Nicol David wins fifth World Open title
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt: Nicol David equaled the record of five World Open titles held by Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald when she completed one of the most devastating spells of her career by beating...
September 23, 2010
It took only just over half an hour for David to win 11-5, 11-8 11-6 against the first Egyptian woman to reach a World Open final, and there was only one brief phase in the middle of the match when the outcome seemed in doubt.
That was when Kawy's great racket skills helped her carve out a 7-4 second game lead, but the champion responded immediately.
She did that by combining patient and high-paced rallying with well-chosen moments to make attacking ploys, most often with an accurate or clinging drop shot followed by a testing drive to the back.
Kawy fought to the end but it was too difficult for her to love with the physicality of David's game, now supplemented with many more moments of creativity than she was once capable of.
She had to cope with a fast start from David, who was brought up on warm courts in Penang and found the humid conditions reasonably to her liking.
She may also have been pleased with the opening rally of fully 70 shots, which she won, and showed Kawy immediately what a major physical challenge she faced.
Kawy pegged back a three point deficit to one with some deft angles and clever changes of direction, but from 5-4 David took five points in a row and drew confidence from winning the first game well.
Kawy reached 7-4 with a drop which caught the sidewall nick perfectly, but within two minutes the match starte to tumble away from her.
David made a run of six points, three of them from Kawy hitting the ball down, and one from when the fourth seed struck the glass with the service return and not the ball.
The crowd tried to lift Kawy as they returned for the third game, but the match had already taken its decisive twist.
David was soon 3-1 up and then 7-2 with Kawy enduring the added frustration of a bad bounce near the backhand back corner, causing her to bang the ball into the court in annoyance.
