[2] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-0 [6] Joelle King (Nzl) 11-7, 11-9, 13-11 (38m)
Conditions are pretty cold out there, not as cold as the SanFrancisco Open a few weeks back, but it’s not warm in the Egyptian desert. And that suits Sherbini’s game more than Kings…
It took Joelle a game to get used to the conditions I feel against Nour’s pace, the Egyptian very comfy I felt in that opener, 6/3, 8/4, 10/5. A little relaxation from Nour, Joelle goes for it, 11/7 in 9m.
Second is on the same model really, from 4/4 it’s Nour’s domination up to 7/4, 10/6. And like in the previous game, Joelle plays the end of the game very well, pushing Nour to cover a lot of ground, and clawing back to 9-10, but a nice length that dies in the back, 11-9 in 11m
What pressure makes you do. Joelle, who had made only 1 error per game up to now, just goes and makes 2 errors in two points… 2/0 Nour, 5/0 Nour. I open my laptop in view to start my end of match report.
Jinxed it, now didn’t I…
Joelle, finding all her targets, playing assertive squash, controlling the T and it’s Nour producing the work, 5/5, 6/6, 7/7. 8/8. Atef, Nour’s dad, sitting next to me, is starting to be vocal for the first time supporting his daughter….
10/8, Game ball Joelle, the crowd comes to life as Nour strings the points, match ball 11/10. One won’t be enough, second will do fine, 13/11, to the delight of the Egyptian supporters, in 16m.
Nour
“I’m really happy with my performance, I’m back into the semis in my first tournament back. It was very tough from the start of the match, but I’m really happy with how I played and how I managed to end the third game.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on myself, I just want to enjoy my squash and the atmosphere and the crowd gives me the support and I’m going to take it as an advantage.
“It’s really good that we have a tournament here in Egypt, so that young juniors can come and watch and hopefully they can learn and we can see them in the future.”
