haven't beaten David in PSA for three or four years, he's one of those players I couldn't find a solution to. My patience paid off tonight.
 

You lose in the final. A bit disappointed?
I think that he was really hungry that day, I had to play two or three more attacks than usual on every point because he is in such great physical shape.

Any technical analysis of your defeat?
I was a bit short, and he just played that much better than me, he was just that much hungrier. I gave everything to come back in the fourth, I gave everything, and when it came to the fifth, the mental had gone, the body had gone, and the legs had gone.

Overall, I know I did my best, I did my maximum today, he was just too good. But like I told you after the match, “I'll be back, that's all I have to say, and next time, I'll be sharper..."
  

Thierry, always the same problem when you play Peter, too much respect….

I know! I didn’t really play the first two games, I was basically lost on the court, I didn’t know what to do. He was cutting off my attacks, he was volleying my crosscourts, he was finding the angles… I felt that I was watching him instead of playing squash. It has to be said also that I had trouble reading his forehand, so I was always slightly late, and he took full advantage of it. He varied his game very well, he boasted superbly, and I ended up paying the price.

And he was in a pretty good shape considering he played Anthony Ricketts, and saved 6 match balls in a row…

Yes, I fooled myself. Because of the intensity of his match the day before, I didn’t expect him to hang me out to dry from the first ball of the match! "I feel that he stopped me from expressing myself, prevented me from playing, that’s how I analyse what happened…

Yop, but my analysis, like I told you, too much respect…
 
You maybe right, I don’t know…
    

A match to be forgotten, isn’t it? You lose against the Magician in the quarter…

I got myself into a « let game », and I don’t understand how that happened. That is the game he dwells on, he loves breaking the rhythm…Now, he was very prepared for this match, mentally and physically. We had a big game, we gave it all, and it was all played on a few winning points. My only regret is to have lost my focus in the second and in the third…"
 

You know how unhappy I was with you after that match… You were all over the place…

Yes, you are right, I wasn't concentrated enough to start with, I have the crew from Stade 2 with me, and my friends from Marseille, maybe I didn’t isolate myself enough, I wasn’t in my “bubble” ... my “bubble” exploded today…

At the moment, everybody is so nice with me, so complimentary, maybe I’m getting a bit soft, and it’s time somebody gave me a good kick in the backside… So before a match, if you see me going, you’ve got my authorisation to bring me back down to earth, ok??

Oh boy you can count on that one…
Moving on. About the match..

To start with, I didn’t have enough weight on the ball, my length wasn’t there, I had trouble controlling the rallies, Lee was controlling the T superbly…

In the fourth, I really dug in, I could see my mates from Marseille, right next to the court, and I just didn’t want to lose. I know that Lee thought that my drop shot was down on the first match ball, but I really saw it good, I saw it superb actually, otherwise, I would have called it…

You saved 7 match balls in that match. Where do you think you get that… determination from??

I don’t know why I like digging my heels in when I’m down match ball so much ... Maybe it comes from Judo, a sport I used to practice quite a lot when I was younger…

Maybe that's where that competitive spirit comes from, and allows me to hang on in there, like I did so many times…When the match is very close, when the rallies are really “hot”, I just focus totally on the rally.

I forget about everything, the referee, my opponent, the only thing I’m thinking about is winning the point…I just didn’t want to lose…
  

But then again, it all was too much, the match against a fresh Anthony Ricketts after the withdraw of Peter Nicol on injury, 4 match balls saved, then the semi against Lee, another 7 match balls… And a final against a fresh Jonathan with only one match really, in the first round against you…

Well, he was tactically superior. I couldn’t follow his pace, I was overwhelmed by his speed… He took the ball so early, and gave a rhythm to the match I just couldn’t follow…

He just dangled me on a piece of string… He was dictating the pace all along…He was so precise, and I was constantly late… I gave him plenty of openings, and he exploited them beautifully…

And at the end of the day, you’ve got a beautiful 3/0. Mentally, I was tired, and physically, I couldn’t fight tonight… Just too tired from the week, really…

You were disappointed with your defeat once again against the Boss Nicol in the final of the World Games in Germany.

The key thing is Peter's stamina, his extra endurance - and in these conditions that really makes a difference. He is playing better at the moment - he's much stronger at the back of the court, and quicker and more accurate down the walls.

It's really hard to create an attacking position against him. It shows what a great athlete he is that he can put in a performance like that. It's clear that he's been training hard - his motivation is amazing.

But the World Games had been really good for me in my preparation for the Pakistan Open. I needed some stressful situations.
 

Franck Carlino analyses Thierry's loss to Peter in the British Open

Back to Pakistan…
After my more or less catastrophic starts in earlier rounds , I had to assess the problem, I had to get in condition, in the best starting condition possible. It was all in the head, really, I told myself to start at my best, and to play the first rallies as I would play the crucial ones.

So you pass Shahid, just, a good match against Anthony, and the final against David…
Yes, the pace of the first game was immediately very high, I made very few mistakes. Also, I told myself that I had to be offensive at the back of the court, and that I had to prevent him from volleying. I had to avoid crosscourts, and when he was in front, I had to play straight counterdrop, or cross court very wide. I studied his game a lot, you know…

In the second, I cut the trajectories much better, was quick on the T, I was a bit more on the back foot, I had trouble coming back, I was a bit too static, a bit too passive, and my length was not good enough to pass him. He was controlling the game really.

I then made an excellent start in the third, lots of weight on the ball, tight, I took the ball early, I made him run, good shot variety, and there I was lucky, all my shots were winning shots, drop shots, crosscourt backhand dropshots, back of the court dropshots, anything went…

Yes, you gave him 1 point…
It was really amazing….It went so well that I wanted to do the same in the fourth, but got it all wrong! I wanted to play a winning shot far too soon, too short too soon, whereas in the third I was playing very well, very early, very quickly, but it was backed up with a good preparation, and I had created myself opportunities. I was too impatient, I was also starting to get tired. I relaxed a bit, and wanted to do too much…

Back to 2/2.
Yes, in the fifth, I made a good, a very good start. I think that David had also to dig in and spend a lot of energy to come back to 2/2. I felt he was a bit tired, he was a bit slower to come back on the T, he was a bit more passive, less heavy on the ball. So I told myself to take the ball as early as possible, and to send everything to the back, back, back, make him run, patience, patience, not to make the error. And then it was he who started to make the faults…

You told me that you received some help, didn’t you?
Yes, my two coaches helped me tremendously yet again during this tournament. First, my physical preparation with Paul Sciberras, and then racquet work with Franck Carlino, plus Franck’s support three times a day by phone during the tournament. Thanks to those two.

Did you believe you could win this tournament?
Well, during the whole tournament, I was extremely focused, and although David was playing extremely well, I never thought the title was out of my reach. I was happy to win, because I was been looking for a major title for eight months now while being world number one. I wanted to confirm my ranking, it was crucial for me.

 And because that victory was so important for me, it was a lot of weight on my shoulders, a lot of pressure. I lost in finals in New York, in London, in the World Games. So I was delighted to win at last, and to win in the country that nursed Jahangir and Jansher…