[13] Nada Abbas (EGY) 3-2 Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) 11-8, 4-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-5 (56m)
Kaitlyn : Sorry I destroyed your story “match of the day”, Fram… I was really trying my best!!
I was really happy with some patches in the match, for most of it to be honest. I’m glad I took it to her.
I started very passive, I stood back, waiting for her to do something. I’m glad I stepped up and imposed my game to her and kind of disturbed what she was doing. That went well at times.
I was really pushing, I believed in myself more and more as the match went on, but I just run out of steam at the end I think! And she showed her experience in that fifth as well, she knew how to play it.
My game? I think I’m rediscovering it at the moment. Normally, I play fast and I round around too much. So I was happy to lift the ball a lot today, still using my speed and space. I’m lifting much more now, which gives me more time to play, and helps me avoid rounding around too much!
That new style is coming into play now, which is nice …
Nada: : “I’m very happy to be through. Kaitlyn obviously took me by surprise, she played really well, and I think I didn’t deal with it that well. But I’m really glad I kept my nerves, I held myself, and I was able to get the win at the end.
“I don’t remember this match at all [their 2024 Irish Open match], the only match I remember seeing her play was in New Zealand. This one was pretty different, she was moving really well and she was the aggressive one.
“I was 2-1 down and I just tried to tell myself not to panic and to take it one step at a time. I knew she had the momentum and she was the one playing well, so I just tried to relax a little bit and take it step by step.
“It definitely helped a lot being a home World Championships, I had everyone with me here today, my coaches, my mum, my friends, so obviously it really helped having them all here with me to support me, especially when I was down.”
