England’s Nick Wall races through as day one in San Francisco turns into a lightning round

By Alan Thatcher

October 1, 2022 - 3:40am

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By ALAN THATCHER (Squash Mad Editor)

England’s Nick Wall took just 14 minutes to win through to the second round of the Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco.

The best-of-three format in this PSA Silver event produced five matches that took less than 20 minutes to complete, with Wall’s win over Pakistan’s higher ranked Tayyab Aslam the quickest of them all.

The Yorkshireman possesses great strength around the middle of the court and used this to full effect in only his fifth World Tour appearance.

He now faces No.6 seed and PSA Tour veteran Miguel Rodriguez today for a place in the quarter finals.

George Parker and Lucy Beecroft were other English winners as the opening day saw action taking place at three different squash clubs.

https://i0.wp.com/squashmad.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/6D84AAA5-B091-4E59-B291-2A9AB124DB9D_1_201_a.jpeg?resize=300%2C175&ssl=1 — Nick Wall enjoys a quick win

Six women’s matches took place at The University Club and Beecroft scored the first upset at this venue, taking out France’s Enora Villard in three games.

Beecroft started the match in great form, picking off her opponent with devastating attacks at the front of the court and after taking the first game 11-3, looked sure to be moving through in straight games.

Despite dropping the following game 12-10, Beecroft shook of the nerves that the best of three format can create and returned to business, winning the final game 11-5 to advance.

“It was so nerve-racking,” admitted Beecroft after her win. “I won the first and felt great, then I had a lead in the second but tensed up and she started to get some points back and get into the match. But I’m just glad I calmed down in the third and managed to get control of the match back and got through.

https://i0.wp.com/squashmad.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/6A0D9506-4511-419E-A369-FAF980998F83_1_201_a.jpeg?resize=300%2C207&ssl=1 — Lucy Beecroft battles through

“I just felt quite edgy. It felt like you had to really take any opportunity, It shouldn’t be any different as it’s just trying to win points, the same as any other match. But it just feels tenser on there with the best of three.

“Hopefully I can feel OK against Farida Mohamed. She’s a very attacking player. We’ve played before and she beat me 3-0 but who knows what will happen tomorrow? I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

"The pressure is off me now. Once I get past the RD1 matches, it gives me some breathing room to loosen up and actually play squash."

England's George Parker looks ahead to his clash with Saurav Ghosal after overcoming Rui Soares in RD 1 at the @ONOSquash

England’s Nick Wall races through as day one in San Francisco turns into a lightning round

England’s Nick Wall took just 14 minutes to win through to the second round of the Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco.

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