Aaron Frankcomb's experiences at Bondi, Willoughby, Elanora Opens 2017

15/3/2017

"The past few weekends, I have been excited to be competing on court again at three local tournaments. It has been 5 years since I've retired from the tour so I am always looking forward to playing as much as possible, especially competing against all of the great local talent.

The first tournament of the year was the Bondi Open 2017 at the Bondi Waverley Squash Club. It is always a tough tournament to play as it is the start of the year, after the Christmas/New Years break. We all played in the blistering heat of the Australian summer (and no AC!). It was fun to come back and play after winning the trophy last year. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get it back again. The weekend started off
with a bye but followed by a tough quarter finals match up against Rohan Toole. He hits the ball with a lot of racquet head speed, so it is difficult to feel comfortable on the T. I knew I had to hit the ball well to get it past his incredible wing span and great reach, and if I didn't, I would be in trouble. I was pleased with my efforts to keep him out of the centre of the court and win a tough 3-0. That was just the first step...I was set to play Darcy Evans in the semifinal, another difficult matchup. I knew he would be extremely fired up, just as I was playing against my coaches, Rodney Martin, Geoff Hunt, and Byron Davis....all players always really want to beat your coach. Darcy always shows how much he wants to succeed on court and that drive can always be dangerous. During this match, I was grateful for my experience being an older player which I felt helped me to win another tough 3-0. He will continue to be a tough opponent in these local tournaments. Later that same day, I was back in the heat of the club, set to play former PSA player Matthew Karwalski in the final. All I can say is that this was a brutal match with the weather and such tightly contested points. I was lucky to run away with the match after being 2-7 down in the fifth game, but was pleased to fight back. Matt played well, always fights hard, and has wonderful sportsmanship- it is always such a pleasure to get on court with Matt. I was happy to win this final match 3-2 for the title and trophy for 2017.

A big thank you to the entire Bondi Waverley Squash Club crew for hosting this event!"

Aaron, Peter Aitken, Jake Ebeid, Matthew Karwalski at the presentation ceremony at the Bondi Open 2017.

Aaron playing the final of the Bondi Open...safe to say it was SUPER HOT in there!

"The next tournament I played in was at the Willoughby Open in the Open draw. It was funny being on the other side of the event after hosting it for the past 5.5 years, and it was a pleasant change of pace being able to solely focus on my squash! What was great about this weekend was seeing so many familiar faces and catching up with everyone after the holidays. This draw was going to be just as tough as the previous weekend, so I knew I was in for another long series of matches. My first round I played against my former Sydney 1s teammate, Iain Tennant. He is a lefty which is always a tricky match-up as a right-handed player. This was a tough fight but I was able to cut down on his angles and I tried to limit his opportunities as much as possible. Iain is such a skillful player so I was forced to stay focused and stick to my game plan. I was pleased with my performance and able to pull out a close 3-0 win to get into the semifinals. I ended up re-matching with Darcy Evans for a Bondi Open repeat! Thankfully, I had played him recently and knew if I didn't get early momentum, he would take advantage. Darcy was doing a great job in his game plan discipline and his approach was strong. Fortunately, early leads at the start of each of the games helped me to walk off court victorious in another tough 3 game match. I have found that momentum is such a key element in matches, and gaining momentum early can really help yourself mentally. Steve Coppinger once coached me during a match, giving me the great advice to 'try and set short term goals during games. Beat your opponent to 3, then to 6, then to 9, and then 11'. This advice has was crucial to my game (I will discuss this more at another time!! Stay tuned on our blog if you're keen to learn more). This same mentality helped me gain early leads at the start of each of the games and helped me walk off court victorious in another tough 3 game match that lasted 65 minutes. I was definitely feeling that lengthy match....Willoughby Open proved to be dejavu for me as I found myself in another Bondi Open repeat final against Matthew Karwalski. I went into the match confident after earning the W in our last couple of encounters. Since he was also a top 50 PSA player, his talent is such a great asset for everyone in the Sydney area. He retired only 2.5 years ago, so his game is still strong and his knowledge and experiences are still fresh. Matt was solid, winning all of the crucial points towards the latter ends of the games. I had a couple of chances, but he held me off with confident hitting and excellent attacking, running away with a 3 game win. He was definitely the deserved player on court that day. I look forward to a continued rivalry throughout 2017! All in all, I was still extremely happy to be runner-up at another great Sydney squash event.

Thank you, Willoughby Squash Club!"

Peter Aitken, Matthew Karwalski, Rohan Toole, Aaron Frankcomb & Jake Ebeid at the Willoughby Open presentation ceremony.

"This past weekend, I had the pleasure of competing at the Elanora Open. During this tournament, there was both a PSA event as well as a local event, from Open grade down to Mixed. Many people asked me why I decided not to play in the PSA draw. The PSA draw was a strict draw of 16 (for those who don't know, PSA events can either have qualifying or not- both options are common) and no qualifying. Without a qualifying draw, local players not currently competing on the PSA tour cannot enter. Therefore, I was happy to play in the local Open grade instead! During the weekend, I was excited to watch the PSA matches and saw how fit they all are and felt excitement for these young, up and coming players! They are all fit buggers and to compete with them would have been a marathon of a weekend. A huge congratulations to Zac Alexander for taking out the PSA title, a well-deserved title and it was great to catch up with a long time friend.

In the open, my first round I was up against Russ Menzies. Although on paper we had a difference on the matrix, Russ plays a steady game and hits a nice ball. He made me earn every point and I worked hard to get all three games. Then in the 2nd Round I was up again Michael O'Flynn. This was the first time I have played against Michael. After playing him, I see such a big matrix jump heading his way! He has already made great progression, having met him when I first moved back to Sydney 5+ years ago! In the semi final, I was up against Rohan Toole, a match up that I saw a couple weeks earlier at Bondi. He is currently a student at Newcastle Uni and was able to be flexible with the match schedule. A big shout out and thanks to him for being flexible to play early! I appreciate it! Rohan always continues to improve and in addition to his long reach, has a great intensity when he is on court. He will continue to be a top play in the Sydney area. Again, I felt my experience gave me the upper hand in this match and I was able to pull out a win to make it to another final. It was a great feeling to make it to my third straight final! I was set to play Darcy Evans after he had a grueling 3-2 win against Luke Hillier. I was grateful for the slight edge with less time on court in my legs but Darcy still came out firing and pushed hard throughout. I was happy to walk away with a 3-0 win and finish three tournaments in a row as the Elanora Open winner!

Thanks to everyone at Elanora for a fun weekend of squash!

It has been a big seven weeks of tournaments and I am pleased to walk away with two titles and a runner-up. What great results to start 2017! I look forward to competing in the up and coming tournaments across NSW as the year progresses."

~Aaron Frankcomb