[14] Yahya Elnawasany (Egy) 3-1 [LL] Marwan Assal (Egy) 11-6, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9 (47m)
Another loud crowd match today on the first court closest to the Press Room…. Yahya only just in 4…. Yahya Elnawasany ends the run of Lucky Loser Marwan Assal in four games. Despite another strong showing from the young Egyptian, it was Elnawasany who had too much quality as the match entered its final phases, taking the win after 47 minutes of play.
His game is unique.
You don’t see many players playing this way, so it was tricky. I had him in the first game, then I was 8-4 up in the second, but I started getting too much in my head. I had a certain game plan and I needed to change a few things, but I couldn’t. I just kept going in the same direction. I wasn’t as smart today as I wanted to be, but I dug in and managed to get the win, which is very important.
Most players build from the back. Marwan’s game is more about shooting, very aggressive, with a lot of play in the two front corners, and he volleys a lot. Sometimes he goes slow, sometimes very fast, so he doesn’t have a pattern. Most players have a pattern, so you can study them, but he doesn’t. Physically, too, he’s sometimes too fast and sometimes slows down. The pace is all over the place, and it confuses the other player, especially as we’re not used to seeing this kind of player.
The last time we saw players playing like this, it was juniors time. After some time, they develop their base game and their style changes completely. That’s why playing young Egyptians is tricky: they play a different game from the pros, the junior game.
But now they also have strong physical abilities, so they can handle it long matches! When we were juniors and played that way, we could keep it up for a couple of games and then we’d stop. The new generation has more physical energy than we had at their age, so they can keep it up for a long time.
You could see this game took a lot out of him. When he’s fitter, I wonder if it will be even more dangerous. But when the pressure goes on him, I think it’ll be a different story. This shooting game requires a calm mind. If he’s under pressure, it’s going to be tricky.
Tomorrow I’m playing Victor. Completely different game. He plays by the book, Victor. He had a tough one today, I saw it. I was cheering so hard for Vellavan today. No hard feelings, Victor. I love you, man.
