[3] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-1 Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6 (44m)
Japanese No.1 Satomi Watanabe kickstarted her title defence at the Optasia Championships with a four-game victory over Kenzy Ayman at The Wimbledon Club.
Watanabe, who earlier this month became the first-ever Japanese player to reach the top ten in the world rankings, progressed to the quarter-finals by an 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6 scoreline.
The World No.11 came out of the blocks quickly with a flurry of winners, and despite a few periods of brief resistance from Ayman, pushed through to a two-game advantage after just 16 minutes of play.
World No.44 Ayman raised her levels considerably in the third game, breaking up the rhythm of Watanabe and hitting the front two corners with impressive accuracy. The players traded points up to the latter stages of the third, but it was Ayman who managed to edge ahead and force a fourth.
After the disappointing nature of the third-game defeat, Watanabe flew back out of the blocks in the fourth. After racing into a 5-1 lead, the defending champion moved on to book a quarter-final meeting with No.6 seed Amanda Sobhy.
Kenzy
Like Sana said, she was coaching me, I only seem to start playing when my opponent is 6/2 up! So I’m wasting a lot of energy, I need to start playing my squash from the begining, and being solid at the beginning, and not wait until 6/0 to go ‘oh come on, Kenzy’
I’m really proud of the way I improved my game, I used to play not a good squash, I was not anywhere near their level of squash. But now, I worked so hard, and I feel that I am getting closer and closer to the top players. I need to go back and keep working, keep training. I need to thank my coaches, Omar Mohy, Abdelrhman Saber, Omar El Hadidi and Mostafa Hany, and also my fitness coach, Mohamed Moneam.
Satomi
“There’s a bit more pressure on me this week as defending champion, and now as well because I’m No.3 seed. I’m trying not to think about it really.
“Still, I know that the rankings are so broad these days, and that anyone can beat anyone on their day to win the tournament. I’m just focusing on one match at a time.
“I’m enjoying it at the moment, but also find it a bit challenging [not studying alongside playing on tour]. I used to have a bit of an excuse when I didn’t play well! I don’t have that anymore because it is a full-time job. When I don’t play very well, I still have to face myself to get over that cycle.
“So far I’m enjoying it though.”
