REPRESENTING her country, her region, her family and herself, Guyana’s world number 48-ranked squash queen Nicolette Fernandes has done so with distinction and yielded unprecedented success so far at the Women’s World Squash Open 2012 in Cayman Islands.

Having fought her way out of the qualifying round, Fernandes, a four-time Caribbean squash champion toppled former world number one Rachael Grinham in her latest match last Sunday.
Phenomenally, Fernandes came back from 0-2 against the Australian who is currently ranked number 16 in the world, to record her third win of the tournament.
Grinham won the first two games in the gruelling first round match 11-3, 11/6 and it looked like the end for Fernandes, but the 29-year-old Guyanese managed to stay alive, when she won the third game 12-10, before dominating the fourth and fifth which she won 11-5, 11-9 to seal the win in what may be viewed as the upset of the tournament.
Prior to her victory over Grinham, Fernandes upset the 42nd ranked Misaki Kobayashi in the qualifying round.
According to the tournament’s official tournament site www.worldopensquash.com, the contest lasted for 83 minutes with long rallies for nearly every point before Fernandes prevailed 6-11, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9 to qualify for the main draw where she later defeated Grinham.
Fernandes, along with Mary Fung-A-Fat and Ashley DeGroot benefited from wildcard spots to compete in the tournament this year, based on their performances at the respective Caribbean Area Squash Association’s (CASA) Caribbean Championships.
The three Guyanese ladies had to battle in the qualifying round for a chance to make it to the main draw of the tournament but only Fernandes succeeded, winning her opening match of the tournament against world number 44 ranked Coline Aumard of France 11-6, 11-1, 11-4.
DeGroot got a chance to go up against world number 29 Sarah Jane Perry and lost in three games 11-3, 11-7, 11-3 and after a first-round walkover win, Fung-A-Fat was humbled by world number 27 Lauren Briggs of England.
In an interview on the tournament website, Fung-A-Fat said, “It’s completely different playing at this level compared to what I’m used to. It’s very serious and accurate. I see now what I have to do and how much training I have to put in to get to that level, challenge accepted.”
Nicolette will continue to compete in the second round of the tournament in hopes of creating more upset wins at the world’s most prestigious women’s squash tournament.