[2] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-0 Gregoire Marche (FRA) 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 (38m)
Not their best performance, for sure. Lots of errors from both players, their head didn’t seem to be connected to the legs/hands today. Still, some sublime rallies, and a fair match…
That is vintage @karimabdelgawad 👏
Despite the movement of Marche, he had no chance with that one 💥
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— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) March 25, 2026
Greg
I haven’t played a match in three weeks (I was ill, then really fatigued after Houston and the North American Tour). I don’t have my usual sharpness. I knew coming here I wouldn’t have the rhythm, and physically, I might be a bit short.
It’s hard to get the ball to the back. The court feels quite dead. If you make the slightest mistake, you pay for it straight away. What frustrates me is that I’m the one giving him the opportunities — too many errors. I can feel it in my head… I’m a bit nervous, which hasn’t happened to me in a long time. I don’t like being like that.
You put yourself under pressure, and he does too with his holds and constant changes of direction — you’re never really settled.
There were some good patches, some great rallies, still some positives, but it’s frustrating because it happens at key moments. I’m not that far off, but I’m not fully there.
I need to take at least one of the first two games, and that obviously changes the match. It’s just frustrating, because it’s more in my head — I’m giving away too many points.
Karim : “Greg is a very tough opponent to play against. I’ve lost two times to him, so it’s always tough to play him. He won in Jan 2025, and I won in Jan 2026…
He’s a great player to watch, the way he moves on court is incredible and his shots can come from nowhere so its so hard. We’d not played for a while but now we’re drawn in the same parts of the draw in some upcoming tournaments too so we’ll be seeing each other a lot I think.
“When you play someone 12 times on tour and in juniors, you know their game so well, which can make it tricky. There are small differences in each match and that can make the difference and I managed to play the end of all the games quite well and he made some errors too, which helped me get through in three.”
