Lively Lucas locks out Spanish
ace Carlos in Dutch final
By Squash Mad Reporter
Frenchman Lucas Serme fulfilled his top-seeding in the Rotterdam Open when he won the PSA Challenger 5 squash title at Victoria Squash Club.
The UK-based 22-year-old dropped his only game of the tournament in the quarter-finals when he was tested for 82 minutes by sixth-seeded Englishman Mark Fuller.
Serme recovered to soar past Germany’s No.4 seed Tim Weber in a straight games semi to earn his eighth appearance in a PSA World Tour final.
His opponent, Spaniard Carlos Cornes Ribadas, celebrated his first ever Tour final appearance after upsetting Scotland’s No.2 seed Douglas Kempsell in the other semi.
The third seed from Santiago de Compostela was meeting Serme, the world No66, for the first time for almost two years.
But the lower-ranked Spaniard was unable to exact revenge, going down 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 in 45 minutes to give Serme the sixth Tour title of his career – and his second this year.
“I had a tough start in the match as I was still tired from yesterday’s matches,” explained the victorious Frenchman (pictured below, left, with Ribadas) afterwards. “So, I aimed for long rallies, while trying to have Carlos move around the court a lot.
“When I saw he became more and more tired and started to make mistakes, I could relax and play basic squash, which paid off in the end.”
PSA Challenger 5 Rotterdam Open, Rotterdam, Netherlands
1st round:
[1] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [Q] Rene Mijs (NED) 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (32m)
[6] Mark Fuller (ENG) bt [WC] Roshan Bharos (NED) 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 (44m)
[7] Andre Haschker (GER) bt Rui Soares (POR) 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-1 (61m)
[4] Tim Weber (GER) bt [Q] Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (41m)
[3] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) bt [Q] Marc ter Sluis (NED) 16-14, 11-5, 11-9 (55m)
[5] Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL) bt Oliver Pett (ENG) 11-9, 11-7, 11-1 (26m)
Ashley Davies (ENG) bt [8] Tom de Mulder (BEL) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (34m)
[2] Douglas Kempsell (SCO) bt [Q] Rick Penders (NED) 10-12, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10 (76m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [6] Mark Fuller (ENG) 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 15-13 (82m)
[4] Tim Weber (GER) bt [7] Andre Haschker (GER) 12-10, 11-3, 11-13, 11-8 (52m)
[3] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) bt [5] Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (49m)
[2] Douglas Kempsell (SCO) bt Ashley Davies (ENG) 4-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10 (82m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [4] Tim Weber (GER) 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (41m)
[3] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) bt [2] Douglas Kempsell (SCO) 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (44m)
Final:
[1] Lucas Serme (FRA) bt [3] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 (45m)
For all the latest Tour news: www.psaworldtour.com
Picture courtesy of PSA