[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-0 Scores: 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 (28m)
Mohamed
I haven’t felt comfortable AT ALL on court tonight. I was not feeling the racquet at all, not feeling the court. Most of my shots ended up in the middle of the court. I was just scrapping.
Not sure why, I don’t know. It’s a off day. My confidence was so low when I was playing today, I don’t know why, I was feeling a bit flat at times. One of those days I can’t feel anything.
I started getting it going in the middle of the second and the third, but I couldn’t find any kind of consistency: I played a few good rallies, but then he comes back, I was right there and then he comes up with some ridiculous shots and kind of turning me off.
He is a super talented player yani, former world number one, so ….
Karim
“It was much better than yesterday. The good thing about having tougher matches in the first rounds is that you are more prepared and it makes you mentally stronger. I made sure to recover well, and to get on court today in the best way possible.
“Mohamed is a top-20 player and is already very experienced. I didn’t want to give any cheap games and points today. I just tried to focus from the very beginning to the very end. He is a very dangerous player on the ‘T’ and in the front corners, so I had to be sharp in the front corners today.
“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s match against Mostafa Asal. He’s playing really well and I’m playing well too. Mostafa is one of the best, and I used to play with him when he was 11. So playing on the professional tour now is something good, and hopefully, we can put on a good show tomorrow.”