Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-2 Shahjahan Khan (USA) 12-14, 11-3, 12-10, 4-11, 11-3 (74m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0 Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (42m)
A lot of decisions in the match between Fares and ShahJ, both players very unhappy with both their opponent movement and the ref…. Fares got penalised with a conduct stroke at the start of the 4th… but came back very much focused in the decider…
Fares:
“Today was a very tough match and I didn’t expect Shahjahan to play so well. For sure, I respect him so much on court but today he played unbelievably. Everything was going into the nick and the corners. I had to dig really deep to win the match.
“In the fifth game, I gained more confidence because the more games you play, the more confident you get. In the beginning I was testing myself and not very sure that I was able to play five games. But now I’m able to push into a fifth game, which is good.
“At the end, I played very well and everything was very tight and going into the corners. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hope to play very well.”
Paul
“I was quite happy with that. Borja Golan’s one of my favourite players on tour. It was good to put in a good performance, start well, use the full court, get used to the temperature and how the court’s playing but very happy to get off 3-0.
“In that heat you don’t want to try and drop many games. It’s hot out there and you can see how much fluid you’re losing. To try and win 3-0 and not be too physical is a good start.
“I really enjoyed it tonight. The court wasn’t as bouncy as I thought. My length was dropping a bit short so I’ll adjust that tomorrow. I’m enjoying my squash at the moment and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
