Friday, January 27: The Morning After
To quote Mitt Romney, "This ain't beanbag." And to quote James Willstrop,"This game is so mental it's ridiculous." Last night's ToC final between Willstrop and Nick Matthew was a highly tense, fiercely competitive a battle, with Matthew demonstrating decisively that he was the fiercer competitor.
Both players began the match with caution, driving ball after ball to the back of the court. When they began to loosen up, Willstrop took the first game through a combination of slightly more subtle play at the front, a well-timed back-wall nick, and a couple of "no let" decisions in his favor.
At that point it seemed Willstrop's high-quality shot-making might give him the edge in the match, and he did nothing to dispel the notion at the beginning of the second, getting out to a 5-2 lead. But Matthew pushed through, sometimes literally, punishing Willstrop both by running him ragged and using let situations as an opportunity to apply some physical contact. It appeared to take its toll on Willstrop both mentally and physically; at the crucial conclusion of the second he tinned a shot that would have brought him to game ball, then surrendered two strokes in the front right corner to give Matthew the game.
The score was one all, but Matthew had the upper hand and would never really relinquish it. Willstrop was wearing down. He was moving marginally slower and letting lose shots creep into his game, and Matthew skillfully exploited the weakness. It wasn't easy -- Willstrop showed some flashes of fight -- but it was decisive.
The quality of play was exceptionally high in the match, as you would have expected. It wasn't far in, though, before I felt a sensation that had been surprisingly absent thus far in the ToC: I missed Ramy Ashour. His performances in earlier years -- particularly his matches against Willstrop -- had been remarkable displays of skill and strength, minus the gamesmanship and animosity that were tangible last night. Let's hope that at this time next year Ashour is fully battle ready.
As for Matthew and Willstrop, it will be fascinating to see how their rivalry plays out from here. If things go according to seed, they'll be meeting again in the final of the British National Championships in just two weeks, and then again in the North American Open at the end of February. If those match-ups do in fact come to pass, you can bet that Matthew will be confident and relentless. How Willstrop will bounce back from last night's gutting defeat is harder to guess.
After the men's final, the earlier women's match seemed like a distant memory, but lest we forget, it was beautiful display of shot-making from Natalie Grinham, whose game looks like it's returned to the highest level. Dipika Pallikal showed signs of nerves, but even under the best of circumstances she'd have been hard-pressed to match Grinham's spot-on precision.
All in all, it was a boon to have a women's draw in the ToC this year. With any luck it's here to stay.
