R2: Aly 3-2 Auguste

Aly Abou Eleinen (Egy) 3-2 Auguste Dussourd (Fra) 3-11, 11-1, 11-4, 5-11, 12-10 (69m)

It was the first time Aly’s mum saw him play in a major event, her and her husband drove at night from Alexandria to watch him play. “I’m so proud I got to win in front of them, they work all their life to see me play that kind of matches…”

What a “rollercoaster” as Aly described it. Pretty one-sided for 4 games, then a huuuuuge 5th, with the two players neck to neck, until 10/7 match ball for Aly. The Frenchman dug in, forced a tie-break, 10/10, but the Egyptian finally took the game and match 12/10 on his 4th attempt.

ALy

I think the match was a bit of a rollercoaster.

He had a very good start, he was really up on the T and I couldn’t find my way in the match. I warmed up outside, where it was very hot, then I came inside, where the AC was very cold, so it took me a little while to get warmed up and in the match.

Because I had such a bad start in the first game, I told myself I had to push up and take the ball early, and be a little bit more proactive, because if I didn’t do that, he’d be 2/0 up very quickly.

The third was pretty close, I managed to close it up, he came back in the 4th, and that crucial 5…

A rollercoaster again, I felt in control, then he came back, I was 10/7 up, match ball but I didn’t know at that point where I was in the score to be honest. I was so in the moment.

It was not the prettiest squash, very boring to watch probably, he did well to come back, sometimes, you have to win ugly…

My parents worked hard all their life to see me play here, they used to drive me all the way here when I was younger to see the players perform. They drove at night to see me compete today. So just to win in front of them, is pretty special.

They haven’t seen me play in a while because it’s all international and it’s my first year on Tour, so it’s good to make them proud you know, so stressful during the match for them, I’m sorry for that. But happy they got to see me win.