[2] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-1 [5] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 (46m)
Gina had to put on a strong battle to shake off Sana who was not feeling at her best physically, but who kept fighting until the last rally.
I truly feel for the Egyptians players who are fasting, even if they break their fast for match days, their metabolism is completely up side down. I know, I know, it’s their choice, blablah. But it doesn’t make it easier.
Gina played her game to perfection I felt. She kept forcing Sana to play another shot, and made her work a heck of work out there. 8/3 up in the opener, 10/5. Sana gave it a push, 7/10 but the English girl closed it in 9m, 11/7.
Excellent response from the Egyptian in the second, 6/1 up, 8/3, finding the energy back, and shouting to encourage herself, 11/7 in 10m.
As Sana mentions, the turning point is 8/6 for the Egyptian in the 3rd, Gina just a bit winded maybe but two unforced errors at that point, 8/8 and two strokes for Gina, 10/8! A lovely crispy winner to crown it, and Gina is back leading, 2 games to 1, having scored 5 points from 6/8 down.
Not that Sana let go, of course. After that 10m 3rd game, she kept pushing hard, although she was way down scorewise: 2/5, 3/8. A huge effort, and Sana is back to 8/9.
A sublime glued to the wall backhand from the English girl, match ball, 10/8. Superb redrop for Sana, one match ball saved but she can’t save the next one, and it’s 11/9 for Gina, 11m last game.
Sana : To be honest, despite Derek [PSA physio] care yesterday, my body is very sore, I had a little niggle in my adductor before I played my match with SJ. But I just wanted to sleep so much, I didn’t feel I could wake up today. Felt very very heavy.
For me, the turning point of the match is in the 3rd game, I’m 8/6 up, and I lost focus. I saw myself winning the match, and I should know better because every time I think something like that, I lose the match! I have to learn from this.
I played random bad shots, like when she played one in the middle, and she was just stuck in the corner, and I got the ball out of court.
I should have kept thinking point by point, like I normally do. Like when I was down in the first game, 9/4 or 9/5, and I thought just play one point after the other, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. At that point, I didn’t think about winning so much. I tried to calm myself in that third, but she was playing so well, some great shots.
Gina : “That was really nerve-wrecking for me out there. I’m really just trying to change a few things in my game and I know that some people think I’m an attritional player, but sometimes I don’t play like that and it’s a bit all over the place, headless chicken.
“I thought I played a really good fourth game until 9-5, and I’m just trying to stay in the present because those thoughts started entering my head about closing it out. Sana is obviously such a dangerous player and can hit a winner from anywhere.
“I wasn’t quite on the ball in the latter stages of that game, but I thought a nice straight drop shot to end was nice.
“I’ve actually been quite disappointed with my season. I’ve actually had quite a long break from tournaments, I hadn’t played anything since ToC and before that I had to pull out of the Hong Kong Open and World Teams because of a torn glute.
“It’s been a bit of a tough patch. I’ve had a good training block, though, and I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself for this event, especially when Nouran [Gohar] and Nour [El Sherbini] pulled out, and I became the No.2 seed.
“I’m glad I’m still alive in this tournament.”
