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Where were they born? Test your knowledge about the WISPA girls ...

EN BREF Issue #2

[4] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt [14] Natalie Grainger (Usa)     9/4, 10/8, 9/6 (45m)

GRINHAM ENDS GRAINGER'S RUN
Match Points from Steve Cubbins

The first semi-final started with some patient rallies, Natalie Grinham content to keep the ball long, Natalie Grainger not yet showing the attacking play that had got her to this stage. After nine rallies it was 1-0 to Grinham, and as Grainger worked her way into the match the scoreboard rolled on to 4-all and the match proper had begun.

And a fine match it was. Both players now using all corners of the court, unafraid to attack, with the front left corner the focus of both their attentions. From 4-all it was errors from Grainger that decided it, finishing on a stroke as Grinham took the lead.

The second game was one of mainly short, but high-quality rallies. Grinham held the upper hand - just - but Grainger stuck to her task. 4-all again, the 5-all, and Grinham moved ahead with a delicate drop and a stroke. This time though Grainger held on, levelling with a front-court winner of her own then a typical crashing cross-court drive from that front-left corner.

Six changes of serve, game-ball to Grainger on a drop-shot into the nick. Now it was getting really intense. Grinham levelled, moved ahead on a stroke and took the game on a lovely long drop-shot into you-know-where.

At 2-0 down Grainger could have cracked. On the balance of play she could feel slightly aggrieved, and at 4-1down in the third it looked as though Grinham - darting into the front in a blur, then darting back to the T just as fast - might ease her way into the final. But Grainger wasn't done. Even though the crashing drives that were winners yesterday were coming back today, she was putting enough pressure on the Australian to force marginal openings, enough of which she took as she recovered to 4-all, then to lead 6-5.

Grainger looked in the ascendancy now, but with both players urging themselves on with "c'mon" after important points ,it was Grinham who edged ahead, mixing incredible retrieving with intelligent ball placement.

A stroke took her to 8-6, and one attempted winner too many from Grainger found the tin and it was all over. Three-nil was a bit harsh on Grainger, but 45-minutes of quality squash was more than fair on the appreciative Ulster Hall crowd.
  

"Natalie played really well, I've not played her for quite a while, but I know she's a class act.

"My strategy was to keep running, and running, hit the ball up and take the chances when I could. I didn't make many errors today, which was a good thing.

"I know she's going to pick up on what I'm doing, so I had to adapt my game as we went along.

"We had a very close second game which I think was very much make or break for her. I was happy to take that game.

"For me at the moment it's just about improving my game, working on my fitness and speed. The Commonwealth Games was fantastic, but I don't think I played exceptional there, so I know I can get better.

"The crowd here are great, they get into it for both players, it's really enjoyable to play out there.

"For tomorrow, I know Nicol's game quite well, we've played a few times. Some people say she's a step ahead, but she's been pushed in recent matches and tournaments, and we all don't think she's far ahead of us. I'll just try to play to my strengths and their weaknesses, as always ...

"There were a lot of hard rallies in there. I thought I was getting ahead in the third, but she found away to stop me.

"I just needed one of the second or third games, she wasn't retrieving quite as well through the middle, giving me a few chances to attack.

"She did a good job of containing me in the first two games, she took her time well and I maybe rushed into it a few times instead of slamming it to the back.

"I didn't feel too tired, we were both working hard in the last few rallies, but she just managed to play those rallies better than I did.

"I'm very happy with my week here. I came to win but I played well and the best thing is I'm back to top four standard, mentally I feel better, I'm stronger and I feel good.

"I gave everything I had today, now I just need to work for that little bit extra, There's a couple of titles I haven't won yet, and I badly want to win them ..."

[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (Aus)              9/7, 9/1, 9/1 (46m)

NICOL IN HUNTING MODE AGAIN

After her match Natalie Grinham told the assembled press that, contrary to their belief that Nicol David was opening up a gap between herself and the rest, "we" all think she's beatable, and wouldn't says he's a step ahead.

Natalie's big sister Rachael is definitely included in that "we". She came so close to beating Nicol in Hong Kong, and even though she had lost ten on the trot to the Malaysian, the belief is still there.

3-0 to Nicol in the first became 7-3 to Rachael as she was sending Nicol the wrong way, moving her from front to back and from side to side with a lovely array of shots, and though the rallies were long, it was Rachael who was winning them, largely through Nicol's errors, it must be said.

But Nicol is renowned for her comebacks. Not from one or two games down, but from heavy points deficits in games. She seems to relish the hunt, emphasized by her ready-to-pounce-like-a-tiger pose as she waits for her opponent's shot.

And she hunted this one down. Relentless retrieving, volleying everything she could, cutting out the errors, the pressure on Rachael increased. And it never let up.

Three hand outs, then Nicol took the first with six unanswered points. Some great scrambling rallies in the second - a group on the back wall were particularly impressed, letting out whoops as both players retrieved the impossible - but Nicol won nine to Rachael's one. Same story in the third, and you could sense Rachael wondering what she had to do to win a point. She only won one in that game too, and Nicol was into her second world final.

Nicol's last defeat in the World Open was in the 2004 semi-final, at the hands of Natalie Grinham. Her last competitive defeat-but-one* was in the Commonwealth Games semi-final, at the hands of Natalie Grinham. It should be some final …

(* lest we forget, her last defeat was at the hands of Shelley Kitchen for the Commonwealth Bronze Medal)
  

"She took control right from the start, she was into it straight away while I was trying tom get my rhythm. There were constant long rallies in the first game, I just needed to make sure I hung in there. 

"It was only by the third game, when Rachael made a few errors, that I began to feel confident that I would win.

"Rachael can play some awesome shots, sometimes you just don't know what to do, and when we play it's always going to be who plays best on the day.

"It's been amazing here, we've been treated so well by everyone, and the crowd is superb. The venue is great, the class of the world championships is there, it's a great environment and definitely something to remember.

"I'm so glad to be in the final, and to be playing Natalie again, it's going to be so good, I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm expecting a long game ..."

"I felt as if there was nothing I could do today, it was so bouncy.

"It was too difficult to play anything short, and when I did she just killed it, so that really limited my options. There were so many long rallies where we were both waiting for the other one to go short.

"My normal game plan against her is to go short whenever I can, but I couldn't do that today. "

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