David & Grainger To Meet In Texas Final

The top two seeds Nicol David and Natalie Grainger will meet in the final of the Women's Texas Open after prevailing in the semi-finals of the $57,000 WISPA World Tour Gold squash event at Life Time Fitness in Plano, near Dallas, USA.

The opening semi-final was the first encounter between the two Natalies since US number one Grainger succeeded fourth seed Grinham as world number two in April. It was a pulsating clash, full of all-angle exploitation, deft racket work and counter attack.

After a good start by Grinham, Grainger began to extend her Dutch opponent, inducing errors from the world number four before ultimately clinching her 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 victory in 36 minutes.

"We were both edgy in the first game and she pulled away when I gave her easy lengths - so I had to focus on improving that in the rest of the match," explained defending champion Grainger later.

"I am really pleased to be in the final to defend my Texas Open title - and such a big and enthusiastic crowd is great too."

Grinham added: "It was hard because I felt that I was getting to the ball, but missing some in the second game. I lost a bit of confidence and to her credit she took advantage and played well. I am really disappointed that I didn't play better in the fourth."

After upsetting third seed Rachael Grinham to reach the semis, England's Jenny Duncalf was under pressure throughout the match against Nicol David as ball after ball came back and anything loose was put away.

It was a dominant performance from the world number one from Malaysia who notched up her 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 win after 30 minutes.
"I was just on today," said David, who will now meet Grainger in the second WISPA final in seven days, after beating her Tour rival in last week's Cayman Islands Open.

"I knew I had to be because she would be gunning for me, so I was pleased with my focus and my game."

Duncalf admitted that the game was not easy: "She seemed to be in front of me the whole time. I played pretty well but she gave me no room or time. I tried to slow it down but nothing worked. It was hard."

Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [4] Natalie Grinham (NED) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (36m)