Squash: Joyce arises from trough of despair to joy of triumph

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

You could easily say this has been Leilani Joyce's greatest year.

But then the new queen of the squash world would tell you that it started off as her worst.

Her partner, Matt Taylor, vividly recalls the day when Joyce was at her lowest ebb.

It had been seven months since she had won a tournament. Her last victory had been her crowning moment, winning the British Open.

They were devastating losses. It was like, holy heck, what's happening here? said Taylor, who doubles as the world No 1's manager.

Then in May, she hit rock bottom. She lost the Waikato Open at her home club in Hamilton.

Granted, the loss was to the world No 3, Australian Carol Owens, who was probably the best performer in the world right then.

But Joyce was not just beaten, she got annihilated, Taylor said.

The couple drove home and sat on the couch for four hours trying to decide what Joyce would do with her career.

She could just accept it, and get on with her life, or she could get active and change things, Taylor said.

"The next day in the car - I remember like it was yesterday - she turned to me and told me the three things she was going to do," he said.

Those three things were: retain her British Open crown, win the world championship for the first time, and become the world No 1.

"I knew there and then she would do it. She had that fire inside her," he said.

Five months later, she has done two of those three.

Just making the final of the British Open last Monday was enough to put her at the top of the world rankings for the first time in her seven-year international career. And she is now well clear of her rivals too.

Since that day in the car where she declared her intentions, she has not lost a tournament. Funnily enough, the one who has suffered most from Joyce's new-found dynamism has been Owens.

A week later, Joyce beat her in the final of the Auckland Open, and then later, when it really counted, especially financially, she toppled Owens in the finals of the Australian Open, the Heliopolis Open and the Ala Ahram tournament in Cairo.

They were denied a showdown in the British Open, when Owens, who spends a lot of her year in New Zealand these days, was knocked out in the semifinals by veteran Briton Sue Wright.

So how did Joyce, who calls herself the Brown Blur, turn around a losing streak to become the world's top player?

According to Taylor, one of the reasons is right here in this story.

You will not see any quotes from Joyce. The first thing to be tossed out the window was her obligation to speak to the media.

Joyce loves talking to journalists, but apparently it was becoming a distraction to her training.

She did a string of interviews within hours of winning the British Open this week, then Taylor took over the mobile phone.

Now she is out of bounds again for another month, until after the world championships in Edinburgh.

Today she is playing in the $US36,000 Carol Weymueller Open in New York, and then she will be home for a fortnight of rest - and probably a bit of fishing.

It is Taylor's job to keep her in a cocoon until the world championships.

"Things are so much more intense, now that she is reaching the finals in every tournament. She needs her rest.

"Her skill level is right up there. Now it's just up to us to ensure she is mentally prepared."

In her revised approach to squash, she has taken on new fitness trainers and coaches, is into hill running and yoga, and drives to Auckland once a week to play against the top men.

Taylor has known Joyce since they were 13, but they have been in a relationship for the last few years. As her full-time manager, he has seen the best and worst of the star.

"She's the sort of person who doesn't make any excuses. She knows she's ultimately responsible for everything she does," he said.

"She gives herself no limits. And she doesn't compare herself to anyone but herself.

Of course, she has been compared to the greatest, Dame Susan Devoy, who won eight British Open titles in her astounding career. But Joyce does not want to be seen to be trying to emulate Devoy.

"In one sense it's an honour to be compared to Susan Devoy. She's one of the greatest squash players, men or women, ever," Taylor said.

"But personality-wise and style-wise they are completely different. Lani has done this herself."

There is some advice that Taylor would like to glean from Devoy.

"From what I can understand, when she was playing she had a bit of a problem with the English girls, who wouldn't acknowledge how good she was," he said.

"Lani is in a similar situation. They still won't admit she's the best player out there at the moment. But the longer they deny it, the better she can get.

"It happened when she won the British Open last year, and again this time. The British claimed their former world No 1, Cassie Campion, would have won, if she had not been injured.

"It's got a bit frustrating. She's just got to get into the final at the world champs and give Cassie a hiding."

Taylor has no doubts that Joyce can achieve the treble.

"I'm not saying she's unbeatable. But she has left nothing left unturned," he said. "Now she feels like she is No 1 in the world. And I believe she is still developing."