Summary Nick Matthew beat Henrik Mustonen 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 in the first round of British Open.
HULL (AFP) - Nick Matthew, the only Englishman to have won the British Open three times in a row, made an impressive start to his title defence on Monday.
The titleholder not only gave an increasingly incisive display during a 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 opening win against Henrik Mustonen, a spirited qualifier from Finland, but afterwards was convincing with words too.
Most of all Matthew explained how he was able to play without pressure, a feeling displayed in his freedom of movement and fluent stroke production, particularly while coming back from deficits of 6-7 in both the first two games.
"Whether it is a blessing or not, I don t know, but the last few PSA events have not gone so well, and eyes have been taken off me," Matthew said.
"But I have had a good training block, and it feels nice now that I have got the first match out of the way.
"Although I am the defending champion, it s a new court and you don t know what will happen, especially against qualifiers like that.
"It would have been easy for him to come from quite a different court in Pontefract (the venue for the qualifying competition) and make excuses, but there was none of that."
Matthew s attitude is similar. He admits that at the age of 32 he may have overplayed a little. Now however he has had a period away from competition, and on the 31-minute evidence of his opening contest, looks better for it.
Matthew also has a positive attitude towards Ramy Ashour, the brilliant 25-year-old Egyptian who has taken away his world title and world number one spot in the last few months and now is after his British Open title too.
"He has always had the ability to be unplayable," Matthew said.
"What he has found recently is that consistency. His record at the moment speaks for itself. I know from my own experience that it is not easy to go on that sort of run.
"He s learnt to win when he s not playing so well. But people do have a chance with him. He s not blown everyone away."
Ashour begins in the other half of the draw tomorrow against Omar Mosaad, his hard-hitting top ten compatriot who was close to taking him to five games in the world championships in Doha in December.
Matthew will play a second round on Wednesday against Laurens Jan Anjema, the tall Dutchman who won well against Ryan Cuskelly, the improving Australian qualifier.
The other main contender in the bottom half, the fourth-seeded Gregory Gaultier, who is the only Frenchman to have won the British Open title, wants to win it again as a tribute to the coach who unexpectedly died during last year s tournament at the O2 Arena in London.
Gaultier won his opening match 11-6, 11-9, 11-1 against Alister Walker, the world number 14 from Botswana, before dedicating his efforts to Richard Pons, who passed away only days after being invited to join the Gaultier entourage.
