Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-0 LL Hannah Craig (IRL) 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (32m)
Hannah is one of the players that went through American College, went for a “finance job”, and realise that her dream was actually to get full time on the Tour. It’s great to see her battling on the courts here, she is a grinder, she never let go of any point, and if today she made a few critical errors at the end of the game, it was pretty uncharacteristic, coming with the pressure Zeina was putting her on.
As a lucky loser, Hannah didn’t have anything to lose and I feel that Zeina is “lucky” to get the last two games. The match could have taken a completely different feel had she hadn’t.
But that’s all due to the hard work the Egyptian is producing off court, getting fitter and fitter – she is still suffering from a few niggles here an there but nothing as major as she had before – and it translates in her game. No more going for silly shots, no more letting games go to recover from a hard rally.
Good and fair match, good rallies, nice start of the (long) day…
Zeina :
Hannah is very strong physically, and has nothing to lose, coming here, I knew she was going to give it her all and enjoy it.
Even when I was leading in the games, I never felt comfortable, even if she was losing, she kept giving her 100%, and I really liked her attitude.
Glad I finished it in 3. I knew that had I lost a game, I might run into a few troubles, and I’m happy I managed to close these close games.
When it got close, I tried not to do anything in particular, just take one point at a time, trying to stick to the basics and going for it if/when I got the opportunity, but not pushing it. There is a difference between being patient and passive, and you can’t go for too much at those crucial times.
Because I’m pain free, I can trust my body now, I can trust my physicality, and that makes a big difference.
