R3: [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) 3-0 Olivia Fiechter (Usa) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (33m)
Defending Champion Sarah-Jane Perry beats Olivia Fiechter in straight games …
I feel that Olivia has “come out of age” on this event. Her match against friend Melissa Alves was a masterclass in consistency, focus and mental strength. She has the shots, the brain, and the fitness to go with it.
Today, yes, she loses 3/0 but each game is pretty close and SJ never was able to relax. 7/7 in the first, that includes 3 unforced errors in the middle of the game from the American. The Gladiator had to find some pretty exquisite shots to finally shake off her opponent 11/7 in 9m.
Second game, even close to be honest, Olivia finding some good balance attack/deep, and squeezes two errors and a COME ON from the Englishwoman! 8/6, 9/7 is SJ, Olivia digs in, superb counterattacks, and at 9/9, it’s all possible. But Sarah Jane closes it in 11m, 11/9. Great game that.
The third, SJ makes the error to relax a fraction of a second, and the 25 years old is in there like a shot, 3/0! The English will have to battle to get back to 4/4. A biiiiiig rally follows, where the American is sent to make a few court runs, bless her. Gave it all she did.
A good last game, 11/6 from the English who played a solid game despite a few wobbles, and Olivia cannot be too disappointed today as she performed brilliantly.
SJ: It wasn’t too bad,”
“I know Liv has had some good wins and she’s really dangerous when you let her play, so my aim was to try and get in front and stop her playing. Sort of did that in patches, but not as much as I would have liked, little bit sluggish today and not really sure why. I felt really sharp the other day, so I’m sure tomorrow, get everything right and I’ll be back again.
“I’ve been guilty of being complacent with a serve, as they like to keep reminding us in the commentary box it’s the only shot that you have complete control over, so I tried to actually use it a bit more. Thought I served well the other day and tried that again today, any day you don’t serve out is a good day, especially when I’m trying to throw a few lob serves out there. It was probably one of the aspects I was most happy with.
“I’ve been on tour for nearly 10 years, you’ll see some of the younger players with more matches as they get to the later rounds earlier these days. I didn’t start full-time until I was 21, first two years were definitely catching up with people who hadn’t been to university. It’s taken me nearly 10 years to get into the condition I need to be in.”
Defending CIB @BlackBallSquash Open champion, England's @SJPerry15, is through to the quarter-finals after a commanding performance in the last 16!
She came in front of the cameras to talk about her effort, and the prospect of playing her 300th match tomorrow! 🎤#BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/DQP8w2Ktzr
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 15, 2021
