Henry Henman has overturned his loss to Lewis Williams barely a week ago, with a straight-sets win in the quarter-finals of the Eastern Open in a match characterised by relentless and repeated gallery hitting.
The first quarter-final started half an hour late owing to a motorway incident on the way into Cambridge. It was between the third seed Vaughan Hamilton and the seventh seed Claire Fahey. Hamilton let his frustration at the situation bear on him over the first few games but quickly settled down to business. He didn’t seek to slam forces past Fahey, instead trying to pressure her down her backhand side any time she pitched her railroad long. Instead, it was Fahey who was trying to force, but couldn’t get it on target nor send in a ball that troubled Hamilton’s volley. After battling to 3/2, Fahey’s railroad started to pitch high on the back wall, inviting Hamilton to slam some main wall dedans. It helped him break through the last three games of the set, going 1-0 ahead.
In the second set, Fahey returned to her classic line and length play, beating Hamilton on the balls deep into the corners. She briefly moved to a demi-pique, but swapped back to a demi-pique when Hamilton started dumping returns into the net. Fahey won the first four games of the set, before Hamilton readjusted his posture. Facing a big 5/2 deficit, his forces started clearing the net again, and he was picking off the attacking shot earlier in the reste. He dominated from the service end for the next few games, with Fahey’s only chance being to get a couple of short chases and serve. Yet Hamilton was able to beat several with forces at the dedans, sending the set to a deciding game. Hamilton opened with two chases, defending them both and crushing out the final points to win it to love, putting him through to the semi-finals.
The second quarter-final was between eighth seed Henry Henman and second seed Lewis Williams — their second match against each other in the month following the IRTPA Players’ Satellite in Aiken. Henman was determined not to see a repeat loss. He wanted to make life difficult off the back wall for Williams, serving short underarm twists and relying on the slower pace of the Cambridge balls to prevent Williams from winding up his force or even his low-to-the floor heavy cut. His tactic worked well: after dropping the first game he took the next five. Everything was working out for him, including a tambour boast on the return of serve that fell for a 1 and 2 chase. Williams saved three set points in the 5/1 game, but Henman kept ripping balls down to the forehand to take the set in the following game.
Unable to play in his usual style, Williams opted to try and pick off as many galleries as possible, with the alternative being to drive the ball at the back wall. Henman opted for the same, resulting in frequent changes of ends across the set. From the service end, he was holding a high court position and covering the galleries, which defended the last gallery and prevented Henman from playing difficult balls to his backhand but also left his forehand exposed. Williams held a narrow 2/1 lead early in the second set before a mammoth deuce game that lasted just shy of a quarter of an hour. The duration wasn’t helped by the frequent changes of ends, but Henman walked out the winner after defending a 3 and 4 chase. The constant galleries continued, but Henman more often seemed to be able to find a winning option to break the pattern — especially from the service end. He extended a 5/2 lead, with Williams attempting to bail out of the situation with forces. He saved a couple of match points in the eighth game, but after Henman struck a 1 and 2 cut-volley in the ninth the match was sealed.
Following on was predicted to be a tight match between the fourth and fifth seeds, Levi Gale and Oliver Pridmore. Both players seemed determined to blast the covers off the balls, but over the early phases it was Gale who was striking it better. He hit six dedans in the first four games alone while Pridmore’s shots were more erratic. The squareness of the main wall neutralised Pridmore’s speed advantage, instead having to slap the ball down the other end and hope that Gale would err. He rarely did, getting on top of Pridmore’s high serve and controlling the play from there. Gale dominated the first set and stretched out a 4/0 lead in the second. Pridmore started to exhibit a bit more control late in the second set, especially with his targeting of the grille, winning back three late games. However, Gale’s lead was secure enough for him to lock in his semi-final berth against Henman.
The last match of the evening was between Rob Fahey and Zak Eadle. After the first four games were evenly exchanged, Eadle powered ahead. He neutralised Fahey’s forcing with his well controlled volleys, while putting pressure on the former World Champion by beating him for pace. Fahey was picking the ball late, making racket errors out of all four corners of the court. Eadle persisted well, winning four straight game to take the first set in his first level competitive match against Fahey.
Fahey was much improved for the second set, striking the ball in a manner more befitting his calibre. Eadle persisted, but there were fewer errors to be found, so he had to work harder for every point. Even so, he could not keep up as Fahey’s shots started hitting their targets more regularly. Fahey took the first five games of the second set, establishing control of the match. Eadle recovered two late games with some of his best serves and shots of the match but it wasn’t enough to stop Fahey taking the set. Any aspersions Eadle had of making the third set competitive were quashed by the relentlessness of Fahey’s forcing and boasting. Nothing he could do could prevent Fahey sending missiles at him, diving all over the place in a futile effort to meet them with strings. Fahey won sixteen of seventeen straight points to go from 1-all to 5/1. Eadle took the final game to deuce, but Fahey won the match with a hazard chase.
Play continues on Saturday with the two semi-finals, followed by the final on Sunday.
Match results:
2:30 PM: Claire Fahey (7) lost to Vaughan Hamilton (3) 2/6 5/6
4:00 PM: Henry Henman (8) def Lewis Williams (2) 6/2 6/3
5:30 PM: Levi Gale (4) def Oliver Pridmore (5) 6/2 6/3
7:00 PM: Robert Fahey (1) def Zak Eadle (6) 2/6 6/2 6/1
Order of play for Saturday (all times GMT):
12:30 PM: Robert Fahey (1) vs Vaughan Hamilton (3)
2:00 PM: Levi Gale (4) vs Henry Henman (8)