R1: [15] James Willstrop (ENG) 3-0 Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 11-7, 11-9, 11-3 (33m)
Not to take anything from James, but Youssef was very poorly today, and was pretty ill as he went off court. He was not well for a few days, was glad to be tested negative but now will try and rest to recover!
As for our James, 37, still going strong, three errors in the first, 4 in the second, despite a very fast pace in first two games. A good solid performance from the Englishman today, who’ll be happy to get away with a 30m match as no rest day for him tomorrow…
James
It felt absolutely great. Just thrilled to be able to perform like that. I’ve been feeling alright the last few weeks, training has gone alright and I had a good match last week and in practice, so things came together. It’s great to be out there playing and I feel excited about that.
Vanessa has been out here for a week, so looking after two children is always good sharpening. I get good support, shoutout to Jim and Carol back home, we couldn’t do it without them. I get my sessions in, which is nice and obviously to beat someone like him, I must be getting the right sort of sessions and my dad has been working hard with me back at home.
These matches today, I could be going home, I could be staying – you’re starting the day like that. I know I have a chance, so just to get through is the first thing and I’m really chuffed about that. It’s good to be there and I’ll get ready and do what I used to do when I had a lot of matches back in the day – just try and recover, get stuck in and have a go.
