Hawkes Stuns Stoehr In South Sound Upset In Cayman

New Zealander Jaclyn Hawkes produced the only upset on the opening day of the Women's Cayman Islands Open when she beat France's sixth seed Isabelle Stoehr in straight games to claim a surprise quarter-final berth in the inaugural $37,500 WISPA World Tour squash event at South Sound Squash Club in Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.

The 26-year-old world No17 from Auckland took only 26 minutes to subdue Stoehr 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 - ending a run of four defeats to the higher-ranked Frenchwoman over the past three years. Hawkes will now face former world champion Rachael Grinham, the third seed from Australia, for a place in the semi-finals.

"I felt that she knew that the court suited my game better than hers, and she felt she needed to go for shots with less margin for error than she probably had," Hawkes explained to www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "She wasn't prepared to rally like I was.

"I think I played pretty well there - and, as it's the first time I've beaten her, I'm very pleased with the result."

Competing in her first Tour event since ending her 17-month unbeaten run in the final of the KL Open in March, top seed Nicol David recorded a comfortable 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 win over Malaysian compatriot Sharon Wee, a qualifier.

"Sharon played well, but I played out of my skin - I'm pleased with my performance," said the exuberant world number one. "It's a lovely place, I'm just taking everything in, but it's so nice to be back on court, back in tournament play - especially in somewhere like this.

"The atmosphere was great though, I was feeding off the whole vibe of the crowd and took a lot of momentum from that!"

David now faces Samantha Teran - but the eighth-seeded Mexican was taken the full distance by unseeded English opponent Dominique Lloyd-Walter before prevailing 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 in 89 minutes.

"That was very tough - it's so hot I even had to change my skirt!" said Teran, the world No16 and highest-ranked Mexican of all-time.

Second seed Natalie Grainger, the world No2 from the USA who ended Nicol David's 56-match unbeaten run in Malaysia two months ago, had to fight back from a game down to beat compatriot Latasha Khan, a qualifier, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.

"Latasha played well in the first - she's used to the conditions and had a couple of qualifying matches to get accustomed to it," said US champion Grainger. "I knew what was wrong, it was just a question of settling down, concentrating, and winning the next game!"

1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [Q] Sharon Wee (MAS) 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 (24m)
[8] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (ENG) 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 (89m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Lisa Camilleri (AUS) 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (22m)
Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) bt [6] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (26m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Marlene West (CAY) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 (27m)
[4] Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [Q] Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)
[7] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (38m)
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [Q] Latasha Khan (USA) 5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (32m)