By Elspeth Burnside
Photos by Steve Line/squashpics.com
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|  Sarah Fitz-Gerald vs Leilani Joyce |
It was straight out of Hollywood: the hometown girl who faced horrendous injuries but gallantly fought back to claim the world crown. And Sarah Fitz-Gerald filled the heroine’s role to perfection.
In the build-up to the women’s World Open at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Center, it was all about Fitz-Gerald. In the wake of two serious knee operations, she had re-emerged as the one the rest had to beat. But could she withstand the pressure and expectation of winning a record-equaling fourth title as the local favorite?
The signs were optimistic. This year, the 32-year-old had already ended a run of near misses by claiming a first British Open, and she had suffered only one defeat. The bleep came against New Zealand’s Leilani Joyce in the final of the Hong Kong Open that marked the start of the new season.
But days before the start of the Open, Fitz-Gerald already had reason for celebration. She won the Qatar Open in style and returned to the top of the world rankings, knocking Joyce off a perch that she had not balanced upon since the autumn of 1998.
The change at the top was too late for the World Open seedings, so Fitz-Gerald was down at number three behind Joyce and the defending champion, Carol Owens. But, by the end of the six-day championship, there was no doubting who reigned supreme.
Fitz-Gerald was in outstanding form, sweeping past Isabelle Stoehr, Vanessa Atkinson, and Suzanne Horner for no more than half a dozen points per match.
The easy run set up the much-awaited semifinal clash with Owens, the Australian who had turned to New Zealand for support and residency in her desperate bid to escape from Fitz-Gerald’s shadow.
“Sarah’s the girl; it’s always been all about her,” claimed the player who was also born in Melbourne and was coached by Fitz-Gerald’s mother, Judith, during her formative years. “This is a match I really want to play. She’s the world No. 1 and the pressure is all on her. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
But the 30-year-old Auckland resident did have something to lose: the world title. And it was little contest as she was added to the list of comfortable scalps with a 1, 1, 5 scoreline.
Meanwhile, in the other half, Joyce was not quite enjoying such an easy passage. In the second round, she dropped the opening game to England’s Vicky Botwright, the player made famous by a flirtation with a thong during the British Open.
The Brit suggested that her game could also make the headlines when she snatched the opener 9-7, but Joyce regrouped to win (7), 10-8, 2, 0. And she was mightily relieved.
“This is just bloody fantastic!” says Sarah Fitz-Gerald, who earned the World Champion trophy for a record-equaling fourth time.
“I really underestimated my opponent, and nearly paid the ultimate penalty,” Joyce scolded. “There’s no question that I could have lost the match. I won’t be making that mistake again.”
After the wake-up call, Joyce didn’t need to lose any sleep worrying about her route to the final. In the quarters, she dismissed Fiona Geaves 3, 4, 3, then another English player, Linda Charman-Smith, was dismissed 3, 5, 10-8 in the semis.
So the final scene was set. The Kiwi aiming for a first world title against the record-chasing Melburnian. Could Fitz-Gerald maintain her top-notch form, or was Joyce ready to play the part of the wicked villain in the fairytale comeback?
For the home fans, it turned out to be the dream finale. Too strong, too quick, and oozing with class, Fitz-Gerald pummeled Joyce to submission. After just 43 minutes, she had recorded a 0, 3, 4 victory and joined the legendary New Zealander, Susan Devoy, as the only players to have held four World Open titles.
Her immediate reaction was understandable. “This is just bloody fantastic,” she beamed with a mixture of relief and delight. “It’s three years ago that I learned this event was coming to my home city, so I’ve been thinking about this day and working towards it for a long, long time.
“After I came round from the second operation in May 1999, I had tubes everywhere and was told I wasn’t allowed to walk,” she reflected. “I really did wonder if I could be bothered fighting back to fitness. Now I couldn’t be happier.”
Now it is the rest of the world’s top players that face an uphill struggle to match her standard.
The well-beaten Joyce was generous in her praise. “Sarah is a true athlete and I was on the receiving end of her awesome form,” she admitted. “It was pretty stinking for me, but Sarah really does deserve her place in history.”
As for Fitz-Gerald, she modestly played down any comparisons with Devoy. “Susan played in the days when the World Open was only held every two years, so she could have won seven or eight,” she suggested.
However, she was delighted to reflect on the impact of her own four wins. “The first is always special, the second was great because I beat my great rival Michelle Martin in her home city of Sydney and then, in the third in Stuttgart, I was 2-8 down in the fifth game against Michelle, and came back to win.
“But this one is extra special. To win in Melbourne with all my family and friends in the audience, and to have fought my way back from the two knee operations is just unbelievable.”
Afterwards, she paid tribute to her many helpers on the road back including her English coach of 14 years, Mike Johnson, Jonah Barrington, Malcolm Willstrop, the Canadian-based Mike Way, and his brother, Ken, who is a sports psychologist.
Another important member of the comeback team was her boyfriend, Paul Walters. “He’s the one that has got me back here,” she continued. “I couldn’t possibly have done it without him.”
But having said her own round of thanks, women’s squash should be grateful to have Fitz-Gerald gracing the sport. Not only is she a great champion but she is the perfect figurehead. As President of the Women’s International Squash Players’ Association, she works tirelessly to promote the sport and is the model ambassador.
Devoy, who greeted the news that Fitz-Gerald had matched her record from her home in Auckland, was among those who paid tribute to someone who is much, much more than just a great squash champion.
“I’m specially pleased for Sarah because I like her as a person and she has done so much for the game,” said Devoy, now a mother of four who won her fourth title in 1992 in Vancouver, a time when Fitz-Gerald was just starting out on her road to the top.
“It takes courage and selflessness to not only play the sport but also to give something back. It’s so rare in sport, but Sarah is just that sort of person.”
Fitz-Gerald’s next major goal is the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in July next year; after that, she will re-assess her future. “I don’t want to start losing and slipping down the rankings,” she confessed. “But I’m absolutely passionate about squash and walking away from the sport will be one of the hardest things ever.”
As for the 2001 Open in Melbourne, it will go down in history as the one that saw Fitz-Gerald run back to the top of the world. |
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