Alexander, Camilleri take the spoils

04-Jul-2010 - Squash Australia

Queensland pair Zac Alexander and Lisa Camilleri claimed the spoils at the Victorian Open squash tournament in Melbourne but both were made to work hard for their victories in Sunday’s men’s and women’s finals.
Top seeded Alexander came back from losing the first game to second ranked Matthew Karwalski, winning 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 to take out his first Victorian Open men’s crown, while Camilleri won her third women’s crown with an 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 triumph over Victoria’s Amelia Pittock.
It was Alexander’s second win on the 2010 Australian Squash Tour in just his second tournament but he was pushed all the way by Karwalski.
The New South Welshman attacked from the start and surprised a sluggish Alexander, before the top seed recovered and slowly began to take control, taking advantage of some Karwalski errors to get vital breaks in the each of the three remaining games.
The 21-year-old Alexander, who took out the season-opening Top End Open in Darwin, had now beaten Karwalski in all five clashes on the PSA tour.
Alexander will now take a week off before playing in the NSW Classic in Sydney ahead of trying to qualify for the Australian Open, which begins in Canberra on August 10.
Earlier the 27-year-old Camilleri made it four tournament wins in a row with her win over 2005 champion Pittock.
Camilleri and Pittock are the same age and grew up playing juniors together.
“We know each other’s games really well and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Camilleri said.
“It was a tough tournament for me because we had to play the semi-finals and final on the same day, which is a bit unusual.
“And I was really pushed in the semi-final (by Korea’s Song Sun-Mi). She was so strong and kept fighting right until the end so I had to try and recover for the final.”
Camilleri has now won events in Darwin, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne to make it 10 tournament wins on the women’s professional tour.
She can add to that tally at this week’s Tasmanian Open in Hobart, where she is the second seed behind Malaysia’s Sharon Wee.
“Every time I win the pressure builds and it gets harder and harder,” Camilleri said.
“I was going to take a break before the Queensland Open at the end of July, but I thought I’ve been playing so well, I might as well keep going and try and get more titles under the belt.”

Results – prefix denote seeding:

Men

1-Zac Alexander (Qld) bt 7-Matthew Karwalski (NSW) 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7

Women

2-Lisa Camilleri (Qld) bt 5-Amelia Pittock (Vic) 11-8, 11-9, 12-10