Tournament of Champions RD1: Grayson Through in Three

New Zealand’s World No.28 Campbell Grayson overcame Spain’s World No.53 Edmon Lopez at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions to reach the second round of the PSA Platinum event.

It was the first meeting between the two players on the PSA World Tour and it was higher-ranked Grayson got off to the better start with a convincing 11-2 win in the first game.

23-year-old Lopez grew into the match in the second to begin to create problems for the Kiwi but Grayson was able to maintain his focus to see off the challenge and double his lead, before a straightforward third saw him claim the win by an 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 scoreline in 26 minutes.

“I knew that I was going to be in for a hard match,” said Grayson afterwards. “The scoreline maybe didn’t reflect how hard it was because I was really working there. I know he probably hasn’t played that much on the glass, so that might suit my game but he really came back in the second. He had me on edge and was hitting good length, so I had to work hard to get ahead and win that game.

“I felt like I’ve been close for a lot of years and had a lot of close losses and had times where I could have really boosted my ranking. I think as you get older you just think ‘it’s now or never’. I’ve really gone for it and had a consistent year with Thierry Lincou and Nick Taylor. I’m very hungry and really want to keep going and I’m looking forward to it.”

Result:
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Edmon Lopez (ESP) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-2 (26m)