Willstrop ready for pressures of No 1

JAMES Willstrop welcomes the pressure that comes with being world No 1 as he enters the first big ranking tournament of the year in New York on Friday night, writes Phil Harrison.

Replacing fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew as the world’s leading player at the start of this month, 28-year-old Willstrop opens his bid for a second Tournament of Champions title at Grand Central Station against Australian qualifier Zac Alexander.

Leeds-based Willstrop won the event two years ago, but had to wait 20 months for another tournament success, finally ending his drought at the Hong Kong Open last October.

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Two more titles followed in Kuwait and New Delhi, which were enough to lift him above Sheffield’s Matthew, who returns to the world tour after two months out with an adductor injury.

While Matthew must wait until Saturday to open his tournament against Egypt’s Wael El Hindi, Willstrop begins on Friday for his first-ever meeting with Alexander, ranked 43 in the world.

The two Yorkshiremen are seeded to face each other in the final where a Matthew win would see him leapfrog Willstrop back to the top-ranked spot which he occupied for the whole of 2011.

Willstrop is fully aware of the narrow margin for error that exists in New York and is confident he can deal with the latest challenge.

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“I’ve got good memories of this place, it’s one of the most pleasurable places to play and the venue is just the best,” said Willstrop.

People can be walking through the station and they come across this big squash court and they can stand and watch while they wait for their train if they want - it’s unique.

“This will be a new challenge for me and it’s all about how I respond to that.

“It’s all a question of whether I can hang on to this top ranking - the challenges never stop in this game really.

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“I’m fairly comfortable with the situation. I know Nick is going to be back and fresh and he’ll be wanting to get back to the top of the rankings and I know if he beats me over here he will do, so it’s exciting stuff.”

Victory will take Willstrop into a second round clash with former England team-mate Alister Walker - now representing his native Botswana - or Egypt’s Mohamed Abbas.

“I’ve not played Zac before, I don’t know a great deal about him,” added Willstrop. “But I’ve been around long enough to realise that you don’t take anyone lightly - whoever it is and whatever round it is.”

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