Amina Orfi, Egypt’s newly-installed teenage world champion, has defended criticism of her conduct on court, saying she feels “misunderstood” by fans who have accused her of poor sportsmanship and disrespect toward opponents.
The 18-year-old addressed scrutiny over her post-match handshakes and demeanour in an interview published on Wednesday by The National.
“I definitely feel misunderstood, because the comments I see, it’s always like, ‘Oh, she’s this kid with a bad attitude, she doesn’t have respect for the older players’, and all that. This is like the most common one I get,” she said.
“Or like, ‘Oh, her handshakes are just not it, and she’s being disrespectful’, and ‘Oh, she’s cheating’. These are the comments that I usually get, and I see them, but I just tell myself, the person commenting this is sitting at home on their couch doing nothing while you’re here doing all this, so at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.”
Orfi’s rise through the tour ranks has been accompanied by increasing debate over her on-court behaviour, with some critics accusing her of brief handshakes and confrontational body language during matches.
This has been heightened by her rivalry with world No. 1 Hania El Hammamy.
However others have defended Orfi, pointing to her age and arguing that her combative edge adds excitement to the sport.
Orfi said criticism of her interactions with opponents failed to take into account her personality, coupled with the age gap between herself and many established Egyptian players on tour.
“I’m not forced to hug someone,” Orfi explained.
“I don’t know why people or fans in general have this obsession of like having to go and hug my opponent and congratulate them. I just do what’s required of me.
“I don’t really like that much of physical contact in general, even with my close friends or my parents. So it just, they’re [the fans are] looking at it from a very superficial way.
“And I think just the age gap kind of makes it even harder for me as a player, because when someone’s older than you, and you beat them, for example, I don’t know what to say or what to do. I just feel if I say something, it’s even more disrespectful.”