Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-1 Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10 (39m)
It was nice to see Kenzy on court today. Yes, there are still a few movement issues, but her exaggerated swing is gone, she is focus on the match, on winning and on the ball. Melissa lost a bit (A BIT??) her head in the 3rd, getting into chats with the ref – who was very fair I thought.
Still, the French reassessed her attitude in the last game, but by then Kenzy was believing – quite rightly – that she could upset the rankings. Melissa finally found her length and width, making the court very big for the Egyptian junior.
Kenzy’s backhand volley drop shot is a very lethal weapon, but she’s got to work on her exit from the ball, to make sure she is letting her opponent to get to the ball – which is most of the time too good to be reached!
Logical result then but a closer than expected match for the French lady who used to live in Cairo, followed her Egyptian coach to America, but is thinking about coming back to this wonderful country…
Melissa
“At 10/6, 2/1, I found myself in a very complicated situation. I’m glad I got back on it because sometimes, you have to win matches like that, by playing badly, very badly, frankly, it was horrible at the end.
“I got myself dragged into a story with the referee again. I shouldn’t have, but occasionally, I think it’s necessary because otherwise, you can lose the match just like that, there really are matches that we lose because of the refereeing.
“The referee tried to be fair, but there are things that referees don’t see and that we, players, feel. There are a lot of comments on social media about the “younger generation” versus the “older generation.” I’m not too old on the tour, but I started by watching Raneem and Omneya play, and we didn’t see that.
And now, all the time, you have to talk to the referee and tell them to watch the movement, and it takes you out of the match. And there, I almost completely lost the match. It’s regrettable to have to win like that. No pleasure on the court. Especially since she doesn’t need it.
There are plenty of balls where I tell myself “too good,” those I didn’t get, but I take a let because she doesn’t even let me go there. I think, the ball is perfect, why is she making that movement?? At 19, to have the racquet she has, to feel the game as she feels it, to have such a ball strike, it’s a gift! Plus, she moves very well for someone a bit strong like me, she makes great splits as well, she has everything she needs. She doesn’t need to do that…
If I left Egypt to follow my coach, Amar Khalifa, I miss Egypt. I loved living there, it’s always beautiful, it reminds me of Guyana, my home. I’m really thinking about returning, I love living here, I love the people, the culture, and above all, I love their squash, they see squash the way I like to see it…”
