[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 3-1 Tesni Evans (WAL) 8-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (44m)
I remember a match between those two in Netherlands’ DPD Open, where the match was so one-sided that Tesni commented at the end “she’s having a laugh”… We are very far away from those days.
Nour was displaying a bandaged left hand, she injured herself falling during a match bless her heart. But it didn’t stop her from imposing her squash from the second game onwards, once she got used to the new feeling of playing a competition match with a heavy bandage…
Tesni will be happy with the match, she is on the right path…
Tesni
I feel that my squash is getting better. I’m physically feeling much better on the court which gives me a lot of confidence.
I keep walking away and working hard, and seeing improvement week by week which is really good recently. I’m enjoying it, which I think is probably the main thing.
I gave her a little bit too much towards the middle of the match, when it was the time actually to knuckle down, and make that bit harder.
Nour Sherbini is an absolutely class player, she is probably one-off, if not the hardest player to play on tour because of her style of squash. The quality that she has, she is constantly putting you under pressure and makes you second guess your own shot, because you never know really!
I’m happy with part of that, all credit to Nour, she is an absolute class player and she showed that tonight.
Nour
“It was a tough first round, Tesni is playing really well and attacks well. These court conditions were a bit tough for both of us, it’s very fast. I couldn’t find my game at the start, so I’m just happy that I’m through. What matters is the win.
“I just hit my hand on the floor while playing with all my weight. It’s not the best situation to play like this, unfortunately, it was only a week ago [she sustained the injury] so I didn’t have time to heal. I’m doing my best to perform like this, it’s hard to serve and to balance the body, but I’ve been playing with it the whole week so I could get used to it. I’m going to live for it for a month, so I have to get used to it.
