Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-1 Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 11-4, 11-1, 8-11, 11-8 (35m)
A match of three halves….
First two games, the French lady in complete control, immaculate basic game, hence quick winners, nearly beggling the Canadian, 10/0, 11/1.
Then a Nicole “waking up”, stepping in front of her opponent, assertive, sharp, intense, perfect squash, 7/1! A good response from Melissa, but it’s still the Canadian who takes the game, 11/8.
The fourth is the real match, both girls on deck, fighting for every point, great rallies, fast pace. 2/2? 3/3, 5/5, 7/7. But unforced errors at that point coming from Nicole’s racquet, errors she didn’t do the whole match. 10/7, 11/8.
Melissa
At one point, I actually pictured myself putting my top in the suitcase, picking up my stuff at Raneem’s, and heading home…
Yes, sometimes you don’t play your best. I’ve played her plenty of times, and yes, I switched off a bit in the third. But then I started getting pinned to the backhand side, just waiting for the error – because that’s something she does from time to time.
From the moment she decided to really play, she played incredibly well, better than I’ve seen her in a long time. And of course, she was going to the front more, picking up more balls.
I wouldn’t say I’m happy about not winning 3/0, but it’s always good to have a bit of a battle. It’s not a bad thing to arrive at a second-round match this way – Sana hadn’t played yet, but I’d already fought hard, been under pressure, even stressed myself out a little, looking over at my coach thinking, “What on earth am I doing?” So, some positive.
