[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0 [30] Sin Yuk Chan (HKG) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (27m)
I just love Sin Yuk. The way she presents herself on court. She looks like she is on the wrong place, that she found the court by chance, saw some lights and just came in. She started by taking the ball on the Dunlop Stand that normally the higher ranked takes as they come on court.
She doesn’t have any sponsor on her shirt. No name. Just a simple black Tshirt and a plain white skirt. Just simple, relaxed, no pretention of any kind. And then she starts hitting the ball. Her backhand placement is the same for a drive and a crosscourtcourt. Same for drop shot and lob. Go and read that!!!
She reads her opponent’s game, and is able to anticipate their attacks. She got Hania’s crosscourt kills 80% of the time. Not many not top 5 players can achieve that.
Today, she didn’t play attritional in any way shape or form. Just attack, attack, and when she could, attack even more. Hania had to work very hard to pick up the shots at the front, and it was a very entertaining encounter. Much more than the scoreline lets you believe…
Sin Suk : I feel that at the begining of each game, I was playing harder and I was able to use the back of the court better to create spaces around the middle, so I was able to create a lot of opportunities.
But then later in the game, I was slowing down, like I often do, and I don’t know why. Maybe I fell in her game a little bit, struggling with her drives. I wasn’t getting on the volley as much, I wasn’t able to attack.
I tried and adjust after that, but when I was trying to attack, she got the first few I was playing, and I wasn’t able to maintain the quality…
She is just.. better!
Hania : “I feel happy. It was a tricky match. I didn’t feel like my opponent wanted to play rallies at all, and she wants to take the ball in short whenever she has the chance, so I had to be on my toes. I needed a high T position to get those balls back, and it was hard work.
“I’m pleased to get through in three.
“It’s going to be a tough battle against Siva. It’s obviously the World Championships; she just had a huge win ten days ago, and she’s playing really well. We’ve played against each other since the juniors. I had so many battles with her, and I’m sure we’re going to have loads to come.
“Rest day tomorrow and we’ll be back for the quarters.”
