Whitlock takes positives from 2022 despite entering in at round one: "I've had an amazing year, I've won the World Cup with Damo"

Simon Whitlock won a really hard fought battle against Christian Perez which nearly went to the last leg and was characterized at times by the penultimate leg which ended on double one which 'The Wizard' sees as the real turning point.

Whitlock will next play Jose de Sousa at the 2022/23 PDC World Darts Championship and after playing Perez at the Grand Slam of Darts he knew he'd be in for a battle.

"Christian played really well. That could have gone either way at the end. I felt like I stayed a bit calm and used my experience and got lucky. Hitting that double one whoever won that leg was going to win it so I'm over the moon hitting that," said Whitlock post match.

"He's very good, he's a class player. He averages over 90 all time and he's exceptionally good. First rounds are always hard especially playing a great player that puts you under pressure. I came through it ok so move on now."

But going up there despite having to play in round one, the pressure wasn't there for 'The Wizard' who aimed to just play his game.

"I felt no pressure tonight, I felt quite calm even towards the end. I just thought play your darts and if he's going to beat you, he's going to have to hit good scores and checkouts. He nearly did."

It has been an up and down year for Whitlock which has been seen by him playing in the opening round but believes the World Cup takes over everything.

"I haven't had the best year. I've played pretty good, I've lost a lot of matches where I've had chances to win. That's probably reflected on my rankings but I've had an amazing year I've won the World Cup with Damo so that takes over from everything."