Bowman survives shaky start to beat Daza

David Bowman recovered from an early wobble to comfortable beat Alex Daza 6-3, 6-3 at King George’s Park. Daza, who had had a pre match warm-up, started the stronger player, and broke Bowman in his second service game as the trademark (now copyrighted) Bowman forehand failed to fire. Bowman broke straight back, however, and went on to break once more to take the opening set. The players traded early breaks in the second set, but once again Bowman found his rhythm, producing a stunning backhand down the line winner at 1-1 and 0-15. But Daza responded in the next game with a similar backhand, and was starting to fire off both sides. It was Bowman, however, who upped his game in classic style, dominating with the forehand and breaking Daza twice to secure his fourth straight victory of the campaign. “He played well,” said Daza, “and has a good forehand and beautifully light feet.” Both players agreed that the courts were nice. “Why play at Magdalen?” jibed Daza.