Yathreb Adel (EGY) 3-1 Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 11-1 (27m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0 Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-1 Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-2 (37m)
Nice to see Yathreb back on the Tour, she couldn’t play in Nantes because of a very sharp asthma attack, but happy to see she is back on her feet (or lungs!).
As for Hana and Nour, I was with Nour in Nantes, so I know she had a tough foot injury, which is now sorted but because she lacks a bit of match fitness, the body is suffering a bit and her hamstring is causing her worries. So today, first game, Hana was struggling a bit with her accuracy, but eventually clinched the crucial opener. Nour was struggling a bit physically in the next two games.
Hana
It was a bit tense at first, I couldn’t find my length, she was going in aggressive with a good game plan. I just stay in it and keep pushing, and find my length! After the win of the first game, I had more confidence going into the second game and third, so I think it was an important one to win.
I’ve played her once before in a local tournament, but I have been following her, the improvements she is making, she has been on tour with me, she is doing a lot of work on her squash, she is doing great. So I was going into the game knowing that she was going to be aggressive, and that I had to stay on my toes the whole time because of her deception.
It’s a blessing that I get to do both my work as a physio and my squash. It takes my mind off my squash, I always remind myself I have something else, it gets the pressure off, and I like that feeling of just turning it off, knowing there is more to life than squash, and it’s great for me to have both of them.
