[3] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 [16] Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (35m)
Next Opponent: Karim AbdelGawad
The Peruvian has yet to drop a game during this World Championships campaign, and the World No.4 eased his way into the last eight with a complete performance over Ibrahim. Elias boasts an unbeaten record over Ibrahim, winning the last three matches
To beat Diego at the moment, you need to be pretty fit, patient and to not open the court. And today, Youssef was a bit short in the three departments… Not that he is not fit, but he had a pretty tough previous round, coming back from 2/0 down against Juan Vargas in an explosive and mentally damaging encounter on the traditional court. Patient, he was for a few rallies – that one at the start of the second game, obviously….
𝙈𝙀𝙂𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔
Nearly three minutes long 🤯 This rally was tough! 🥵@diegoelias96 @Yousseefibrahim #PSAWorldChamps pic.twitter.com/z8uYL0twx0
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) May 13, 2024
But before and after that, not that much. As for not opening the court…
Diego locked down the angles, and forced Youssef to attack from the wrong position, far too many errors, which normally is balanced with winners but not today, not against Diego on Fire…
Diego : “I felt pretty good today. I knew Youssef had a tough one a couple of days ago and I wanted to make it tough for him from the start and I felt pretty well. I’m happy with my performance today.
“I’m learning from mistakes I’ve made in the past of playing long matches in the first few rounds. I want to play as good as possible from the start. I’m glad I only conceded seven points against Youssef as he’s a great player. I’m very happy with that.
“I think all of the top four are playing well at the moment. Ali has been playing amazing for the last year and a half. The four of us have a big chance this year and it’s about the guy who plays better on the day.
“Karim is such a great player and former World Champion. Here in Egypt he plays amazing and that’s going to be tough. Dimitri is playing well this tournament and I hope they play a long one.”
