R2: Youssef grateful to Ali Farag for his guidance..

Youssef : He came with a solid game plan, I guess. He tried not to give me the volley and tried to play rallies. He was very strong at the start, and he stayed with me. He wasn’t just smashing the ball, he knew what he was doing.

I feel I did okay in the first game. In the second, there were some crucial rallies that didn’t go my way. In the third and fourth, I did very well. I stayed with him for the first couple of points, then I pulled away, and that’s what created the gap.

I have no idea how my body feels right now. My head is very loud right now, so I don’t know. I keep thinking about the body.

I’ve been enjoying working with Ali so much. It’s nice to have his guidance every day, and it’s been really helpful, along with my team here as well. They’ve been working so well to keep me in shape. You never know: a few niggles here, a few niggles there, that’s fine. But I want to play the whole season healthy, and we’ll see how it goes.