[10] Salma Hany (EGY) 3-1 Hana Ramadan (EGY) 11-5, 11-5, 3-11, 11-5 (33m)
Next opponent: Olivia Weaver
Salma : Approaching any matches nowadays, they are all as hard as playing Nour El Sherbini, or one of the top 100. The factor of the pressure trumps other elements, and every one is fit, everyone is playing well. You never know what’s going to happen on the day, and you need to adapt and face whatever is thrown at you.
I was definitely nervous about my match against Hana. But also I was very confident with the way I have been playing and handling that kind of matches. I was ready for a fight, I was ready to win 16/14 in the 5th if it was that what it took. I didn’t mind, a win is a win, it’s the world champs, you can see tough matches from day one. I myself had a tough match with Hollie in the first round. I played amazing in the first two games, then I relaxed slightly in the middle of the third, and there you go, you find yourself in the 5th game for a decider.
Today, I felt I was very sharp in the begining, really focusing on my squash, not thinking about the occasion or how big is the tournament.
When you play Hana, you know she is the most dangerous when she feels she has even a slight chance, she is such a fighter, she is improving, I have a lot of respect for her. So you’ve got to make sure you don’t give her a sniff. And I’m not happy at all with the third, again, I made the same error than I did with Hollie, I kind of relaxed in the third, and she played amazing in that game.
But I’m pretty happy with the way I came back in the 4th, I played as solid as I did in the first two games.
I’ve played Olivia in the US Open, back in October, she beat me, she is playing very well at the moment, probably the best she’s ever played. I don’t really look at the past, I prefer to focus on the present, different tournament, a new week, a new day. I will just have a look at how I can improve what I did today, and come up with a solid plan against Olivia.
