[5] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2 [23] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 11-5, 11-7, 3-11, 6-11, 8-1 ret. (71m)
Joel
“I wasn’t expecting Rodriguez’s comeback. I settled really well, my spots were good and I got a good lead quickly. It was tough, but I felt like I was hitting my spots better and slowly out positioned him.
“I switched off a fraction at the start of the third and he started firing stuff in. He started mixing it as he can do. He has a very high skill level, he’s tricky and he’s switching the play a lot. He went a lot more aggressive with his hitting, so that disrupted it and flipped the play. The fourth was tight and I got a good lead in the fifth. I won the middle and the length battle and that’s what separated it.
“It’s pretty impressive for 40. I’ll be interested to see how I’m moving at 40. I don’t know if it’ll be that well. Once he started going, he started moving better and better. He’s been around for years and he’s quality to watch. These guys like Rodriguez, Gawad, Mohamed, these guys have been at the top of the game and they’re still playing well at 34 and over, they’re still dangerous.
“When they do start playing like that, the people are going to enjoy it and appreciate how good they’ve been for how long. He was disruptive and that was annoying, but I’m glad to get back on top in the fifth and have no more five-minute rallies.
“I think my knee just went in the back of his calf and gave him a bit of a dead leg, but I’m not sure. I’d built up a nice lead and at that point I managed to get back into control, so I was happy with my squash at the start and through the fifth.
“You’re probably not going to make technical changes or anything during the match, but advice from my coach Miles Jenkins might just be a cue as to a hand position or something that you need to exaggerate. I always pronounce the racket face in certain positions that you need to be exact with.
“But that was just more about imposing my game in the right way. I think I thought I was in front and probably went a little bit passive, so I needed to reassert myself, get across the middle, be aggressive with my hitting. Even if it’s not necessarily short, I had to be aggressive with my body language and the way I was hitting the ball deep.”
