R3: That match where Mo Shorbagy gets to play the “New Ramit”…

Ramit : I’ve been working a lot with my team trying to change a few things, I know squash wise, I can do a lot of damage. But for me also it’s been a few years on the PSA, this summer, I did a lot of thinking to figure out why is it, even people believe that I can push the top guys, I can’t actually do it.

And we realised the biggest problem was the physicality and the mental side. So I have been putting in a lot of work, and I feel once you do that, there is a little bit of confidence as well.

I don’t think I changed much, I’m just a little bit more confident. My first couple of matches is where I showed my confidence. I didn’t play anyone in the top 10 but in the top 20 top 50, and I got them off quite comfortably.

Today was just a learning with someone like Mohamed who has so much experience. I feel I had my chances but there were those moments that he picked better than me in the second and third game. That’s what I learning, and that’s what he told me after, these things are going to make you tougher, and now that you are here, it’s scary.
So I’m happy about that!

Obviously, I’m going to look back at the game and see where I could have done things differently, but it’s always a pleasure being on court with a legend like Mohamed. On the court he is tough but off the court, there is a sweet human being in there that not many people know about.

It’s always good, he is someone that helped me, whenever we chat, or when we train together, he shares things with you. But on court, he turns into a beast, so I admire that about him, there is a lot I can take from him and learn, and add in my game from the mental perspective.

Mohamed : I was speaking to Geg this morning, and I was telling him it’s not so much the people he beat in the first two matches, but more the manner in which he did it, leaving them only a few points. And the scoreline was a bit worrying for me, because it looks like he is serious about this season. I definitely didn’t take this match likely at all.

I was playing catch-up today in games 2 and 3. Ramit is such a skilled player. If you lose 5 seconds of focus, it’s very different from losing 5 seconds of focus with any other player playing traditional because Ramit can score points very quickly.

But in a way, it’s a good thing. I had to always get my focus quickly, I couldn’t get him go far in the score otherwise I would have lost the game.

But this is a new Ramit, for sure. I’ve never seen him aggressive before. From the first point, I don’t mean he was arguing with the ref as such, but he was questioning the decisions. He wanted to show me he really wanted to win. It was not done in a rude manner, but he was showing he wanted to win.

Before, it was always “Ramit the skilful player, a bit soft, like a nice player to watch, getting some wins from time to time but not aggressive enough to keep it going”. But today, even when I was 2/0, he really went back hard at me in the third, and that’s the discussion we had. ‘This is a new Ramit’, I told him, ‘I’ve never seen you aggressive like that before!’

And to be honest, it’s great to see, because it always p.. me of when I see a very good player not fulfilling his full potential. I think that he is realising that to get to the next level, he’s got to get stronger mentally, within himself, and I could see it’s happening.

I’m so lucky to have Vito [Ahmed Shohayeb] helping me in this tournament. There is a great connection between him and Greg as Vito has been coaching Nour El Sherbini for years, they are working together a lot.

On top of that, Vito is like a big brother to me from Alexandria. He see me growing up when I was a kid in Alexandria, and I watched him playing in his junior career as well. So we go way way back. I called him yesterday, and asked him ‘would you be with me in this event’.

I’m so lucky I have him, because he is such a great squash coach. He works in silence, he is not a flashy coach who posts on social media, and just look at the players he has: Sherbini, Zakaria, a new star is born in the sport, Fayrouz. Very few people talk about him, but he is one of the smartest coaches I know. So I’m the lucky one to have him on my side in this tournament, he has helped me a lot during this match, and he’s already motivated me straight away for the quarters, and I hope we are going to do something good this week I hope.