In the 1st event of the SMU Tennis Master Series, the pairing of Joshua "Federer" Woshie and Jason "James Blake" Poh upset reigning champions Kamil "Tsonga" Ghazali and Nick "Davinder Singh" Poon 7-5, 7-5. In so doing, Josh and Jason ended their 2-match losing streak in front of a boisterous home crowd.
The scoreline accurately reflected the tight match. Under tough sunny conditions in the Laguna synthetic courts, familiarity with the courts proved to be the deciding factor. While the other 3 struggled to deal with the pace and uneven bounces on the court, homeboy and crowd favourite Jason displayed impeccable form and reliability, pounding forehand and placing slices to pin-point accuracy. To put things in perspective, Jason ended the game as the only one who held all his service games. It would be an understatement to say that the rest of them were astonished at this feat which just last month, was given the odds of 100000000000000000-1 of happening by Ladsbrokes. There could be some lucky but courageous millionaires out there now.
During the match where points could have gone either side, Nick's prolific wastefulness at the net and his unstable backhand was exploited to the fullest. Even the usually reliable Kamil admitted after the match that he was not up to his usual standard and could have done more with this service returns and service games, which he surprising lost the most out of all four players. In a close and even match like this, Josh's clinical volleying and Jason's consistent serving proved just sufficient to tilt the score in their favour.
Everyone is now turning their attention to the upcoming leg of the SMU Tennis Masters Series. Although the competition is expected to be tough, both pairings are odds on to reach the finals for the 4th consecutive time. This time, however, Nick is confident that the result won't be the same.
He issued what seemed like a challenge, "On Jason's favourite surface, that slight advantage was all you needed. But back on the hardcourt, you will have no such luck!"
In all fairness, there is some truth to that statement. On the hardcourts, Kamil and Nick have exercised near total dominance over their perennial rivals. Will Jason's consistent serving and Josh's exquisite touch hold up or will the ghost of the hardcourts come back to haunt them? When asked of his opinion on their upcoming duel, Kamil remained coy about his chances but let slip a cocky jibe, "I am Kamil Gazali. I never lose twice in a row."
We shall wait with abated breath.
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