Matthew overcomes self-doubt to claim successive titles

The 31-year-old world No 1 from Sheffield fully justified his top seeding at the World Open when he came from behind to defeat sixth seed Gregory Gaultier 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 after a gruelling 92 minutes of court action at the Luxor Theatre in Rotterdam.

It marked a remarkable turnaround for the Yorkshireman who less than two weeks ago was doubting his own ability after exiting the Qatar Classic at the second-round stage, a shock result which had come on the back of a succession of disappointments in finals at PSA Tour events in recent months, chiefly against world No 2 Ramy Ashour.

“It is an amazing feeling, but I think it will take a few days to properly sink in,” said a delighted Matthew.

Matthew admitted the pivotal moment of his week came when he was able to see off Egypt’s Mohamed El Shorbagy in the third round after a marathon 100 minutes, particularly as it came the day after he had gained revenge over Tarek Momen, the world No 19 who had beaten him in Qatar.

“I think last year after winning in Saudi a few people felt that my draw was easier and that James (Willstrop) was tired in the final,“ added Matthew. “But this year I don’t think anyone can say I’ve had anything easy – I’ve had a really tough draw.

“Coming in, after losing so early in Qatar, I think I did have a few doubts about my own ability, but after beating Shorbagy, my manager told me he thought that was the big turning point for me

“I think it made me realise I could cope with whatever came along. Going one down against Greg wasn’t any reason to panic because I’d already shown that I could cope physically and mentally with similar situations and that was reassuring.”

For Gaultier – who had despatched 2010 runner-up James Willstrop, from Leeds, in the semi-finals on Saturday, as well as benefiting from Ashour’s injury withdrawal at the last-eight stage – the result marked a third runner-up spot at the World Open since 2006.

In the women’s final, there was only disappointment for Harrogate’s world No 2 Jenny Duncalf, who was convincingly beaten 11-2, 11-5, 11-0 by Nicol David, the long-standing world No 1 and defending champion, who was in ruthless form.

“She was ridiculously good,” said a dejected Duncalf, who had produced some of her best squash of the year on the way to her first-ever world final.

“She never let me get into the match, she was in front of me the whole time, and when you have Nicol in front of you, you are in big trouble.

“I wanted to stay on there as long as possible, but she had other ideas.”