RESULTS: Women's Cayman Islands Open, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
1st round (lower half of draw):
[6] Kasey Brown (AUS) bt [Q] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-2 (60m)
[4] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-4, 11-6, 7-11, 15-13 (55m)
Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [5] Natalie Grainger (USA) 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10 (44m)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 (44m)
France's Isabelle Stoehr produced the first upset in the Women's Cayman Islands Open when she defeated USA's fifth seed Natalie Grainger in a hard-fought five-game first round battle in the $55,300 WISPA World Tour Gold squash event – the third of the year - on Grand Cayman.
It was Stoehr's first win over a higher-ranked player for almost a year and a half – and came just 24 hours after WISPA President Grainger, a former world number one, was appointed to the new position of WISPA Principal.
Grainger was making a long-awaited return to the WISPA Tour after an eight-month layoff caused by a foot injury. But the 32-year-old from Greenwich showed signs that she had fully recovered from her setback after winning the US national singles title for the fourth successive year in March - and the US Mixed Doubles title this month.
Grainger twice came back after the 30-year-old from Montpelier took the first and third games – but it was Stoehr who ultimately triumphed after a tie-break in the fifth to win 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10 in 44 minutes.
"I know Natalie's just come back, and she can play better," Stoehr told the official website www.squashsite.co.uk/cayman after her unexpected win. "But I've got so much respect for her - we all have - it makes it hard to play her. She certainly made me work hard to beat her today!"
Grainger was not too downbeat: "When I saw the girls playing in qualifying, and today, I was amazed at their shots, fitness and speed - I just hoped I could produce something like that myself. And, although I lost, I don't think I did too badly!"
In the first match of the day, Australia's Kasey Brown took exactly an hour to overcome Malaysian qualifier Low Wee Wern 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-2.
"I felt good at the start, I knew I needed to keep in front of her," said the sixth seed from New South Wales. "It got a bit exciting in the third, I made some bad decisions at the end of it, but I felt confident I could come back to take the next game as long as I came out hard and made sure I didn't make those mistakes again."
There was further Malaysian disappointment when Kuala Lumpur-born qualifier Delia Arnold went down 11-4, 11-6, 7-11, 15-13 to Ireland's No4 seed Madeline Perry in 55 minutes.
"The first two games were great," said Belfast-born Perry. "But Delia got a lot better. I was just hanging in there in the end and I was quite lucky to win it 3/1 really."
England's second seed Jenny Duncalf secured the fourth quarter-final place on offer on the opening day when she beat Donna Urquhart in five games. It was a fast and furious match, with Duncalf narrowly surviving an attacking onslaught from the unseeded Australian to win 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 in 44 minutes.
"It was pretty up and down, a bit patchy," admitted the world No2 from Harrogate. "But she was attacking more than I was and I always find her difficult to read, especially on the forehand, so it was pretty tough!"
Remaining 1st round matches:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL)
[7] Camille Serme (FRA) v Marlene West (CAY)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [Q] Manuela Manetta (ITA)
[8] Samantha Teran (MEX) v [Q] Sarah Kippax (ENG)
Official website: www.squashsite.co.uk/cayman