QF: Satomi 3-2 Amanda

[3] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-2 [6] Amanda Sobhy (USA)  4-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (52m)

I used to call Amanda “Flash Amanda”. Not because of her dress code – as Joey Barrington seemed to imply when I proposed that nickname – but because of her incredible ability to make the rallies as lethal as short. And the length of the games tells you the story in my opinion: 6m, 8m first two games, then 9m 11m, 11m. When Amanda is in control, it goes very fast. When Satomi manages to make the rallies longer, the Japanese gets the game.

Interesting to note as well that Amanda waited until 3-3 in the 3rd to make her first error. She played – as her mental coach stated it at the end – an almost perfect squash on those first two games. My thoughts after the third were about the fact that Amanda just won Germany, and that takes a lot out of you. Not only physically, obviously, but I was more thinking about the mental draining that comes from getting your first win since your return on the Tour. It could have been a little factor that played it’s role in those “3%” error rate Jesse mentioned.

Satomi displayed again today the incredible resilience that got her the Optasia title last year, and today, it was in my view all about Amanda’s width. When the American was playing a perfect width, Satomi couldn’t volley and had to take more time to play her shots. But if Amanda’s high shots were just a bit off, Satomi cutting off volleys would damage her and put her under pressure.

A superb match, fluid, intense, fair – please note that Amanda called her ball down on the tin at 9/7 in the 5th, whereas the ref called it good, offering a match ball to her opponent. And that, my friends, is… class.

 

 

Jesse Engelbrecht (mental coach to Amanda)

Amanda played perfect almost a perfect squash in the first two games, and Satomi responded. She came out and took the game to Amanda. And Amanda probably missed her targets by 3% compared to what she was aiming in the first two games.

Nothing wrong about that, nothing to be ashamed about, Satomi responded, Amanda stood up to that response.

In the 4th, again, 9/9, it could have gone 10/9 up, again a big rally, but Satomi got it.

Listen, she is walking out with pride, her heart full, her shoulders back and her chest up. All credit to Satomi for that one.

Satomi : “She really outplayed me in the first two games. I just could not find the answers. But then in the third, I told myself that I really like this court and this club, and I wanted to stay on it.
“So I tried to at least win one point at a time, and that’s what got me to the end. All credit to Amanda, she played so well.

“I got some tips from my corner in between games of how to fight back from this situation. Alison [Waters] told me more tactically because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do on court. It helped me to build up from there.

“I heard my sister cheering me on in Japanese, which really helped me as well! It definitely gave me a couple of points with that.”

 

 

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