[1] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-0 [5] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (34m)
I saw the physio going to Mazen’s corner between games, so it’s obvious that not everything was fine body wise for the Black Falcon today. And I didn’t need to see the physio to know that. I just saw the high numbers of errors he did today, and that’s usually when he doesn’t trust his body and goes for too much too quickly.
The first game is the closest, but at 7/7, Ali gets on a roll while Mazen strings the errors. The second is more onesided, from 3/3 to 11/4 in 8m the first game was 11m, as will be the third game. 4/1, 5/2, 6/3, 7/4, 11/6. So many errors…
But still, Ali played Mazen’s style of squash a bit too much I felt, although he managed to reestablish his own squash by the end of the match…
Ali : “I’m very, very happy. I think I played every department a lot better than before, my length hitting was hitting the corners better. My attacking was a little too telegraphed but it’s getting there. It’s my first tournament of the season and I know Mazen wasn’t at his very best so I can’t take all the credit, but still happy to be through against such a dangerous opponent.
“I’m extremely proud [of being a husband and father]. We’re sometimes defined by our wins but it’s mostly about how we leave the people feeling towards us. You could see from the video that everyone made for [wife Nour El Tayeb, who retired from the Tour ahead of the new season] how much they appreciate her as a person, before a player. And so do I obviously. It was a very emotional day and [daughter] Farida was there to celebrate with us.
“It’s one of those days that will stay with us forever and I’m very grateful to the PSA and tournament for organising it.
“I was very nervous, but we talked it out and that made me feel better and I’m very grateful.”
