[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) Olivia Clyne (USA) 11-4, 16-18, 12-14, 13-11, 11-8 (71m)
Olivia Fiechter (USA) 3-1 [5] Joelle King (NZL) 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 14-12 (50m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1 Nele Gilis (BEL) 5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (63m)
An incredible match from Olivia. She is changing her mindset and it is working big time. Today she just lacked a couple of shots here and there, but she was that close to take SJ out today. It was an impressive display from the MiniYankee, even more impressive when you put the two next to each other and compare the sizes!!!!
Well done to SJ for not losing her head, and come on Olivia, keep this up. It’s amazing.
SJP
And she gets to survive another day….
That shot Liv hit at 9/9 in the 4th, oh my Goodness. Thankfully the one at 10/9 she missed! Even the ones I thought were two inches out of her reach, she was somehow getting cracking on them and the shots were just pfffffff….!
So at the end I said ‘right, you are not going to get beaten by a short ball. Unless it’s a nick. So I needed to keep pushing up and pushing and just keeping reminding myself that I’m not called the Gladiator for nothing. I know I keep repeating it, but the number of matches I won is insane. I just have to keep believing…
The next step is believing I can win 3/0. I did that yesterday, that’s boring, two days in a row…. I also reminded myself that if you win, you have a rest day tomorrow, doesn’t matter how much you’re pushing, I’ll be fine in two days, whether it’s Jaz or Nour El Sherbini, so that’s good..
No.3 seed CIB Hania El Hammamy came from behind against Nele Gilis to earn her third successive quarter-final place in the Egyptian Open.
The Egyptian fell 1-0 behind following an 11-5 victory from Gilis, who had lost to El Hammamy at the same stage at last year’s event. But El Hammamy clicked into gear as she restored parity after winning 11-7 before taking a 2-1 lead following an 11-6 win in the third.
Despite Gilis saving three match balls in the fourth game, El Hammamy had done enough to reach the last eight of the tournament for a third year in a row.
Hania
“It was a very tough match today, very physical as always against Nele. We’re both physical players so I had to focus more on my game and my length to play as accurately as possible to try to reduce the physicality. I’m really happy with how I managed to win – it was a slow start but when I started to play my game, I was much better.
“It was a slow start – I wasn’t focusing on what I wanted to do and I played her game more. I was pleased to have my coach by my side to make me remember the game plan so definitely pleased to win it.”
Fiechter
“Oh my God, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. Joelle is someone I have so much respect for and someone I’ve looked up to throughout juniors and in my career. It was just so neck-and-neck.
“Every rally felt like a marathon. There was a lot of emotion in that match and a lot of ups and downs. It wasn’t as consistent as I’d have liked it to be, but that’s what happens when there’s a lot on the line. I was trying not to think about making it into my first quarters or getting the opportunity to play in front of the Pyramids.
“I was just trying to focus on my squash and I had to fight for every rally. I’m so happy that I just dug in there and kept retrieving balls and believing in myself. I can’t believe it!”
