CHRIS SIMPSON fancies his chances of causing an upset or two this weekend at the Mamut English Open - if his knee holds up. The 20-year-old Guernseyman has benefited from a wild card and gone straight into the main draw for the competition, which begins this afternoon.
However, his preparations have been far from ideal since returning to the UK after a tournament in Hong Kong.
‘It has not been going great for me lately because I have had a knee injury for the last month and have not really been able to do anything,’ Simpson said.
‘The pain is actually just below my left knee. I have been having MRI scans on it and there is nothing broken, which is what we feared, but it is still a bit sore.
‘So I am not massively fit at the moment. I am going to have to adapt my game and play intelligent squash. I usually look to work hard and move around the court, but I am going to have to try and dictate the pace right from the off.’
Simpson faces number-six seed Shahier Razik tonight for a place in the quarter-finals. It will be the third time the two have met.
‘I played him at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and then again in January in Canada,’ said the Sarnian.
‘At the Commonwealths I lost in four, but I am playing quite a lot better than I was then and I have been able to talk that match through and see how to play him.
‘The second time we played, I went two sets up but did not quite have the stamina to finish him off and I got ground down.’
Simpson, though, believes he has the ability to beat his opponent, who, at number 21, is 31 places above the Guernseyman in the world rankings.
‘We are on a glass court again and he does not like them as much.
‘Also, it is a 17in. tin and American scoring. So far when I have played him it has been 19in. with American scoring in January and 17in. but English scoring at the Commonwealth Games.
‘I think what best suits him is 19in. and English scoring, so this format could be in my favour.’
Razik has also just played in the World Team Championships, so he could be feeling tired, whereas Simpson should be fresh and will have plenty of support from friends in the Sheffield crowd.
There is a definite tone of optimism in the Sarnian when discussing his ambitions for the tournament.
‘I was lucky to get a wild card, but as soon as the draw came out, I was really happy,’ he said.
‘If you get one of the big shot players, you know that they need to be having a bit of an off day because if they are on form, you have little or no chance. But he is not so much of a shot player and I feel like if I have a good day and feel sharp with my knee, I could definitely beat him.
‘Next up would then probably be John White, who is seeded three and is a former world number one so is obviously a good player, but he is not playing as much these days.
‘A little while back he lost to Omar Mosaad, who I had a really tough five-set match with. That would be a good experience to play White.’
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