Joey Chan (HKG) 3-2 Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 (39m)
Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-0 Menna Nasser (EGY) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (28m)
Alexandra
“I was a bit edgy the whole time. Playing on the glass is very new to me but I really enjoyed the court. The rallies weren’t really that long or structured, so squash wise I don’t think I played too well but I’m really glad that I managed to find a way to win.
“It’s really different playing on glass, the court plays so differently, you see the ball differently. I’d like to have more experience to play on the glass court but for now it’s still a bit foreign.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play Raneem once before in Chicago last year, so at least it’s not my first time and I know what to expect. I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully we can get some more people to watch and cheer us on. Playing those top players, you have to treat it like a learning experience and give it your all and hopefully you can test them too.”
It was my first time watching Ineta play and I am impressed. The Tall lady from Latvia, based in Paderborn, as tall I’m told as SJ Perry to give you an idea, uses her height wonderfully well. She really put Joey under a lot of pressure, volleying again and again, finding some lovely crosscourt lobs or volley drops.
At 2/1 up, with Joey’s knee playing up a bit, Ineta looked very good but in the middle of the 4th, Ineta started to string a few errors, and that was enough to give the Hong Kong lady the belief she could overturn this;
And overturn she did, eventually! From 3/0 down in the 5th, Joey went 8/4 up, only to be caught 8/8. But again, it looks to me Ineta just lacked a bit of self belief, going for a bit too much instead of just keeping doing what she was doing so well and took her there… 11/8 at the end of a great huge rally, Joey’s experience making the difference here… Excellent match, excellent sportmanship.
Ineta, you have got to believe…
Joey
I played last year here and the conditions were very slippery. I was hoping that it would be better this year, but it wasn’t, and it made it difficult for us to get out of the T! But shared conditions, it was hard for both of us.For the second and third game, she was controlling the T, and I was finding it hard to find my length, as she would chop me off constantly!But from the 4th onward, I managed to slow down the pace, and in my mind, that was the key to the match
