Words of wisdom from Nick Matthew help Laura Massaro
By SEAN REUTHE in Philadelphia
World No.12 Tesni Evans overturned a two-game deficit against New Zealand’s Joelle King at Philadelphia’s Drexel University earlier today to book her place in the quarter-finals of the prestigious FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships.
Evans had beaten Commonwealth Games gold medalist King in their last meeting during May’s Allam British Open, but she found herself down in the opening two games after a bright start from King, with Evans struggling to contain the World No.5.
However, a virtuoso fightback from Evans saw her play some spell-binding squash as she took control and she came back to record a 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 victory which will see her take on World No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in what would be a first ever PSA World Tour Platinum semi-final for the 25-year-old from Rhyl.
“I was getting completely outplayed for the first two games, she had me everywhere and was all over me, so something had to change,” Evans said afterwards.
“I tried to change my game a little bit and luckily it paid off in the end. I’m not going to lie, if you look at the head-to-head [against Perry] then I’m not looking very good. I’ve never beaten her before but it’s another opportunity to have another go. I’m really looking forward to the quarter-finals and I will give it everything in that match.”
Perry earned her quarter-final place courtesy of a comfortable 3-0 victory over India’s Joshna Chinappa, while there were also wins for England’s Laura Massaro and last year’s runner-up Raneem El Welily, with the duo seeing off Malaysia’s Nicol David and United States No.1 Olivia Blatchford, respectively,
World No.7 Massaro and eight-time World Champion David have contested an enthralling rivalry over the past 13 years and were meeting for the 34th time on the PSA Tour, with David leading the head-to-head record 23-10 coming into the match.
It was their third meeting of the season – with both players taking a win apiece before today – but Massaro prevailed by a 12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 margin despite squandering a two-game advantage.
“Before the fifth, [three-time World Champion] Nick Matthew came over to me and said ‘you need to get your body language up, you’ve got to hit the ball the way you know you can hit it and it comes down to whether you want it or not’,” said Massaro, who will play El Welily for a place in the last four.
“Sometimes it just needs to be simplified like that and I just went on there and tried to fight, [there were ] a few more fist pumps and I just tried to get myself moving and that transferred into how snappy I was. It was tight but I’m just happy to get over the line in the end.”
In the men’s tournament, World No.2 Ali Farag continued the defence of the title he won alongside wife Nour El Tayeb last year as he overcame Welshman Joel Makin in straight games.
World No.33 Makin tested Farag at times during the fixture and even forced him into a tiebreak in the second game, but the player from Egypt was able to close the win out by an 11-5, 13-11, 11-5 scoreline and he will play three-time U.S. Open champion Gregory Gaultier in the next round.
“I’m delighted,” said Cairo-born Farag. “You can see how hungry he is, he never gives up on any ball and never gives you any cheap points, which is great to see. On court with him it is never easy and being 9-2 up in third he still caused me problems.
“I think the second game was crucial, I think if he had have won that then the dynamics of the match would have changed and I got away with a 3-0 win.”
Gaultier will aim to end a four-match losing streak against the Egyptian in their quarter-finals match, and he earned his place in the last eight after beating Farag’s compatriot Zahed Salem 3-1.
“I didn’t play amazing squash,” Gaultier said afterwards. “It’s the first time I have played on this court and it was quite difficult, the ball moves quite fast, I just needed to get my mark and find my length.
“I was judging my game all the time and couldn’t get my short game [working], but at the end of the day I did what I had to do, just win, and that’s all I care about.”
The other men’s quarter-final on the bottom half of the draw will be contested by Germany’s World No.5 Simon Rösner and Colombia’s World No.6 Miguel Angel Rodriguez after they enjoyed respective wins over England’s George Parker and Mexico’s Cesar Salazar.
The quarter-finals of the U.S. Open begin at 18:00 local time (GMT-4) on Wednesday October 10 and the action will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and DAZN (Japan).
2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA.
Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half):
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3 (67m)
[5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9 (63m)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3 (57m)
[2] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0: 11-5, 13-11, 11-5 (52m)
Quarter-Finals (Top Half To Be Played October 10):
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[8] Paul Coll (NZL) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Bottom Half (October 11):
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) v [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)
Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half):
[12] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [4] Joelle King (NZL) 3-2: 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (69m)
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (28m)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [9] Nicol David (MAS) 3-2: 12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 (56m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [14] Olivia Blatchford (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (32m)
Quarter-Finals (Top Half To Be Played October 10):
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v Amanda Sobhy (USA)
Bottom Half (October 11):
[12] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA PR and Media Manager). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures courtesy of PSA