By Ryan Kuntz
During the second week of September, Chicago welcomed many of the world’s top-ranked players to compete in the inaugural Sweet Home Chicago Open. While squash fanatics based in the Windy City have seen their fair share of tournaments, never before had a tournament been presented on this scale and in this format. Instead of placing the all-glass Championship Court in a more traditional setting, tournament organizers decided to position the court on the Midwest’s most recognized street, Michigan Avenue.
“The idea was to bring squash to the masses,” said Tournament Director and Organizer Imran Nasir who, together with a team of squash enthusiasts, organized the PSA-sanctioned tournament in three months’ time.
Presented by Lakeshore Athletic Clubs and sponsored by Caledonian Fund Services and Zeller Realty Group, the open-to-the-public event—which was held in Pioneer Court between the Tribune Tower and the Chicago River—drew several fan favorites, including former World No. 1 David Palmer (arguably Australia’s most celebrated player), World No. 5 Peter Barker, US No. 1 Julian Illingworth, and former World Champion John White, among others.
Following qualification matches held at Lakeshore Athletic Club-Illinois Center and the University Club of Chicago, elimination matches began in the all-glass court September 10 under starry skies. From the beginning, the players were amazed by the court’s locale.
“It’s a great venue. Amazing. Really the best I’ve ever played,” remarked Ireland’s Arthur Gaskin, who defeated American Chris Gordon 3-1 in the first match of the qualification round finals.
That sentiment continued into first round play on September 11, as the players enjoyed another day of perfect weather. In less than three hours, day one of the first round of sixteen matches was complete with all top seeds prevailing 3-0. Most notably, Palmer, the tournament’s top seed, defeated 17-year-old Caribbean champion Alain Mudeen. Given the favorable weather conditions granted to the players, squash fans, tournament committee and intrigued onlookers alike, those involved couldn’t have asked for a better start to the nation’s first-ever U.S. tournament to be held outdoors.
And then came the rain. And did it ever. An unfortunate leftover of Hurricane Ike, a monsoon-like storm brought record rainfall to Chicago over the weekend, beginning early Friday morning, September 12. Because of the rain, the second day of first round matches had to be moved indoors to Court 1 at Lakeshore.
While the venue’s ambiance was different, the results were much the same, with the top seeds prevailing in straight games in less time than the day before. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, local favorite and Englishman Mark Heather, now University Club of Chicago’s Head Pro, could not keep the momentum going against the tourney’s No. 2 seed, Barker, following a grueling five-game upset of Rob Sutherland in their first round qualification match.
Through the night, the eyes of the players and tournament committee were glued to the Doppler radar projections featured on Web sites and local broadcast outlets, many of which had covered the tournament during the week. The rain never let up, however, with downpours lasting 24 hours and dumping more than seven inches of rain on the Chicago area, flooding city streets and briefly shutting down O’Hare Airport. The prospects that any play would resume on the all-glass court were bad given the sheer amount of record rain that fell on the court overnight and the structural damage that resulted.
Then, noticing that the weather could break following the weekend, tournament organizers put their heads together to determine how best to feature the final rounds of this world-class event, understanding what was on the line given the outcomes of previously held professional tournaments that were modified on account of rain. The idea was to bump all scheduled events by one day, so that both semifinals and finals could be held outdoors as originally planned.
As the employees from McWil Court worked feverishly on the Championship Court, an emergency, players-only meeting was held on Saturday to determine their interest in staying in Chicago one more day. The tournament committee and sponsors waited patiently at Lakeshore, watching an exhibition match featuring Jonathon Power with students from METROsquash, the urban program combining academics and athletics for inner-city youth attending Chicago Public Schools.
As the players broke from the meeting, the consensus was clear—all came to this tournament to compete in front of the citizens of Chicago. And with that, the decision was made to postpone Saturday’s play and move the semifinals to Monday, September 15 (and the championship to September 16), thus establishing a precedent for future PSA-sanctioned tournaments.
Because rain continued to fall on Sunday, quarterfinal play was again forced indoors. The most exciting match pitted Yale alum Julian Illingworth against John White. After 115 minutes of closely-contested action, Illingworth was defeated. “I had to play more defensively since John attacks well, and if I’d won the third, I would have won the match,” he said.
As the semifinal’s picture became clear, so did the skies of Chicago. At last, rain clouds gave way to sunshine and warmer temperatures, allowing for Championship Court to be returned to the condition enjoyed by players in the first few rounds.
The matches featured Barker versus World No. 26 Hisham Ashour, and Palmer versus John White, with the top seeds dominating play. The most anticipated match of the evening, Palmer versus White, pitted friends and roommates against one another. Both played exceptionally well in the front of the court, testing each other with flicks and razor-sharp drops or cross drops. However, Palmer was able to outlast the attacks from White, defeating the World No. 19 from Scotland 3-1 in 42 minutes.
With the top seeds Barker and Palmer taking the semifinals, the championship match for September 16 was set. The fiercely-competitive match, pitting youth against experience, certainly wasn’t without controversy. In fact, Palmer contested the referees call in the second game of the final of the Sweet Home Chicago Open.
“Before the Championship, the two had played only one PSA match against each other at the 2007 World Open in Bermuda. To appreciate how far the 24-year-old Barker has come since then, he lost in 2007 in the second round 10-12, 7-11 and 9-11 in 59 minutes. Last night, the tables were turned, as Barker defeated Palmer 15/13, 11/9, 11/2 in 53 minutes,” said Kim Tunney, President of Squash Across America, the day after his victory.
Barker defeated the veteran Palmer using basic squash strategies. In game one, Barker worked the ball high on the front forcing Palmer deep to retrieve primarily on the backhand side of the court. Barker kept the ball straight, and together with the good length, effectively reduced Palmer’s attacking game, despite the tie-breaker in the first.
As Barker thanked the sponsors during the awards ceremony, he indicated that the all-glass court on Michigan Avenue is now his favorite venue. “The Sweet Home Chicago Open is the best tournament I’ve ever played. I love playing in America,” he exclaimed. And the fans enjoyed having Barker and the professional players here as well to demonstrate their mastery of the sport of squash on this world-class sporting stage.
