Jaume Overcomes No.4 Seed to Reach First World Tour Semi-Final in Five-Game Epic

Spain’s Bernat Jaume claimed victory over World No.22 Nathan Lake in the quarter-finals of the Squash in the Land to set up a last-four encounter against Youssef Ibrahim.

Jaume took an early 2-0 lead in the first phase of the match, but the first game saw bursts of quality from both players as Lake levelled the score with a reactionary forehand drive to make it 3-3.

Neither player could pull away from the other and it was the Spaniard that had the first chance at game ball after a pin-point accurate drop at 9-9.

The Englishman levelled the tie break with his own drop into the same corner as the point before, and earned his first game ball with front-court boast.

The pair struggled to convert their game balls until a well-placed backhand drop won the game for Jaume 15-13.

Despite The World No.48’s 1-0 lead, he looked out-of-sorts at the beginning of the second game, and couldn’t keep up with the refreshed pace of the No.4 seed.

Lake accrued five unanswered points until the Englishman couldn’t return a shot into his body. The pair their all into a seemingly momentous rally at 6-2, but an error from Jaume gave his opponent an ever wider lead in the game.

The Spaniard, determined to overcome the deficit, focused on his shot selection and made it difficult for Lake to make any more progress as he scored five successive points to level the game at 7-7.

Jaume continued his comeback and was rewarded with two game balls, but an exacting forehand drive from Lake drew cheers from the Cleveland crowd and closed the gap to 9-10.

The Englishman replicated the feat on the right wall to take the game to the second tie break of the match, in which again both players failed to take their opportunities at game ball until a forehand drop from the World No.22 restored the match to parity.

The third game had a far more equal start than the previous game, and the pair were inseparable to 9-9, with the highlight coming from a deep boast winner from Jaume at 4-5.

Lake earned a game ball with yet another precise drop, and converted at the first time of asking with a strong hold before a deceptive straight drive.

The early stages of the fourth game saw the pair trading points to 4-4, but a string of points gave Jaume the lead, with the pinnacle coming from a mesmerising drop with both of the Spaniard’s feet off the ground.

Lake couldn’t recover from the deficit and the match went to a fifth game after the Englishman hit the tin at 10-5.

The No.4 seed looked exhausted as his Spanish opposition kept piling on pressure to a 9-3 lead with the points coming from Jaume’s shot placement, but also from errors from Lake.

Lake had a late resurgence as he brought the score to 7-10, but the early deficit was too much to overcome for the second time in the match as Jaume claimed a 3-2 victory over the No.4 seed to reach his first semi-final on the World Tour.

“He’s a good very player and what I did in the fourth and the fifth, I wasn’t able to do in the first game because he wasn’t letting me,” said Jaume after the match.

“For the most part he controlled it very well, “I was edgy and he was making me feel uncomfortable, but I was able to push through and I’m very happy about that.

“My brother plays too and he’s a left hander. Of course, you have to be aware of his forehand, so maybe I would play more on this [the forehand] side of the court than I normally would.”

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Result: Squash in the Land Presented by Greater Cleveland Squash 2024 Men’s Quarter-Final
Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt [4] Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-2: 15-13, 11-13, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7 (69m)