Monday, August 17, 2009
Hamm Bennett 2009 - Match Report
Hamm Bennett, 15th August 2009
Hamm wins, 4 -6; 7 -6 (7-3); 6 - 3
"Good luck beats early rising." (Irish proverb)
At this year's Hamm Bennett both good luck and early rising were much in evidence - but, it has to be said, rather more for Hamm than for Bennett.
The 'early rising', which cynics suggested may have been a canny ploy from Bennett to throw Hamm off his stride, involved an unprecedented 9am start for this year's tournament, taking place once again in picturesque Greenwich Park. The 'good luck' came in the form of an against-all-odds escape for Hamm with Bennett somehow snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Despite the early start (that involved The Umpire setting off from official offices of the Hamm Bennett Tournament Rules and Regulations Committee at 7.45am) both players were looking sharp in the warm-up. Hamm boasted a new racquet so hi-tech that it probably could have played on its own (using its 'Aerogel' technology), whilst Bennett looked fitter than ever, having been building his stamina with a stringent squash-based exercise regime.
And it was Bennett who got off to the better start, racing to an early lead with consistent and accurate shot-making, against which even Hamm's Aerogel had no response. Soon the set was all but over, and despite a late rally from Hamm, reeling off a few games, Bennett closed out the set 6 - 4.
But, as has been said many times before, winning the first set in a Hamm Bennett is far from a guarantee of victory. For believers in luck, it is seldom a lucky thing to do.
And yet for all the world it looked as though Bennett would fly in the face of fortune as the second set unfolded. Hamm was out-classed, he was out-fought, he had no answer to his opponent. The Bennett juggernaut rolled on, Hamm doing just enough to keep in contention, and soon enough Bennett was serving for the match. Bennett's triumph, wresting back the trophy after three years of heart-break, seemed all but an inevitability.
But history shows us that Hamm does not believe in the inevitable. He regularly faces fate square on and says: "I command my own destiny - I defy you, O fate. I shall exercise my free will and the cause and effect of my actions shall lead me to a destination over which I can exert control, affected by, but not solely led by, the circumstances in which I find myself."
With a combination of iron will and good fortune, the match point was saved, the gap was narrowed and the second set went to a crucial tie-break.
Sensing that his moment had passed, Bennett was visibly shaken. Suddenly the momentum had shifted, the unstoppable force had been halted, and was even beginning to go backwards. Hamm raced through the tie-break and claimed the second set, and Bennett looked broken. He knew that the chance had been there, that he had been the man on form, that he had Hamm where he wanted him... and that it had slipped through his fingers.
It was no surprise that Hamm raced into a big lead in the final set - the sense of deflation from Bennett was palpable. Now it was the Hamm victory that looked inevitable. But was there one final twist in the tale? Suddenly, looking defeat in the eye, Bennett was liberated, finding the freedom of expression that had deserted him following the tie-break. With Hamm needing just one game to win the gap was closed, and again, and again. Was the greatest comeback in Hamm Bennett history about to unfold in front of the eager watching eyes of Mrs Bennett and Bennett Jr.? Well, no. Hamm dug deep, as he so often does, and closed out the match.
The victory means that Hamm has won four times in a row, the first time such a feat has been achieved, and whilst even Hamm himself admitted that his was a lucky victory, it was a victory nonetheless.
Bennett, reflecting on what might have been, and on the victory of his bitter rival, can perhaps take solace in the fact that 'lady luck' smiled on Hamm this time around. As Jean Cocteau said: "We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?".
Hamm wins, 4 -6; 7 -6 (7-3); 6 - 3
"Good luck beats early rising." (Irish proverb)
At this year's Hamm Bennett both good luck and early rising were much in evidence - but, it has to be said, rather more for Hamm than for Bennett.
The 'early rising', which cynics suggested may have been a canny ploy from Bennett to throw Hamm off his stride, involved an unprecedented 9am start for this year's tournament, taking place once again in picturesque Greenwich Park. The 'good luck' came in the form of an against-all-odds escape for Hamm with Bennett somehow snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Despite the early start (that involved The Umpire setting off from official offices of the Hamm Bennett Tournament Rules and Regulations Committee at 7.45am) both players were looking sharp in the warm-up. Hamm boasted a new racquet so hi-tech that it probably could have played on its own (using its 'Aerogel' technology), whilst Bennett looked fitter than ever, having been building his stamina with a stringent squash-based exercise regime.
And it was Bennett who got off to the better start, racing to an early lead with consistent and accurate shot-making, against which even Hamm's Aerogel had no response. Soon the set was all but over, and despite a late rally from Hamm, reeling off a few games, Bennett closed out the set 6 - 4.
But, as has been said many times before, winning the first set in a Hamm Bennett is far from a guarantee of victory. For believers in luck, it is seldom a lucky thing to do.
And yet for all the world it looked as though Bennett would fly in the face of fortune as the second set unfolded. Hamm was out-classed, he was out-fought, he had no answer to his opponent. The Bennett juggernaut rolled on, Hamm doing just enough to keep in contention, and soon enough Bennett was serving for the match. Bennett's triumph, wresting back the trophy after three years of heart-break, seemed all but an inevitability.
But history shows us that Hamm does not believe in the inevitable. He regularly faces fate square on and says: "I command my own destiny - I defy you, O fate. I shall exercise my free will and the cause and effect of my actions shall lead me to a destination over which I can exert control, affected by, but not solely led by, the circumstances in which I find myself."
With a combination of iron will and good fortune, the match point was saved, the gap was narrowed and the second set went to a crucial tie-break.
Sensing that his moment had passed, Bennett was visibly shaken. Suddenly the momentum had shifted, the unstoppable force had been halted, and was even beginning to go backwards. Hamm raced through the tie-break and claimed the second set, and Bennett looked broken. He knew that the chance had been there, that he had been the man on form, that he had Hamm where he wanted him... and that it had slipped through his fingers.
It was no surprise that Hamm raced into a big lead in the final set - the sense of deflation from Bennett was palpable. Now it was the Hamm victory that looked inevitable. But was there one final twist in the tale? Suddenly, looking defeat in the eye, Bennett was liberated, finding the freedom of expression that had deserted him following the tie-break. With Hamm needing just one game to win the gap was closed, and again, and again. Was the greatest comeback in Hamm Bennett history about to unfold in front of the eager watching eyes of Mrs Bennett and Bennett Jr.? Well, no. Hamm dug deep, as he so often does, and closed out the match.
The victory means that Hamm has won four times in a row, the first time such a feat has been achieved, and whilst even Hamm himself admitted that his was a lucky victory, it was a victory nonetheless.
Bennett, reflecting on what might have been, and on the victory of his bitter rival, can perhaps take solace in the fact that 'lady luck' smiled on Hamm this time around. As Jean Cocteau said: "We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?".
