Well, we have now reached the semis of the Viridian Aust Open and just witnessed a match between Nick Matthew and David Palmer.  A great contest but Matthew was too sharp. My comments on those three games for those who watched the match live.

Game 1 - Both players started off cautiously and patient.  The back corners were the main focus with excellent early immeddiate racket preparation for the oncoming shot. The unexpected boasts were the tricks at the front.  Volleying was critical in keeping the pressure on.  With two six footers on court any half court shot made the decisions a referees nightmare!  My question is why some volley boasts were not attempted when the opponents were crawling over each other. At least that would have drawn them away from each other.  Palmer played well and showed a lot of experience, and as normal, the Refs calls brought about frustration.  The rules say that you must clear the ball and give the incoming striker freedom to play their shot, as well as states a player must make every effort to play the ball...so was there some blocking going on??? The majority of these frustrating decisions happened on half court balls, so if you play a half court shot you put yourself at a disadvantage and take the consequences if the opponent is onto it immediately!! Thereby hangs the Refs intrepretation "let or no let".  This game was the deciser in the end with Matthews winning. 

Game 2 - The first game sort of took the edge off Palmer and mentally and physically Matthew looked the fitter and sharper player.  The quick twisting and turning did not help Palmer's injured ankle.

Game 3 - Well, I will never know if a few quick volley boasts from mid court, when the opponent was on each others heels would have made any difference...probably not in the end, but it may have prevented those awkward ref decisions.

Well done Nick Matthew.

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Nicol David (Mal) will play her first Australian Open.

Nicol has taken a lot from our local Aussie Champions in that she trains with Liz Irving in Amsterdam as her regular base and visits yearly to spend time with Sarah FitzGerald and Vicki Cardwell.in Melbourne during the off-season.

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