Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-2 Borja Golan (ESP) 11-6, 2-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6 (81m)
OF COURSE they went to five. Superb match today, gruelling rallies with Youssef attacking but Borja’s basic game so accurate today, plus his counterdropping as effective at ever put the Egyptian under so much pressure throughout.
First game, superb presence in the middle of Youssef, 11/6 in 14m, hard work. The Egyptian seems very impaired in the second, 11/2 for the Spanish in 9m, and Youssef asking for 3m injury time on top of the 2m for the end of game.
After treatment by PSA physio, the Egyptian seemed to be back on track, but Borja is dominant in that one, 5/1, 6/2, 7/3 8/5, 9/6 and logically 11/7 in 14m of again hard work.
Hard work I believe paid off in the last two, as Borja started to go for too much at the end of the games, from 5/5, it’s 8/5 to the Egyptian and two errors to finish the game from Borja, 11/7 in 18 very long minutes!
3/0, 6/2, 9/5 for Youssef in the last one, still a heck of a lot of work produced but again, errors creeping in at the end of the game, and it’s 11/6, again 18m, for the young Egyptian that really managed to contain an extremely accurate, dangerous, patient Spanish, who will never cease to surprise me by his relentlessness….
Youssef
I knew it was always going to be a tough match. It doesn’t matter how old he is, physically he is so good and he always finds a way. I’m really happy to close out the fifth game.
In the second game, i had a problem with my shin, it was like my leg was tight and planted in the floor, I just couldn’t move. I saw myself having to retire. But SHonagh, the PSA physio, worked on it and just released the tightness, she was too good, and I was able to go back on court.
Today I was playing one of the most experienced players on the tour. He has such a good position on the middle, I was trying to take that away from him, by playing as fast as I could, and exposing him a bit at the front and at the back.
But it took a while because he was so experienced and knew how to absorb my shots and mixing so well.
I’m trying to balance my University life with squash. You have to be organised, I’m learning to do it and it’s getting better every year – it’s tough but I’m happy to do it.
