Grainger on fire at the Burning River Classic

By Nathan Dugan

On March 10th over 120 Clevelanders squeezed behind a court at the Cleveland Racquet Club to witness a final filled with stroke-making of the highest caliber. Natalie Grainger and Isabelle Stoehr produced some outstanding quality for the inaugural Color Matrix Burning River Classic, a $20K WISPA tour stop. It took 43 minutes for Grainger, a recent US citizen, to prevail over the French National champion in what was by far her sternness test of the tournament. Both players exchanged nick volley winners and tight drop shots all the way through the match but when Grainger, the world #6, took the second 10-8 after needing five game balls, the mental fatigue started to show on her opponent who was ranked just ten places lower. Had Stoehr sneaked either of the first two games, the outcome may well have been different. As it played out it was Grainger who became the events first champion in Cleveland.

Women’s pro squash had never been a part of Cleveland’s squash calendar, but by the end of the qualifying rounds, the spectators’ appetites were wetted and an enthusiastic buzz generated with the anticipation of the four days of squash to follow. Day one of qualifying saw the comeback of Karen Kronemeyer after a year’s hiatus from the tour; her return was short- lived though as the former top 40 player lost to Lauren Siddall in a tense four-game encounter. Three local Cleveland juniors, Pia Trikha, Amy Smedira and Rachel Leizman, enjoyed the experience of playing a top world player. They all managed to put a point on the score board, losing to Donna Urquhart, Lisa Camilleri and Katie Patrick respectfully. The top four seeds in qualifying all progressed on day two without the loss of a game between them. Three young Aussies, Donna Urquhart, Peta Hughes and Lisa Camilleri, proved to be too physical for their opponents, while Canadian Alana Miller joined the trio into the main draw by beating fellow Canadian Katie Patrick.

The main draw which commenced on day three was comprised of 15 of the world’s top 50 players. The qualifiers who had looked so impressive the day before failed to make much of an impact in the main draw. Miller’s reward for qualifying was to draw the top seed Grainger who always looked in control of their match up and Rebecca Botwright enjoyed the same dominance over Lisa Camilleri. Donna Urquhart and Peta Hughes were both unable to take a game from Dominique Lloyd-Walter or Isabelle Stoehr, but made their opponents work a little harder for their victories, maybe giving them a little scare in the process. Second seed Kasey Brown looked very convincing against Irish Champ Aisling Blake as did Jaclyn Hawkes against Dutch Champ Orla Noom. The only seeded player to fall in the first round and indeed the first upset of the tournament came at the hands of Manuella Manetta. World #20 Tegwen Malik was the victim of a graceful display of holds and angles that flowed from the young Italian. Malik looked as though she may have been given a lifeline when Manetta tensed up with the finish line in sight, but a couple of crosscourt flicks at crucial times gave Manetta the win and a quarter final match up with Latasha Khan who was the recipient of a walkover due to illness which hit Amelia Pittock.

Grainger started quarter finals night by showing Cleveland why she was the top seed by dismantled Botwright’s game for just six points. New Zealander, Hawkes, had taken Lloyd Walter to five in February so their match was eagerly awaited. Lloyd-Walter had no intentions of making this another classic; though she produced some of the tightest squash of the tournament thus far, finishing Hawkes in three. The bottom half of the draw produced two upsets; first Manetta continued her destruction of the seeds when she came from 2-1 down to beat Khan in five. Manetta’s semi-final opponent would be Stoehr, who came through a 74-minute thriller with Brown. The game started at an incredible pace with Brown keeping Stoehr out of the front of the court and this continued until Brown held a game ball for a 2-0 lead. Stoehr wasn’t going to give the game to the Aussie though and the longer the game progressed, the more Stoehr worked herself into attacking positions and was able to use her deception effectively. Eventually Stoehr won the longest match of the tournament 3-1.

Lloyd-Walter looked as if she was capable of taking the biggest scalp of her career when she won the first game of her semi-final against Grainger 9-3. This proved to be a mere lapse for the WISPA president and she came back to win the second 9-0! From then on it was smooth sailing for the tournament favorite. Manetta was unable to produce a third upset in three days as Stoehr ended her valiant effort in three. Manetta again produced some wonderful touches at the front of the court, but if it wasn’t perfect, Stoehr was able to use her deceptive wrist to take control of the rallies. Despite her small size, Stoehr moved impressively and was able to up the tempo and apply too much pressure on her opponent. Arguably the two most talented and deceptive players in the tournament had made it to the final and the crowd would be in for a treat of attacking flair the following day.