R2: Joelle: “It was just Pure Squash”… Tinne: ”I’m so proud of her”

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[5] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-2 Joelle King (NZL)  11-3, 5-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 (56m)

One of the purest, nicest, incredible matches I’ve seen this year.

You really need to see the match, it’s a classic we should show to the kids. That’s what squash is supposed to be in my book. Accurate, huge battles, but no calls, no pushing, certainly no blocking, intelligent building up of rallies, up, down, lob, volleying with sublime drop shots or counter drop. UN BONHEUR!

The third saw Tinne up 8/3 to be caught up 9/9. Joelle couldn’t close that one, probably the turning of the match. And Tinne, funnily enough, did the same to Joelle in the 4th. Down 8/3, she clawed back to level 9/9! Joelle also managed to clinch that fourth, on her second attempt, 12/10, no calls, very few errors, and a lot of lobs, volley drop shots!

5th is very close up to 4/4, 5/5, 8/5 for Tinne. Joelle, who has been running on fumes for a while, is giving it all, and levels again, 8/8. But Tinne is just that little bit fresher, and it’s 3 points in the row for the Belgium.

The two best mates just embraced, saluting the moment, enjoying the moment. I had something in my eye….

Joelle : You get more appreciative of the chance to be able to compete when it’s been taken away from you. You don’t get scare of that feeling when you are on the edge, when you are playing your own fear of being not good enough.

When you go through hardship, come back and play, you realise it’s the least of your worries. Just enjoy every minute.

Even when I was dying, I was enjoying the challenge of trying to figure it out anyway.

I played probably some of the most intelligent squash of my career today, my ball control was excellent, and I thought she did really well to win the match, because there were periods where I thought I was outplaying her. She just hang really tough. And it worked both ways. With periods where SHE was outplaying ME. A real game of chess.

I’m really disappointed. I think the whole time I was thinking ‘wouldn’t it be nice to have one last dance on the glasscourt in Gouna’.

I will look back on this and think, that was such an amazing challenge. Great squash, no calls, there were opportunities where we both had opportunities with the ball in the middle, we took our space but it wasn’t excessive, it was just… pure squash.

Tinne : Honestly, I’m so so proud of her.

She has been through such a tough year, maybe even years both on personal level and professional, and injuries, multiple injuries actually.

I stayed with her in New Zealand, and she was in so much pain with her knee, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Still, she is such a positive person, I just love being around her, seeing the pressure that she has, and what she does to actually get better, what she does for everyone else around her, family and friends. She is doing so many things for everyone else, while battling her own fights.

If you compare the way she played in this tournament with what she did 2 weeks ago, it’s unbelievable the progression she has produced.

When I saw the draw and that we potentially could play, I thought I would love to play her. But on the other hand, I would rather not because I know I felt like the underdog today, although I’m ranked 6 and she is like 40 something. Because for me, she will always be Joelle King, the player I admired all my life, every day since I was a little girl, I never stopped admiring her.

So today, I feel a bit emotional, I’m just proud of her, I’m definitely happy to beat her but it’s sad to see her lose.