Got the tough match needed

Peter Nicol

I Finally had a tough match and it was just what I needed to get into the right frame of mind before the quarter-finals. It does not help to have easy victories and then go straight into a big one. Against Billy Hadrell, my Australian opponent from the third round, I made the mistake of letting my guard slip a bit in the third game and paid the price by losing it.

There was a lapse in concentration and he raised his game. I was a bit negative when going for my shots in the front and back and one just cannot afford to do that. However, I got my act together soon enough, for I would not have liked the match to have gone into the decider. It felt good to turn on the heat just when I needed, to rattle off 10 points in a row.

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