Laurens Anjema vs. Hisham Ashour

The first semi-final match featured the strong Dutchman facing off against the imaginative Egyptian. Ashour looked ready from point one, and started off the quicker of the two, going up 7-1 in a matter of minutes. Having a field day with LJ`s poor length that was coming off the side walls at mid-court, it was perfect striking range for the Egyptian to hit a mix of deceptive attacking shots, including a lethal two-wall boast that has been hurting his opponents all week. Ashour produced a number of errors, but at 10-5 up, there was no doubt he would take the first. And he did 11-7.

The #1 seed strapped on a headband in the second and showed that he was ready to dig in and get serious. Helped on by a number of errors from Ashour, LJ established better length and finally started hitting some winners of his own, taking a 6-2 lead. But Ashour countered with some scrappy gets to equalize at 6-all, which evoked an excited pump-fist from the Egyptian who looks leaner and quicker than ever. A big point at 8-7 ended in a tin by LJ on the backhand drop, and it looked like Ashour would go up 2-0, however, the Dutchman did well to keep his nerve and hit a number of tight winners that allowed him to equalize from 8-10 down, and take the second game 12-10.

Ashour came on with a renewed onslaught of shot-making in the third, trying to hit the nick at every given opportunity, and successfully going up 6-2. At 7-4, the Egyptian hit a ridiculous backhand volley-drop (shifting the face of the racquet to slice the ball down- apparently his signature shot) that even got himself clapping in self-amazement. Insanity continued with two more cross-court roll-out nicks, to which LJ could only look on helplessly. Ashour took the third 11-4.

Errors (the Egyptian`s Achilles heel) finally started to creep in, letting the Dutchman get up 8-4 in the fourth. But to his credit, the lower ranked Egyptian kept clawing his way back, evening out his errors with fantastic winners. The score was neck and neck from 7-9 onwards. At 10-all, LJ seemed to have decided that he too would try his luck at going for his shots, but against a player with a family name like Ashour, it was not a good gamble. The points went back and forth until the Egyptian hit dying length at 14-13 to set up match point. And in fitting style, the always entertaining Hisham Ashour took the match 15-13 with a (surprise, surprise) backhand drop kill to complete a huge upset, winning 3-1 in 61 minutes.

David Palmer vs. Alistair Walker

The second semi-final match pitted the imposing Australian David Palmer against the fit and steady Englishman Alistair Walker. Palmer, who had quite a scare from the speedy Scotsman in yesterday`s quarter-final, again seemed to be having some problems getting comfortable on the bouncy court today. Walker went up 8-3, playing a more attacking game than in previous rounds, and mixing up his shots well. Palmer was sent in the wrong direction on a number of occasions, making the crowd wonder whether his strapped up ankle was covering up a real problem. Walker stayed strong and closed out the first quickly 11-5.

Palmer was visibly upset with the referee right from the start of the second game, arguing every call at length instead of playing the game. Nevertheless, the Australian was able to start dominating play across the T, with Walker yelling out the right observation of his own loose cross-court shots being systematically picked off: ``it`s too easy!``. Despite far too many stoppages due to interference, Palmer was in control throughout, winning the second comfortably 11-5.

There was not much between the two players in the third. Walker re-established tight length but was made to work hard to get around the tree-like Palmer, who claimed it as his right not to have to move out the way of his opponent after striking his shots. After a nice hold on a straight drive by Walker at 6-7, Palmer reached down to his ankle wincing slightly. Two errors by Palmer put the Englishman up 9-7, and he didn`t look back, taking the game 11-8.

This match-up may have looked completely different if it had been played on a glass court, but on the warm conditions in the snowy city of Montreal, Palmer seemed unable to really hurt Walker, who was picking up most shots and taking advantage of his opportunities. The Englishman came out attacking in the fourth, taking a 3-0 lead, and taking some risk as he went for his shots. A long rally at 5-all sent both scrambling and Palmer eventually diving into the wall, banging his hand into the wall. He was okay, however, and play continued. Walker kept his nerve taking the edge again 7-5, but then hit two unnecessary errors to let the Australian back in 7-all. Again at 8-all, both players started going ballistic over calls that were being made, as the contact mounted and neither seemed able to play any shot. Palmer threatened to forfeit the match, Walker was given a conduct warning after again making the correct observation: ``this is just ridiculous!`` In short, it was not a pretty game, but somehow Palmer came out on top 11-8 after much diving, blocking, cursing and conduct warning. The ref had to have a pep talk with the two naughty children after the fourth, which I doubt had any calming effect on either of them

