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Tuominen
outlasts #1 White; Boswell slips past #2 El Hindi
By A.J. Hakim
Birmingham,
Mich. - The bigger they are the harder they fall. If Day
One of the 2007 Motor City Challenge, presented by Suburban Infiniti,
was a predictable march of seeds, then Day Two was the complete
opposite. The top two seeds were eliminated in the semifinals
Saturday night in a pair of epic five-setters.
Top seeded
John White of Scotland and Finland’s Olli Tuominen set the tone
in the evening’s opening match, played at the Birmingham Athletic
Club. This one pitted a contrast in styles – the heavy-hitting
of Big John against the dogged retrieving of Tuominen. With White
ahead and in control of the match, 2-1, the fit Finn was fighting
for survival.
Game four held the key. With Olli ahead 8-6, the ensuing rally
completely altered the complexion of the match.
“I think I went to
every corner ten times,” joked world #8 White. “It was just one
of those rallies where, being down 8-6, I just wanted to win the
next point to get it down to one. Halfway through I just told
myself ‘give it up, it’s too much work,’ but then I thought ‘no,
if you win it, it will become more comfortable for you and demoralizing
to him. It was like win or lose and that was it.”
The point went to
Tuominen and worked as a sort of double-edged sword: Tuominen
went up 9-6 in the match, while also fatiguing White.
“The end
of the fourth game - especially that one rally where he ran around
a lot - I think that sort of finished him and ended his will to
win the match,” said Tuominen, world #17. “In the fifth game he
was quite tired and he didn’t really try in the beginning.”
White heats up his forehand howitzer. (Photo
copyright Birmingham Athletic Club)
White, visibly
exhausted, wasn’t able to find his second wind and the MCC’s #1
seed was done, falling to four seed Tuominen: 9-11, 11-4, 10-12,
11-6, 11-6.
“When you start thinking
you have full control, you start to lose all control,” said White
of his early lead. “Then (Tuominen) picked his game up, and he’s
quick and picks up every ball, so you have to be willing to have
that grinding out match.”
“He’s very
accurate and plays at a high tempo,” said Tuominen, who holds
a 4-1 career record against the big-hitting Scot. “Somehow, I’m
able to match that tempo and the pace at which he puts the ball.
I played the ball well enough to get the balls back and make him
tired.”
The
second semi pitted Australia’s Stewart Boswell, world #12, against
Egypt’s Wael El Hindi, world # 10, in a contentious contest that
featured 69 lets. Three-seed Boswell upset the second-seed El
Hindi in five grueling games: 12-10, 12-14 (2-4), 7-11, 11-3,
11-9.
(See
"Semifinals" continued in third column)
Wael
El Hindi (left) was an immovable force on the tee, but Australia's
Stewart Boswell found his way around the Egyptian to gain a berth
in the MCC finals Sunday. (Photo copyright Birmingham Athletic
Club)
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Olli Tuominen
