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Wed 25th, Day TWO: Qualifying Finals:
Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
bt Chris Simpson (Eng)
17/15, 11/6, 13/11 (65m)
plays Pilley
Nicolas Mueller (Sui) bt Stéphane
Galifi (Ita)
9/11, 11/4, 11/8, 11/5 (44m)
plays Anjema
Steve Finitsis (Aus)
bt Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/7, 11/6, 6/11, 11/6 (48m)
plays Iskandar
Dylan Bennett (Ned) bt Robbie Temple (Eng)
11/8, 11/8, 8/11, 6/11, 11/5 (66m)
plays Bianchetti |
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Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
bt Chris Simpson (Eng)
17/15, 11/6, 13/11 (65m)
Cuskelly wins a
close one
They don't come much closer than tonight's first
match, and while Ryan Cuskelly will be delighted to
have advanced to the main draw with a straight-games
win, Chris Simpson will feel aggrieved that an awful
lot of effort didn't even earn him a game.
The first game couldn't have been closer, barely a
point to separate them all the way up to 15-all. The
Australian had the first game ball opportunity, at
10-9, but Simpson had the advantage four time in
extra points but couldn't convert. At 15-all the
Englishman serve went below the line, and one point
later Cuskelly had the lead.
The second went the Australian's way relatively
quickly, and at 5/0 in the third it looked all over.
Simpson hung in though, and brought it back to
6-all. A run of four point saw Cuskelly earn four
match balls, but whereas he had been dictating the
pace earlier, Simpson was bossing the rallies as he
saved all four to force extra points.
At 11-all Simpson buried a ball deep into the back
wall, it was all Cuskelly could do to dig it out,
and of course it dribbled into the front corner nick
with Simpson waiting for it but unable to do
anything about it.
Four tough rallies, four lets, then Cuskelly send a
ball to the back just wide of his opponent's racket,
and the 'no let' decision sealed Simpson's fate.
 "I
was trying to make it hard in the first as I knew he
had a tough match with Brad yesterday. That worked,
it took a bit out of him for the second which I won
quite comfortably.
"Then I had good leads in the third but he dug in
and came back well. It could easily have gone to
five, he was getting his second win at the end of
the third.
"I'm pretty happy, played fairly solid and happy to
get off in three.
"I'll have to be at the top of my form tomorrow if I
draw one of the top three boys, but we'll see how we
go ..."
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 "It's tough to lose a match like that 3/0 but it
doesn't matter if it it's 3/0 or 3/2, it's still a
loss.
"I didn't quite stick to my game plan, and I made
more errors than he did - in a match as close as
that it makes all the difference. I felt fine
physically, but mentally I just need more
confidence.
"I played well to save game balls, and to get game
balls myself, then played weaker rallies to let them
go. That shot of his at the end just summed up my
day ..."
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"He's so talented, one of the best, and his movement
is so good, he just seems to walk around the court.
"I'd lost to him two or three times, so I knew what
I needed to do to beat him, keep the pace up and
make him work. Even if he won the first game or the
first two games I had to keep that going, and today
it worked.
"I've lost in the qualifying finals of a few big
tournaments, so it's good to finally win one,
especially beating someone I'd never beaten before."
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Nicolas
Mueller (Sui) bt Stéphane Galifi (Ita)
9/11, 11/4, 11/8, 11/5 (44m)
Mueller works it out
 Rising
Swiss star Nicolas Mueller claimed a place in the
main draw with a well thought-out win over Stéphane
Galifi.
The Frenchman's languid style disguises some
deceptively fast court movement, and his touch is
amongst the best. Those qualities were enough to
give him the first game, but Mueller made him work
hard for it, and the youngster didn't relent in the
next three games.
Keeping the pace as high as he could, Mueller
established good leads in each of the next three
games and worked hard to see them to fruition,
despite Galifi's best efforts and customary
discussions with the referee.
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Steve Finitsis (Aus)
bt Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/7, 11/6, 6/11, 11/6 (48m)
Finitsis makes it three
 It
was three seeding upsets in a row when Steve Finitsis, the
Australian who has been based in Almere for three months
now, overcame Julien Balbo in four games.
Like Mueller before him, the Finitsis plan seemed to be to
keep the pace high, and it paid dividends in the first two
games as he kept his opponent on the back foot, frequently
forcing errors from consistent pace.
Balbo managed to impose his game in the third, taking a 10-0
lead. No-one wants to lose 11-0 so Finitsis put in a big
effort to take his first point, and after winning a couple
more he seemed to believe he could complete the miracle
comeback (has anyone ever come back from 10-0?).
A rash volley into the tin put paid to those thoughts and
put Balbo on the scoreboard, but Finitsis had the momentum
back and carried it into the fourth, completing the win in
some style.
 "I
felt good physically, and calm. I know he has a good
all-round game but he doesn't attack as much as I do, so I
knew if I could keep the pace up I could wear him down
whereas he probably wasn't going to hurt me too much, and I
was confident in my fitness.
"I was well down in the third, he drew me into his slow
game, but I managed to get the pace up again and had a sniff
of winning it. Even though I lost it I had him a bit puffed,
so I knew I'd have a good advantage in the fourth.
"I can enjoy it now, especially since I came here as first
reserve, I didn't know if I was even going to get a game."
"He played well, I just wasn't fit enough to keep up that
pace. Congrats to him, I just need to go back to work, I got
a couple of tournaments left and I need some matches ..."
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 "Tough.
It was more of a mental game really. In the first two I was
more relaxed and he was doing the arguing, then it was the
other way round in the next two.
"I got a good start in the fifth, he argued a couple of
decisions and that cost him a few more points, I just needed
to push through and close it out.
"I've had a bad few weeks, but winning the Super Satellite
last week and now qualifying here, it feels good, I'm
definitely more confident and just happy that I can play the
way I want to play.
"Four upsets today, it just shows that after the top 20 it's
more about who plays well on the day than the rankings ..."
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Dylan
Bennett (Ned) bt Robbie Temple (Eng)
11/8, 11/8, 8/11, 6/11, 11/5 (66m)
Dylan doubles Dutch presence
A fourth seeding upset out of four meant two Dutchmen in the
main draw as Dylan Bennett saw a two game lead disappear but
managed to reassert in the decider to deny Robbie Temple.
It was a rather tetchy match, with both players at times
arguing with the referee, counter-productively as their
concentration waned and points disappeared.
A good start was crucial in this match as once one player
established a lead it was never relinquished, despite the
other's best efforts.
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