Kiwi Qualifier Campbell In US Open Breakthrough

New Zealander Campbell Grayson became the only qualifier to break through into the last 16 of the Delaware Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships when he upset Swiss number one Nicolas Mueller on the second day of first round action in the fifth PSA World Series event of the year at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

In four previous encounters, the world No41 from Auckland had never beaten Mueller, though he had taken him to five games as recently as last March in the Kuwait PSA Cup.

Grayson took the opening two games, the first on a tie-break - but world No25 Mueller fought back in the third to reach game ball at 10-6.

But the 24-year-old from Zurich twice hit the tin and, still up 10-9, attempted a crosscourt backhand drop that just missed the nick - and Grayson jumped onto it to drive the ball to an unreachable length. Despite a further game ball for Mueller at 11-10, Grayson refused to surrender, racing away with his ticket into the second round by forcing Mueller to scramble too much and ultimately finding himself congratulating the exuberant Grayson.

"I just kept telling myself that I was only a couple points away, to keep fighting," said Grayson after his shock 13-11, 11-7, 13-11 upset in 52 minutes. "I'm really happy with how I played at the end. I'm looking forward to my next match now."

In his first appearance in the second round, Grayson will now face 2007 champion Nick Matthew, the third seed from England. In one of the most unlikely scorelines ever recorded, the world No4 from Sheffield beat Kuwait qualifier Abdullah Al Muzayen 11-0, 12-10, 14-12 in 52 minutes.

"In some ways that first game was the worst thing that could happen," said Matthew. "He played really well after that, and it was very tough, but I'd rather have it that way than win all the games 11-0."

US interest in the main draw ended when top-ranked German Simon Rosner ousted eight-time US champion Julian Illingworth 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 in 42 minutes.

"I'm really happy with how I played," said world No12 Rosner. "Julian's always a difficult opponent and especially in front of his home crowd. He was coming back at me in the second, I had to dig deep to win that one.

"I'm a 9/16 seed here, and I'm hoping to do better than that, which means I'd have to beat Tarek in two days' time."

But eighth seed Tarek Momen, ranked just a single place above the German, struggled to overcome Matthew Karwalski, having to fight back from a two-game deficit before seeing off the Australian qualifier 6-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 in 51 minutes.

2nd round line-up:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Alan Clyne (SCO)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) v Joe Lee (ENG)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Simon Rosner (GER)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)

US Open image courtesy of Squashpics.com

Official website: www.usopensquash.com