[4] Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-1 Tom Walsh (ENG) 11-5, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8 (62m)
Those two played a few times in the juniors, H2H goes to Curtis, but they hadn’t played for a while.
Curtis had a great start, a dream start really, 6/1, 8/2, 11/5 in 9 minutes, 4 errors from Tom, plus a stroke conceded, 0 error from Curtis.
But once Tom, 26, same age as Curtis, got used to the glass – he had played a massive match the day before – I found that his game was far more dangerous on the glass than it is on a traditional court. Sharp short game, fast movement, digging an awful lot and retrieving whatever Curtis was throwing at him.
Not only that, but by playing at a ridiculous fast pace and choosing what seemed to the naked eye being random shots, Tom managed to break Curtis’ structure. The Malik WingMan was out of his comfort zone a lot, and managed to contain his opponent by digging his hills in, and weathering the storm…
From 2/2 in the second, Tom seemed to fly to the four corners, creating a comfortable gap, 8/4, 11/6 in again 9m.
Double that length for the 3rd, 18m! The rallies, played at 200m/h, I kid you not, were extremely high quality, with your servant unable to guess where the heck the ball was going to go! Intense, fast, exciting. Curtis seemed to be in charge at times, score wise, only to be caught out, again and again! 3/1, 3/3, 6/3, 7/4, 7/7, 10/7, game ball, 10/10. He needed 4 game balls to clinch that crucial second.
Still very good quality squash, 2 errors only for Curtis, 8 winners, and 3 unforced errors for Tom, 7 winners.
The last game is about on the same wave length, one minute longer actually. 2/0 Tom, 2/2, 5/2 Curtis, 6/6, 8/8.
The end of that game was not for the weak hearted. Headless chickens come to mind, a superb attack cross court from Malik, 9/8. The video ref kept busy, for decision and ball up or not up, plus a few lets, finally, Curtis match ball 10/8. Curtis slows down the pace by lifting it, lobbing it, and it works, after an excruciating rally, Tom finally make the error.
“Never in doubt”, Camron Malik face – the dad and coach – seemed to say… NOT.
Curtis : “I really think that Tom is one of the best at backing up a long match. I remember he backed up a 100-minute match at Europeans and he was fine, so I knew it was going to be a battle today.
“A few years back, with the strength of Mo and Marwan [ElShorbagy], and the way Patrick [Rooney] was playing, I never thought I was going to get in. It’s been so nice coming into that team. I think I have gone from strength to strength in that environment.
“I hope Mo is okay [regarding his injury]. It’s a big season coming up.”