A bit more squash was played in the fifth, with Palmer collecting his game and hitting some nice winners, while Walker grew increasingly frustrated trying to go through to play his shots (unsuccessfully) and getting no-lets. Palmer took a string of points to take the lead, which was enough to put him through. A disconsolate Englishman walked off the court, having lost the game 11-6 and the match 3-2, in an anti-climactic finish to an explosive 92-minute battle.

So the veteran David Palmer lives to see another day, and will face the firing Egyptian Hisham Ashour in tomorrow's final.

Walker vs Grant
 
In the first quarterfinal between Adrian Grant and Alister Walker, it was clear from the early rallies that the match would be a long one. Both players started basic, establishing their length and finding their width but at 3-3, Walker stepped up the pace and began taking the ball earlier and looking to take it short. His aggression paid off as he pulled away to 6-3, but 3 unforced errors allowed Grant to level as he began to match Walker’s pace. A string of lets at 7-8, was followed by a quick run by Grant, and he was at 10-7. A Walker hold sent Grant the wrong way to make it 8-10, but in the next rally Walker’s dive was in vain as Grant put the next ball away and closed out the first game.
 
Walker came out flying in the second, and was quick to establish a 3-1 lead. But Grant did well to absorb the increased pressure from Walker, using his lob from the front and off-pace lengths to contain Walker’s attacks. But from 6-6, Walker managed to pull away, and at 10-7 found just the right width on his cross-court kill to evade Grant’s desperate lunge, levelling the match at 1-1.
 
Walker came out fast again in the third and thanks to some uncharacteristic errors by Grant, moved quickly to 4-0. As both players upped the pace, Grant’s counter attacks began to find their mark and he nearly levelled at 4-5. But a not-up call against Grant threw off his concentration, and Walker widened the gap to 8-4. Despite a couple of errors, some great attacks by Walker earned him a game ball at 10-6. Walker then launched a flurry of attacks, and although Grant retrieved what seemed like 3 winners, the fourth proved too much and Walker took the lead 2-1.
 
The first half of the fourth was plagued with strings of unforced errors by both players and lots of lets, as they fought for position and tried to take the ball increasingly early. With a few breaks for discussions with the refs, they slowly worked their way up to 8-8. Despite both players taking their turn attacking and defending, the next two rallies ended with Grant not being able to pull Walker’s backhand drives off the wall, earning Walker a match ball. Grant pulled one back thanks to a Walker tin, but in the next rally a loose drive that both players seemed to expect to play a let on was called a stroke, and to Grant’s frustration and the surprise of many in the crowd, the 90 minute match was over and Walker became the first to advance to tomorrow’s semi-finals.

 
Palmer vs Clyne
 
On paper, Scotsman Alan Clyne, one of two qualifiers to make it into the quarterfinals, seemed to be a long-shot against the highly accomplished Australian, David Palmer. Palmer came out hitting hard and taking the ball early, making Clyne do a lot of work in the early exchanges. This tactic seemed to be paying off as Palmer quickly established a 6-1 lead. But some great gets and a few quick counters caught Palmer by surprise and Clyne slowly narrowed the gap to 3-6 and then 6-9. Although Palmer continued to dictate the pace, Clyne didn’t seem to mind the pressure, and used his speed to force a couple of errors from the Palmer racket, and moved to 8-9. But Palmer showed his experience as he tightened up, and one straight drop that clung to the wall, followed by a forehand kill, locked up the game 11-8.
 
In the second, Clyne came out determined and raced ahead 4-1. Palmer tried to up the pace up and unsettle the Scottsman, but Clyne hung in. Palmer was clearly having difficulty lunging and changing direction on his braced ankle, and Clyne took every opportunity to counter attack the big Australian, and used quick flicks to break up his fluid movement. Clyne slowly moved up to 10-6, and after Palmer guessed wrong for the third successive point, Clyne had tied it up at 1-1.
 
