[3] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0 Iker Pajares (ESP) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (33m)
Next opponent: Youssef Ibrahim
As I said to Iker at the end of the match, “Ca ne paye pas.” It doesn’t pay. The hard work that the Spanish produced tonight is not reflected in the score or the length of the match.
Iker never let go of putting pressure on Diego tonight. Patient and accurate at the back, creating a few opportunities, grabbing them with both hands and never showing signs of tiredness, frustration or negative body language, Iker, as often, impressed me tonight. He mixed his pace, height, and weight on the ball.
In front of him tonight was a super Diego. He didn’t put a foot wrong, was focused from the first ball to the last point, made very few errors, and gave his opponent all due respect. He needed to because I feel Iker could have very well create a bit of trouble for the Peruvian had he taken him lightly.
Sharp, accurate, fast, Diego was on fire tonight. He is looking mighty good….
Iker : It’s the second match this season I have the feeling that the score doesn’t tell the story of the match, first one was against Joel Makin in Optasia. I lost 5, 4, 6, something like that, bit like today, it was a 50m match. I feel I just don’t score the points. Maybe because those conditions don’t really suit my game, obviously I prefer the traditional courts to play a top guy, as they are more used to the glass than I am.
They seem to always find a way to finish the rallies, find the solution, the hold, or the nick. Today, I wasn’t very sharp, I wasn’t confident, I was thinking about the conditions, the wind, my footwork. The game is so fast with these guys, you need to think fast. And it’s hard to focus on your squash and your game.
It’s all about getting that experience, I love those matches, I NEED those king of matches to get there, I want more of those…
Diego :
“From the start it was a bit weird as I’m not used to playing with wind. In the first few points, I had to get used to it, but eventually, it was kind of nice.“The first two rounds are so important to try and play as hard as I can and win as quickly as possible so I can save all my energy for the later rounds. I’m very happy with how I played today.
“When I started playing when I was growing up I played hard matches in the early rounds and I learned from that. I want to get to the later rounds as fresh as possible. I play against every player with my 100 per cent and I’m glad I’m doing that well.”
