[4] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-1 [5] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7 (42m)
I remember the first time they played, on that same court last year in the Black Ball Open. It was such a great match but Rowan had to retire. She was so tense, putting so much pressure on her shoulders, she actually got very poorly while playing.
She is an extremely talented young lady, but she can get very frustrated on court and I feel that is one of the things that might keep her from progressing as quickly as she should/would like. But what do I know…
They are very close in the world ranking, 8 for Tinne and 10 for Rowan, so it was bound to be a close encounter… And it was. Extremely fast pace played on there today. Tinne seemed to enjoy that kind of pace a lot. She scored 10 winners in the first game, 9 in the second, a blip in the matrix in the third, 3 only, and back to normality, 11 winners!
Rowan in the third showed us what she can do with the ball. Finding perfect balance between length game and lethal volleying to the front, she killed the ball nicely and won the game quickly and painlessly in 5m.
Tinne didn’t let that domination continue, mind. Coached by PSA player Leandro Romiglio, she found her poise and clarity on there, and played the perfect game, 4/0, 7/1, 9/2. A big push from the Egyptian, never giving up all credit to her, from 10/4 match ball down, she clawed back to 7/10 playing exquisite squash but it’s 11/7 for a very happy Belgium.
“I’m very happy with the way I managed to refocus and reset in the fourth game. Rowan played a very good third game, but I’m very happy that I reset my mind and managed to comeback.
“I feel like I had some good parts and some bad parts, where I hit completely the wrong shot. I am definitely happy with my front game. I really wanted to move her to the front today and I think that’s what I’m most happy about.
“Hana had a very good win over Amin Orfi yesterday, I was very impressed with her squash. On the other hand, Olivia is playing the squash of her life and it will need some very good squash to beat her.”
