CATELLA SWEDISH OPEN 2003 – FINAL JM Boswell takes Swedish crown. Stewart Boswell, the number 2 seed at this year’s Catella Swedish Open, won an enthralling final against top seed, John White, at the Linkoping Sports Arena. White stormed into an early lead in the first game with a mixture of fiercely hit drives and early volleys. Boswell struggled to get in front of his opponent who dominated the tactics. White was much quicker on the ball and after just 16 minutes, the 29 year old Scotsman, ranked number 4 in the world, won the first game 15-6. The young Australian is made of stern stuff and showed both mental and physical strength in opening up a lead of 4-1 in the second game. White pegged it back to just one point but then an electrifying rally won by Boswell with a dying length into the rear forehand re-opened a 3 point gap to give Boswell a score of 9-6. White started to go for a few early shots, trying to win rallies earlier but there were too many unforced errors to harm Boswell. Just keeping the ball in play, Boswell waited for the errors to come from his opponent and only dropped one more point to take the second game 15-7 and level the match score. The beginning of the third game was tight. Boswell seemed to have difficullty holding his racket each time a decision by the referee went against him and there was a flurry of lets with the score at 6-4 to the 24 year old from Canberra, Australia. Boswell was looking strong now and increasingly kept White away from the front court. At 8-6 the third game had taken the same length of time to play as the whole of the first game. Some of this was because Boswell wanted to question virtually every decision made by the referee but despite this he managed to keep his concentration and maintain a 2 or 3 point lead. More errors were made from White and it seemed that the steadier Boswell was gaining a strong grip on the match. He was playing the better length, moving his opponent off the T and despite a few attempts to work his backhand volley to the front, White slipped further and further behind until he lost the third game 6-15. Boswell started the fourth game looking very confident and sprightly. He stormed into 4-1 lead after just 4 minutes and capitalised on an increasingly frustrated White. More errors came from the Scotsman’s racket and he looked down and out after 60 minutes of play. Some great play from White, this time with two forehand volleys and a forehand drop shot kept him in the match but Boswell still managed to keep a 2 point lead. Boswell could scent victory and a flying dive to retrieve a White shot at the front followed by a flashing cross court drive opened a 4 point lead at 9-5. White is a fighter though and after 3 more rallies, Boswell had to dive again but this time he didn’t win the rally, hitting the ball out of court. Suddenly, White was back in the match, looking sharper and volleying the ball hard and low. He reduced the lead to just 1 point but Boswell then won two rallies with penalty strokes to go 12-9 up. An extraordinary winner played between his legs took him to 13-9. The end was in sight and his consistently accurate and hard drives brought him to match point. White hung in and managed to win three consecutive rallies to give him hope, but Boswell finished with a forehand volley drive to give him his first Swedish Open title. Full result: Stewart Boswell (Australia) beat John White (Scotland) 6/15 15/7 15/6 15/12. Go Back