[2] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0 Nathan Lake (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (27m)
Nathan chose the perfect tactic against Paul. He took the game to him, playing very fast pace, explosive squash. Extremely entertaining, ball hardly touched the backwall. Paul still won rallies but he had to work pretty fast to earn them!
Nathan : Fram, I spoke to you in my first ever World Champs in Seattle… I remember saying that I had a 100% record at the worlds, as it was my first ever match…
I’m glad you think I had the perfect tactic, I wish you’d told him that! Yes, I was trying to break him up. It didn’t work so well…
All credit to him, I struggled with the pace, his physical presence, his squash is so good, very controlling. I was trying to control the game as different levels, play some fast, play some slow, some medium.. Those guys move so well, you’ve got to find a way to break them up.
I probably went too fast, but I didn’t want to go down wondering, I fired my shots in, probably way too many errors, but I wanted to commit to it, really go for it, and I’m pleased with it. I left it all out there… I enjoyed it, I truly enjoyed it.
Paul : “I know Nathan very well. He used to train with my coach, so we’re very familiar. It’s the hottest day of the week, though, and I wanted to make him feel it from the very first rally.
“You definitely notice the conditions on court. The top of the bounce is probably a bit higher, which is the biggest adjustment – it still took a good shot, but you can easily get caught up in the heat and play a bit slow. I just wanted to take the match to him from the first rally.
“Youssef is playing well at the moment. He got me last time at El Gouna, so I’m definitely ready to take him on again and show him how I’m playing.”
