Well the Swedish Open turned out to be a pretty successful event for me. I beat 7th seed Shorbagy in the first round 3-2 in about 70 odd minutes, which was the second 5 setter we've had in a few months. Next up was Guiltier. I beat him 3-2 in about 80 minutes. This was the first time I had taken more than 1 game off him, let alone beat him. He spanked me in the first game 11-4 but then I found my rhythm and kept him at bay for the next 2 games to go 2-1 up. He went 8-1 in the 4th before I broke a string then took 7 points on the trot. I had a match ball at 10-9 but couldn't close it out. The 5th was tight all the way. It started getting a bit scrappy and there was a heap more body contact compared to the other 4 games. At 10-9 I played a little backhand flick from the front left corner and managed to deceive him perfectly. I was over the moon about the win and it will be the start of many more to come.
The semi final against Matthew started the same way as the Guiltier match. Nick killed me 11-4. The legs felt a bit heavy but in the 2nd it was OK. I had several game balls but Nick saved all of them and closed the game out 14-12. Nick played very well to be honest and he went on to win the match 3-0, then beat Willstrop in the final.
My next event will be Malaysia in March and I am really keen to do well again. Back to basics in the training, start over again, and get stuck in!
