Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-1 Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7 (49m)
Never ever easy to play 40 years old Miguel. He keeps the pace up, doesn’t give up, picks up everything, and keeps running. He was actually 1/0 up in the H2H, but the match was played in 2019…
Ramit didn’t have a good event at home last week. A lot of pressure from the press, his brother’s wedding.. just too much. But a good talk with his team, and today, he is the winner of a very very tricky match…
Ramit
That’s sport actually. You can be down one day, and up the next day. Every match is an opportunity.
I’ve got to thank my team, I was very down in Bombay after the event. I don’t mind losing but I don’t like when I don’t play my best squash.
I was coming out of my brother’s wedding, you know Indian weddings, they go on for 5, 6 days, and I had also a lot of attention from the press, not enough time on the court, not enough rest. So jumping into the event was a big shot to the system.
Thanks to my team, my manager, fitness coach and coach David Palmer, they put me in the right mind set to come here.
Today was an important match for me to reset.
When you play Miguel, he might be 40, but he still plays and moves like a 14 years old! So the game plan with him with David, was don’t try and hit it passed him, because he reads the game really well, just keep lifting. It’s much harder to play him on the traditional court, on the glass, you can squeeze the ball, but on the traditional, with warm conditions, it’s hard.
And even if I was ahead in the 4th, those giant rallies, he felt that I was close to close it down, and he was pushing hard, so very hard I could push that one through.
The day after tomorrow, I’m up against Mohamed, a Legend of the Game. I have massive, massive respect for him, and it’s just wonderful to play him, and in this phase of his career. The more time I get to spend with him on the court, is just an honour, but obviously, I’m going to go out there and give it my best.
