At what point do you start to consider someone the real deal? When they demonstrate consistency? When they demonstrate constant improvement? When they defeat people that on paper they shouldn’t? No matter what your criteria, American Julian Illingworth is at least proving he deserves being considered the “real deal.”
Illingworth is rapidly closing in on the PSA top 50. He jumped up seven spots to World No. 56 in the April PSA rankings after qualifying for the main draw in three major PSA events this year. So perhaps, before the squash season wraps up, the former college star will jump six places and crack that barrier that has been elusive to so many Americans in the past.
And speaking of jumping, Australian Stewart Boswell who reached a career high of World No. 4 in 2005, has finally cracked the top-10 again after battling his way from a back injury that kept him off the PSA tour for nearly two years. On the women’s side, England’s Alison Waters took advantage of semifinal appearances in the Monte Carlo Classic and the Greenwich Open to break the top-10 barrier herself for the first time in her career.
