Thursday, January 26: Finals
What squash fans have been hoping for all week has come to pass: Yorkshiremen James Willstrop and Nick Matthew, the #1 and #2 ranked players in the world, are meeting tonight in the ToC final.
It's going to be the most significant match ever in the decades-old rivalry between these two -- the winner will hold the #1 spot in the rankings, and will likely end up with bragging rights that last the rest of their lives. It's a safe bet that neither player slept very well last night.
First, though, let's take a look at the women's final, which is going to be an intriguing battle of generations and playing styles.
Natalie Grinham (from Australia by way of the Netherlands, age 33, rank 8) vs. Dipika Pallikal (from India, age 20, rank 15). Grinham and her sister, Rachael, are long-established figures at the top of the women's squash world. (They were the top two seeds in the ToC women's draw, but Rachael got knocked off in quarterfinals.) Natalie returned to competition last year after taking time off to have a baby, and she's been methodically honing her game and working her way back up the rankings. Her play would probably be best described as "scrappy" -- she's small but powerful, quick around the court, and a master at varying her shots and changing pace, never allowing her opponent to establish a comfortable rhythm. When you see her warming up to play one of the bigger, younger women, you might find yourself thinking she's over-matched. You'd be wrong.
Pallikal has ramped up the glamour factor at this year's tournament. The home page of her website notes in a single breath that's she's both the highest ranked female player in Indian history and one of India's 50 most beautiful women (according to Loreal), and her matches have drawn a devoted fan base. (Between points, Vanderbilt Hall has echoed with cries of "Go Dipika!") Her game takes a page from "The Young and the Restless": she plays high risk/high reward squash, going for winners at every opportunity, living and dying by whether she can place the ball a few centimeters above the tin. Prediction: Pallikal has raised her game at the ToC; a win here would be her greatest accomplishment to date and send a message to the squash world that she's ready to join the upper echelon of players. For Grinham, the stakes aren't so high. The extra motivation could push the young Indian over the top, or it could be her undoing. I'm expecting the former. Pallikal, 3-1.
Now, on to the men:
James Willstrop (from England, age 28, rank 1) vs. Nick Matthew (from England, age 31, rank 2). When Willstop took over the #1 ranking from Matthew at the beginning of this month, it came with a significant caveat: yes James is #1, yes he's played brilliantly in winning the final three tournaments of the year -- but can he beat Nick? We'll get the answer to that question tonight. Over the course of their careers Matthew holds a whopping 15-4 advantage in head-to-head PSA matches. He's won their last 11 encounters, the most significant a gut-wrenching 2009 British Open final that stretched over two hours and was decided 12-10 in the fifth game. But they played only twice last year, and in the past few months Willstrop truly has been on an unprecedented tear. He's sailed through his half of the ToC draw without losing a game, which means he'll be fresh and fit -- though Matthew might gain some advantage from having honed his game against tougher opponents in earlier rounds.
As far as what to look for in the match: Willstrop's touch has been perfect all week -- expect him to be the aggressor, and Matthew to fly around the court, making bewildering retrievals and counterattacking. The pressure really is all on Willstrop: he has everything to prove against a rival who so far has dealt him a career's worth of frustration. If he can maintain his precision when the stakes are this high, he'll have answered any questions about his #1 status. Prediction: Unless you're from Sheffield, a Willstrop win is the feel-good story. Given the exceptional level of play he's shown so far in the tournament, I think he'll make the story come true. Willstrop, 3-2.
