R3: [6] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 3-0 Farida Mohamed (Egy) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Amanda Sobhy untroubled by a determined Farida Mohamed as she advances to the quarters …
“Le spectacle était dans la salle ». It’s a French way to say the show was not where it was expected. Today, Amanda didn’t win a squash match. She won a mental battle against young Farida.
You know the boxing matches, where the two players make the other one as angry and as frustrate as they can? Well, today, the American organised a great Welcome to the Seniors Party for the youngster!
Farida is a strong girl, and Amanda, every time she felt that her opponent was on her line, was just running full power into her back. Farida, not used to that kind of force/contact was looking at Amanda, first with a bit of surprise, then frustration, which then turned into blind annoyance. After every hard contact, Farida would lose between one and three points very quickly, tinning away.
And the more the American was getting under the Egyptian’s skin, the more the young lady was getting more tense, more wanted to do well, pushing it too hard, too soon… Game plan out of the window. Meanwhile, Amanda was just finding her shots, just standing at the front, and controlling the match…
Experience versus exuberance. Today, experience won. Can’t wait for their next meeting.
Amanda: “Normally I’m one of the stronger players on Tour, but she’s young and she’s hungry and so it’s kind of for her like if I was playing one of the guys back home,”
“Fortunately, I’m really used to it – I practice with a lot of guys back home, and they’re way bigger than me, more physical, hit the ball a lot harder – I’m used to it. If she’s going to do that, it’s not really a big deal, I know how to handle it.
“It spurs me on even more – I’m like ‘ok, if that’s how you want to play, so be it’. I just didn’t let it faze me, I stuck to my game plan. My game is in a good place, I’m feeling good and I knew that whatever she wants to do, she can do and I’m not going to let it faze me.”
