2020 Quarters REPORTS

QF: Hania backs it up

[9] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1 [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA)  11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8 (40m)

Well, to be honest, my money was on Amanda. Not because I don’t believe in Hania’s talent, but I thought that the emotional energy she had to find to beat Camille in her fourth match against the French since September woud have drained her.

But once again, I know not much about squash… The first game was dominated by the Egyptian, playing at an extremely fast pace imposed by the American, and who  from 4/4, dominated the opener, 11/6 in 7m.

The second saw the American getting back on track, and truly taking the shots away from her opponent, who made a few too many errors, pressure errors.

But from that point on, I could be wrong of course, but I thought that Amanda was a bit flat. Maybe the jetlag/tiredness of several events in a row just took their toll. And although she kept trying to play at her natural speedy Gonzales pace, her accuracy – her trademark really – at the back was not as normal. Hania on the contrary seemed to wake up, fist pump and Yaaaaaaaa getting higher and higher pitch as the match went along.

If yesterday, Hania played on an emotional level against Camille, today it was more at a skills level. Matching her skillful opponent, retrieving the American’s sublime attacks, she was able to contain her enough to find crispy winners and take her first ever victory against Amanda, having in the legs double time spent on court.

“On s’incline”… *bowing*

Hania

In the first game, you saw it, I was a bit flat, it took me a while to get my body going and really warm up after my match with Camille yesterday. I was trying to match her pace, but Haitham my coach told me that it was her game, and that I wouldn’t beat her playing her own game. He told me to slow it down, create opportunities and then go for my shots. That was my strategy.

Amanda is a very attacking player and she likes to hunt the volley, and I had to do a few court sprints for sure. I wanted to escape that as much as I can, so I tried so hard to keep running and get every point because whenever I gave her an easy shot she would go short.

It’s a second semi-final for me in a World Series tournament. It feels like a dream to be playing against all of the top players. I feel like I’m competitng against them really well and pushing them hard, so it really feels good.