Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-0 Hannah Craig (IRL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (24m)
Hannah
“Obviously grateful to get into the tournament, she is the highest ranked player I ever played in PSA so far. You can see that level difference and that’s what I’m working toward.
The difference I think is I tried to stay in the rallies, and extend them, she was just too clinical at the right moments, and when I had my opportunities, I just gave up too much strokes and forced errors, so a lot of think about…”
Salma
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it to end in three. And that’s why I really prepped well before the match because I know she just got in at the last minute, but it’s because her ranking has been up, she’s been very good in the challenger tour recently, I’ve seen her beat players of my ranking, so she is very tough.
I was meant to play Kenzy, but this one was tougher mentally, because we play a lot with Kenzy, and the win go back and forth so I just don’t care who wins. But against Hannah, I really wanted to prove myself, that I am still good, and that those underdogs can sometimes mentally shock me and drain me. I am happy with the way I played today, and handled the pressure.
She is good on the traditional court, but she only arrived yesterday, and probably not as prepared as she would like, and it could have been a much harder match.
I’m playing Hania tomorrow, which is very exciting, I played her only once in Qatar. It’s always really fun to play against a top player, it’s one of the best experiences you can have to get on court with them. So I have zero expectations, obviously, but at least, do a better result than last time.
