No Contest! Pohrer & Owen Win convincingly
By Rob Dinerman, Squashtalk WISPA reporter on the scene at Grand Central Terminal

Live at Grand Central Terminal, New York, 25 Feb 2003
All content © 2003 Squashtalk, photos: © 2003 Debra Tessier

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Natalie Pohrer was in total control over a tentative Cassie Jackman ©2003 Debra Tessier

New York - Top seed Carol Owens and No. 2 Natalie Pohrer have both advanced to the final round of the 2003 Arader & O'Rourke Women's Open, a $35,000 WISPA tournament held on the four-glass-wall portable court in Grand Central Station in mid-town Manhattan, without losing a single game in the process. Owens, who reached the final of the 2002 event before losing
to Sarah Fitz-Gerald, has not dropped more than four points in any of her eight combined games, three of which have been 9-0 shut-outs, one each over Omneya Abdel Kawy, Jenny Tranfield and last night's opponent Tania Bailey, the No. 6 seed, who retired after the second game due to illness.

Neither semi-final victim provided appreciable resistance against their elite
opponents. Cassie Jackman, the third consecutive Englishwoman to face
Pohrer (who had previously dispatched Steph Brind and eighth seed Rebecca
Macree), was competing in only her second tournament after missing six months while recovering from her second back operation last August. She won the British National Closed championship this past weekend, and defeated both Natalie Grinham and Linda Charman earlier this week to reach the semis, but last night's go with Pohrer constituted, as Jackman herself later acknowledged, "one match too many," given the recency of her return to action after such a long hiatus and against such a formidable foe.

Cassie Jackman has made a remarkable recovery from back surgery ©2003 Debra Tessier

The former world champion has made a remarkable recovery in the intervening months, but on this occasion she clearly was suffering from stiffness and discomfort and at no time was in control of either her strokes, which were being badly sprayed about or finding the tin, or the tee, which Pohrer was holding at least 75% of the time.

Jackman also was hitting defensive lobs either out of court or shallow enough for Pohrer to hammer down the open sides for winners. The latter from the start exuded a court presence and degree of confidence that only grew as the match evolved and Jackman's vulnerabilities became glaringly evident. Except for a few points at the beginning of the second game, when Jackman put forth full effort and showed glimpses of how she might compete with Pohrer at her peak, Jackman barely mustered resistance, running for few balls in either the front or back of the court.

By the end of the second game, which Pohrer finished off with a five-point surge from 4-3, Jackman seemed to become disengaged and by fairly early in the 9-2 final third, she was wincing in pain and definitely aware that she had no chance of turning the match around. It was all over in barely a half-hour, as Jackman declined to chase a shallow Pohrer forehand cross court that appeared to be retrievable. At this top level of play, one has to be at or at least near physical peak to have any hope of winning, and Jackman is way ahead of
schedule but still not all the way back yet.

Carol Owen was eager to play ©2003 Debra Tessier

Owens has been incredibly mobile all week, a combination of excellent anticipation and a terrific first step to the front wall: incredibly, she had permitted only one winner to be hit against her by Tranfield in thequarters Monday evening, and a trio of nick-finding Bailey salvos, two on forehand rails and a third on a backhand cross-court serve return, were the only winners she yielded last night. After ceding the opening game 9-4 (from 4-all), Bailey became increasingly frustrated by Owens's ubiquity in the second and increasingly physically drained as well. She didn't pursue any of the three backhand drop shots with which Owens finished off the 9-0 second game and then signaled the referee that she was unable to play any longer before being overcome by a bout of deep-chest coughing in an alcove just removed from court side.

Tania Bailey wilted ©2003 Debra Tessier

RECAP OF WOMEN'S SEMIS

Carol Owens (1) d Tania Bailey (6), 9-4 9-0 retired
Natalie Pohrer (2) d Cassie Jackman (7), 9-4, 3 and 2