RETRIEVING MEANS COUNTER-ATTACKING: RAMY ASHOUR vs. TAREK MOMEN

Probably the two most exciting players to watch on the tour, Ramy Ashour and Tarek Momen give us a pretty good example of how the Egyptians conceive the idea of "retrieving". In their eyes, retrieving is not always just getting out of trouble, it is also opportunity to counter-attack in unattended fashion. 

In general Egyptian squash is labelled as attacking, and it is exactly the attacking mentality that teaches them also, as a logical consequence, the retrieving skills. At the end of the day, Ramy wins as many points with inch-perfect width and length as he does with his more fancy solutions, the volley-nicks and cross-drops. 

Concerning Tarek Momen, this rally demonstrates that he is very near or equal to Ramy when it comes to attacking; but he doesn't really master yet the notion of "squeezing a point out of the opponent", he mostly wins (and loses) his points either with a straight winner or a tin. As soon as he learns just a bit from Ramy how to vary more the factors of pace and heights, he will knock straight away on the door of the top5, in my opinion.

RAMY ASHOUR + JAMES WILLSTROP + USA = MASTERPIECES FOR THE AGES

Well, if there had been only that extraordinary triple-fake by James Willstrop at 6:10, matchball down in the fourth game, this match would already feature in the history books. But just two rallies earlier, at 03:49 in the below video, there was the sauciest nonchalant shot ever, by Ramy Ashour of course. And about a dozen of another incredibly skilful solutions executed with casual ease. James and Ramy have a long story together, and for some reason they almost always take squash to an extraterrestrial level when they play in the USA. You know the 2011 masterpiece at the TOC in New York, or even some of their earlier TOC matches, but I consider a masterpiece even last year's North American Final where James Willstrop demonstrated that IT IS possible to contain Ramy Ashour, it is just god-dam rare as you probably need to consult the gods to achieve it the night before the match.

THE EXTRAORDINARY TRIPLE FAKE by JAMES WILLSTROP

Even though considering the whole match, Ramy Ashour created another masterpiece against James Willstrop in the semi-final of the 2013 North American Open, finally it's Willstrop's turn to drive Ramy crazy and make him feel what it means to get a massive "taxi". In some way, James can praise himself of revenging virtually also the majestic double fake that Amr Shabana inflected to him a few months ago at the Queens club in London. All in all, I think it's just fair that for once, and even if for just a couple of seconds, James Willstrop produces more flair than Ramy. He deserves it as he deserves the standing ovation.

CAROUSEL SQUASH II.: JONATHAN KEMP vs. MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

A few months back we've aready had a "carousel" rally with Gregory Gaultier and Simon Rosner.and another one with Alister Walker and Chris Simpson. "Carousel rallies" are similar to what we call "Four Corner Squash", when every corner of the court is employed/explored/visited, with the slight difference that in a "carousel" rally we've got also looser balls and not always perfect shot-selections; albeit the lower quality of some of the shots the athletic ability of the players allow them to stay in the rally and shift the momentum again with some unexpected solutions and so on. 

This time it's two of my favourite "outside the top10" players, Jonathan Kemp and Miguel Angel Rodriguez who show us some furious volleying and attacking. You might remember me praising Rodriguez a couple of times (The Man Who Likes To Go The Wrong Way, Probably The Most Outrageous Shot Of All Times, Squash Going Crazy Again) this time let's concentrate on his opponent.
Even though I hardly ever had the opportunity to talk about him, I am an absolute fan of Jonathan Kemp; it's "agressive squash" at its purest, such a high "T"-position, chasing always the volley. It's also funny if you have ever met Jonathan in the flesh, as his personality is in total opposition with the aggressiveness of his squash; he is one of the nicest and most modest persons you will ever meet (reminding me Stewart Boswell in this respect).
He is about to retire as far as I know so please make sure to remember one of the great under-achievers of the modern times (his highest ranking having been #20).
If you ask me why he has under-achieved I would guess that it was partially due to the very demanding nature of the type of squash that he has chosen for himself; to be that hight on the 'T' and chasing the volley even more than Nick Matthew or Ramy Ashour requires an extreme physical talent and preparation. Kemp might probably have gone higher in the rankings with a slightly more conservative aptitude, but we squash-watchers would have definitely lost some of the unique blend that he has created throughout his carrier with this relentless attacking style. Luckily, Kempy will keep working in squash circuits and we wish him success for his future coaching carrier. We look forward to see some young Egyptian-type English players coming out of his hands...

ROCK AND ROLL SQUASH: RAMY ASHOUR vs. GREGORY GAULTIER IN THE 2013 TOC FINAL

Before this year's event, Nick Matthew said that the TOC is the only tournament where the squash players feel like Rock stars. Well, here you have it, Gregory Gaultier on the drums, Ramy Ashour on the guitar. Super Mario stuff.

BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH - 2013 TOC FINAL: RAMY ASHOUR vs. GREGORY GAULTIER

Okay, we've said it thousands of times already, you get each time the very best of squash for your money at the Tournaments of Champions in New York City / Grand Central Terminal. 

If you follow us on facebook or twitter you also know that my money was on Gaultier for this one. And I was not that far off the truth. But Ramy Ashour is the best player ever, even if he would chose to retire tomorrow. When did he lose the last time? In May at the British Open. That's 8 months being unbeaten in an era where the general level of the field and competitiveness is way higher than back in the times of the other two greatest palyers ever, Jahangir and Jansher Khan.

JUST THE USUAL TOC MAGIC: JAMES WILLSTROP vs. RAMY ASHOUR

You know this blog now for a while, we always try to capture some interesting technical or tactical details based on a rally or two. But sometimes it's just so nice just to keep the mouth open and stare and say a big thank you to the players. Mr. Willstrop, Mr. Ashour, will you please accept the expression of our deep respect.

BEST AND WORST WAY TO CONCLUDE A MATCH: GREGOIRE MARCHE vs. OLLI TUOMINEN

Oups! Hitting a volley nick is always a pleasure. Finishing a match with a volley nick is always an extra pleasure. Getting your biggest win of your carrier by date with a volley nick makes it even more special. You probably just have to make sure that you don't knock your opponent's head off afterwards ;) Anyway, welcome to the blog Gregoire Marche, one of the potential up-and-coming players to be confirmed in 2013.

HITTING THE BALL TO THE BODY II.: AMR SHABANA vs. NICK MATTHEW + 2013 TOC PREVIEW

I guess most of you have already seen the highlights of the PSA World Series Finals, Amr Shabana's steam roller win over Nick Matthew. The reason why I am getting back to this clip is the shot at 4:01. 

I have never seen a solution like this. Of course, the-cross-court-to-the-body, is a shot that both Matthew and Shabana play with predilection (in fact, they are probably the two best to employ it, as this earlier example also shows it), but it's always played from the front when they are late on the ball and squeezed in a corner from where a straight passing shot would result in a stroke and a wide cross court shot would probably be chased down by the opponent; but this version played from around the 'T' is new to me. I can't decide whether Shabana hit this one on purpose or not, but he for sure he reacted very fast to clear Matthew's path, who on his turn could not avoid to be hit by the ball. So even if the shot was not intentional, it was very quick thinking and reacting by Shabana to make sure that Matthew can not argue that he couldn't get out of the way of the ball because of his opponent's obstruction.

By the way, just out of curiosity, did you know that Shabana and Matthew could meet again as early as in the second round (last 16) at the 2013 Tournaments of Champion in Grand Central Station in New York? If the black-purple court of the Queens Club in London is the best court in the world, then the Vanderbilt Hall of the Grand Central Terminal is probably the most beautiful and also the most exciting site for a squash tournament. The mystical darkness and the relative smallness of the Queens Club produces a hermeneutic, almost sacred ambiance, whereas the sumptuous Art Nouveau architecture and the huge amount of noise and light of the main New York train terminal create a much more dizzy, distracting context to play in. 

Will the warrior, Nick Matthew get his revenge or will the squash god that Amr Shabana is maintain his almost transcendental winning mood under the totally opposite conditions? And if he will, will it be also enough against the best current player is in the world, Ramy Ashour? What a final that would be.

OKAY, THE VERY BEST DOUBLE FAKE EVER: JONATHON POWER vs. MARTIN HEATH

So we had Amr Shabana a few days ago concluding a perfect tournament, and producing an incredible double fake against James Willstrop in the semi-final. I have been reminded then by some attentive readers that in fact, Shabana's shot is only the second best ever double fake, as the very best has been produced by Jonathon Power about nine years ago. Well, I knew that shot from Power, but I thought to remember that it was an exhibition match, as Martin Heath, just before Power's lizard shot, made himself two cork-screw lobs (the second one even on a volley!), so it was three exhibition-like shots in a row, but, as I realize now, in a real competitive match. The image quality is horrible as it is dating almost a decade, but latest in the replay from the frontwall camera point of view you will understand the complexity of the faking. And listen how amazed the co-commentator, the great Jonah Barrington himself was!

Note, even if the image quality is even worse, the second rally where, at 1:08, Power shows another double fake, probably a less spectacular one but still so crazy! Faking first the backhand and then hitting a forehand with unbelievable dexterity. 

THE BEST DOUBLE FAKE EVER: AMR SHABANA vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

We've had in the past a few examples of Amr Shabana and James Willstrop employing the double fake in the front of the court: showing a menacing a big swing just not to hit the ball with that swing and then hitting a subtle drop shot. Well, in the past Shabana might have missed one or the other, but the below one must be clearly one of the best ever. By the way, it looks like there is no way to beat him on this dark-purple court in the Queens Club, he just won the title again by crushing Nick Matthew after having lost the first game.