[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-2 [11] Nele Gilis (BEL) 8-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 (78m)
Loved it, loved it, loved it. Trust women to offer us the best of shows…
It was so GREAT to see Nele back to her normal level. She was incredibly aggressive, so fast, so accurate and believing in herself. I guess Olivia has the same type of game than herself, and she feels in her comfort zone playing against her.
To be honest, Nele dismantled the American in the first two games. She made her look clumsy, forced uncharacteristic errors out of Olivia’s steady racquet, and put her through hell.
🥵 This rally in 30°c heat! 😲
Olivia Weaver & Nele Gilis are going all out in Egypt!
📺 https://t.co/bCa0MRqdqf pic.twitter.com/FBtJWnvKlh
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) May 12, 2026
5/1, 7/3, 9/6… The Belgium was still in front, and managed to close the game 11/8 in 15m. About the same story in the next game, 12m, Nele 7/2, 9/3, 11/6. Still not a single error from the Belgium.
The third was a bit shorter, 10m, and saw Nele a bit off the pace, from 4/4 all the way to 10/4, making her first errors (2), bowing 11/6.
Excellent reset in the 4th, 3/0 Nele, 5/3, but caught out by a much more dominant Olivia, stepping up the court, and pushing Nele to the back, making the court bigger with crispy counterdrops. Nele started to show real signs of tiredness. But she was fighting hard, 5/5, 6/6, 7/7, 8/8, 9/9. Out of the hat, it could have been match to Nele, but it’s Olivia with two lovely winners, 11/9.
Another long one, 16m with no errors from Nele.
The last game is a display of how deep Nele can go, how hard she fought, runing on the fumes of the fumes of the fumes. I even thought she was starting to cramp in the middle of the game.
1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 6/6, 7/7. Nele is still in it. A crucial call at 8/9, no let decides the video ref. 10/8, match ball. Another video call, a let stays a let, and Olivia has the last word, 11/8, 14m.
Nele is heartbroken, but still finds a lovely smile and an embrace for her opponent. And that’s CLASS.
Incredible battle, incredible gladiators. Squash can be such an incredible show…
Olivia : We always have great battles over 90m, 100m… this is not our first rodeo…
“I’m not super pleased with how I played, especially how I started the match, and she really punished me for it. She forced me to step up and really battle hard out there.
“Fortunately, I felt like I went into my tool kit, and I tried to use everything I had out there to battle my way back into the match.
“I tried to just make it physical, tried to get in front of her as much as possible, and I think that that ended up turning things into my favour.
“In the first game, the ball was flying, and I was struggling to find my targets. And then I felt like I made an uncharacteristic amount of errors, and I’m not really pleased with that.
“But I felt like when it mattered at the end of those last few games, I stepped up, and I’m really proud of that.
“I think it was kind of clear that she was feeling it, and fortunately, I felt good. These are the matches you train for, and I know I’ve put in the work, and over the years I’ve got a lot of hours in the tank.
“Fortunately, I was able to really put that to use tonight when some of my other tools weren’t firing as well as I’d like.”
