Matthew continues winning run over Willstrop

Almost as predictably, the final of the British Grand Prix in Manchester went the way of Sheffield’s world No 2 Nick Matthew, who, after a gruelling 78 minutes, extended his winning run in ‘major’ events over Leeds’s James Willstrop to a remarkable 20 matches.

Matthew’s 4-11 11-6 11-9 11-6 victory also means he has now won exactly half of the PSA World Tour finals he has appeared in, with an impressive 25 titles against his name.

For world No 1 Willstrop, who has managed to beat Matthew in the German club league and the European Club Championships this year, it will be another frustrating disappointment, particularly after he had raced into a one-game lead.

But it’s possible his two-hour semi-final against Gregory Gaultier on Sunday had a knock-on effect as Matthew enjoyed the better of the later exchanges.

“I wasn’t one of those who thought James wouldn’t be ready,” said two-time world champion Matthew. “Everybody talks about James’s racket skills – but he’s also the toughest and fiercest competitor I’ve ever played. It doesn’t matter how long he’d played before. His physicality is something to behold.

“I made a lot of errors in the first game, but I got it together in the end. It feels great to win this title.”

Willstrop, as ever, was gracious in defeat, but was able to take plenty of encouragement from his performances over the four-day event.

“It was a good quality match,”he said. “we were both hitting the areas, and even if it maybe wasn’t our sharpest it was still a good, enjoyable match.

“There’s some stuff I could have done better, but he made it very difficult for me, all credit to him.

“It was a good week, great atmosphere, I really enjoyed it here, you just have to move on, learn, and keep pushing.”

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