So far I've mainly talked facts and results from the 2010 Australian Open. I really wasn't enjoying myself at this year's Open. The Australian Open isn't an enjoyable tournament to start with: there are way too many matches crammed into a week and you often end up playing the same players over and over again. But this year's event was harder than normal. The early and cold daily starts, horrible scheduling and even longer than usual days were just too much for me. I'm not a machine that can come perform at the push of a button and it was a great relief when the team event concluded. I felt I was on the home straight.

I'd already lost two singles matches in the team event which is as many as I've lost in the Australia in the past 4 years. With that said, it could have been worse. The level and depth at the top of Australian table tennis is stronger that it's been for years. It feels like there are a lot of guys fighting for the spoils of the sport in Australian: the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, national titles and to a lesser extent a bit of prize money.

Losses always do wonders for my motivation and motivation was exactly what I needed at this stage of the tournament. I won my group and the first round against Brian Berry without any problems. This set up a showdown with Kiet Tran, whom I'd lost to in the team event. I was extremely motivated to play well by this stage and was determined that anyone who was going to beat me would have to completely earn it.

I lost the first 11-8 before taking the next four sets to win 4-1. I was extremely impressed by how Tranny played though, much better than when he beat me in the teams, and would rate it as one of the better matches any Australian has played against me. He made very few unforced errors and kept constant pressure on me to play good shots or else I knew they would be hit back past me. I don't think I could have played much better than I did and was very pleased to have found good form again.

The quarter-final and semi-final were both over before they even began. It didn't feel like Heming Hu (in the quarter) or Oh Nam Ho (in the semi) believed that they could win the match and put up surprisingly little resistance. Oh Nam has been somewhat of a rocket this season going undefeated at the World Team Championships and beating both Robbie Frank and Kyle Davis in previous rounds in at Open. He was very passive in our match and allowed me plenty of time to work him round the court.

In the final I played against Justin Han whom I beaten once and lost to once in the team event. I was feeling pretty comfortable and confident on court. I think my serving was at its best for the whole tournament in this match and I was able to keep it low and skimming when required.

The match started off very much in my favour. He was quite apprehensive in his returns and first blocks which allowed me to get the upper hand straight away in the rallies. The 2nd set started in the same fashion and I was able to stay a couple of points ahead for most of the set. I was sharp in my attacks, picking up any half long shots that he was playing and whipping them out wide. My returns were varied and effective. I led 10-7 but for some reason that I can't explain, I felt the momentum change direction. After a time-out at 10-9, he missed my half-long push and I claimed a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately the momentum had definitely swung. My returns lost their bite, I became a bit more indecisive when playing key shots and generally lost focus.

The match was certainly in the balance in the fourth set. I think what ultimately proved to be the difference was my ability throughout the match to keep my first topspins low and restrict his blocking and counter spinning game. This gave me a very high percentage of points won when I got the first attack in and put his game under pressure. The fifth set was over pretty quickly and I had done it! See the videos from the final below.

I was very pleased to have won the Australian Open for the fifth time under what I thought were some adverse conditions. The escapade left me exhausted both physically and mentally and I still feel like I'm getting over the effects a few weeks on.

Next on the cards is the Australian Commonwealth Games Qualification Tournament which will be staged at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre from July 22-25. There will be 8 players (the final two of those 8 will be decided by a free-for-all knockout tournament) that are going for 5 spots. My only goal for the event is to qualify in the top 5, whether it be as nr 1 or as nr 5.
 

SET 1

 SET 2

 SET 3

 SET 4 

 SET 5