[5] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1 Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11 (68m)I
Mazen
I didn’t keep my cool today, and that’s why it was a bit edgy at the end.
I feel the ref was trying to control us, control the game, I was trying to talk to him but he was shutting me down. In my view, a ref has one job, to ref, and we players, have one job, play squash. That’s the way I see it.
So I was angry overall, I was me on court, I was not playing the game the way I want to play. And it’s the first match of the season as well. I knew that might happen.
Luckily, I managed to finish it in the 4th. I don’t think it’s a great performance, but it is what it is. At least, I got the win, and I get to play tomorrow.
Today, I had some good movement to the front, so the body is fine, I’m still working on it, still working to get better. The more I get time without matches, the better I get.
To be honest, the court is brutal. It’s very slippery, the ball dies, you don’t know what to do to get the ball to the back, I was struggling to get it to the front, it was messy.
I wanted to play a conservative squash, but I just had to go for crazy at the end. But I’m getting better, the body is getting better, awfully, the mental is getting better as well. First day, first match, so many nerves as well. You are expecting a lot from yourself coming to the tournament, so hopefully I can calm down tomorrow, and play better.