Palmer, still struggling with his movement, continued where he left off, applying constant pressure and moving Clyne around the court. Nevertheless, Clyne continued to withstand it, and waited for his chance to quickly counter. Some great drops by Clyne, and a string of mistakes by Palmer, gave Clyne a 9-4 lead. In the next rally, a seemingly minor collision between the players on the T sent Palmer to the ground clutching his right ankle, but play resumed after only a few minutes. With Clyne serving for the game, Palmer tried to up the pace again but misread him at the front, and Clyne took the lead 2-1.
 
Many in the crowd were beginning to write Palmer off, and as the players moved to 3-3, it looked as though an upset was in the works. But midway, Palmer changed tactics and began playing Clyne predominantly in the back, limiting his chances to hurt him with the counters that had previously been so effective. Clyne struggled to respond, and Palmer took the game 11-3.
 
In the fifth, Palmer was clearly moving better, and again used his length and holds in an attempt to break the Scotsman’s resolve. And it seemed to work. But at 7-3, Clyne began to dig in, and some great gets kept forcing Palmer to play one extra shot. While Clyne began to find some winners of his own, Palmer began to miss, and the game levelled at 8-8. But again Palmer steadied, playing long patient rallies, and not taking any chances at the front. Eventually, one length and a straight drop were two tight for Clyne, and Palmer had his first match ball. In the next rally a short crosscourt caught the nick, and it was enough to end Clyne’s great run and move Palmer on to the semis.

LJ Anjema vs Stephane Galifi

The third quarterfinal match was between LJ Anjema and Stephane Galifi. Stephane started a little slow in the first, maybe getting used to the glove he was wearing tonight, and LJ took a quick 4-0 lead after a tin and a few loose crosscourts that LJ put in the nick in the front. Galifi started tightening up and got LJ moving a bit more, coming back to 4-7. At 8-4,both players played a long rally, hitting good length and adding a few drops to move each other. A few strokes and no-lets brought the game to 10-5, and LJ won the first game 11-5 on a crosscourt into the tin by Galifi.

In the second game, LJ started out strong, using very tight shots and forcing Galifi to hit a few looser ones. LJ found the nick in the front three times, getting the score up to 4-1. Galifi started going short before LJ could, LJ reaching far for every shot, and equalled the score at 4-4, but two errors by Galifi gave LJ a lead again at 6-4. The next points saw about 10 or 15 lets, both players attacking without taking too many risks, and getting into each other’s way to the ball. Galifi made a few more unforced errors than LJ and lost that game 11-8.

In the third, points went to 2-2 after 4 unforced errors. The rallies were now pretty equal, both players using tight lengths, going short a few times, and playing some shots on the volley, but not enough to punish the other. At 6-5 for LJ, LJ hits a winner into the nick, and Galifi takes a little break and asks the ref what the call would have been if the ball popped up. This break didn’t really help him though, as he hits a tin and a ball out, now down 9-6.  Galifi played the next rally by taking the ball early on every shot, and came back at 7-9. LJ hit a dead crosscourt nick off the serve to have 10-7 match ball. Galifi tins the next and LJ takes the match in 3.

Jan Koukal vs Hisham Ashour

In the last match of the match, we were expecting a lot of attacking by Ashour. In the first rallies, Hisham used many attacking boast to move Koukal, but mostly to keep him from guessing the next shot, which he has been doing very well in his previous matches. Ashour takes a 8-4 lead with a few winners and good holds. Jan replied with similar attacking shots that took Ashour by surprise, to equal the score at 8-8. Hisham took the first game 11-9 after moving Koukal three times to the front with almost-perfect drops.

In the second, Koukal took at quick 3-0 with a perfect kill and errors by Ashour.  The rallies in the second remain very short, with a ball sent to the front at every 3 or 4 shots. Ashour takes the game 11-5 with better accuracy and a few errors by Koukal.

In the third, Ashour was again in control, making very few errors but many winners, and using his holds to get Koukal twisting the wrong way. Koukal was doing a good job of defending himself, but got a little anxious and went for winners as soon as he had a bit of an opening, many of them finding the tin. Ashour wins the match in 3, 11-3 in the third.