R2: Mostafa improves his defence shots against Greg

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[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-0 Gregoire Marche (FRA)  11-3, 11-6, 11-4 (38m)

“He is at another level”. That was Greg notes after his match against Mostafa.

I have to say I was impressed by how Mostafa has added a few layers to his squash – as if he didn’t have enough already, bless him. He now has some ridiculous counterdrops shot out of his racquet in completely unexpected angles! The crowd and your servant kept on going “whaaaaaaaaa”….

11/3 in 13m, that’s the first game. When we tell you that the score doesn’t reflect how much Greg worked.. Not a single error in the second game, 11/6, in 12m, with some great rallies in there.

The third is a bit onesided, 6/1, 10/3, 11/4 in 8m.

Mostafa, just whaaaoh…..

 

Grégoire :  I played a good match. I feel like I’m holding my own at the back of the court. Sometimes we have some great rallies. I feel like I’m ahead, I’m attacking a bit, but my attacks aren’t sharp enough. Against 90% of players, that would be enough, but here, there’s barely any mistakes on the other side.

And when you do attack well, the counter-drops at the front… even the last one – there’s no other player who can pull off a counter like that. Maybe a little mishit from time to time, but here, really, it’s on another level. You’re expecting an easy ball, even if you’re following up to the front, and it’s just incredible.

I wasn’t that bad length-wise on a cold, very cold court, and usually that doesn’t suit me too well, but this time he was hitting great lengths, with a weight in his shots that’s overwhelming. Even when I managed to get good feelings at times, he almost always had an answer, even when you think you’re in control of the rally.

Now, he’s taking up a lot of space. At one point, I tried to get into him, to be more aggressive, but honestly, I don’t have the physicality for that! You clip his foot, you’re never in the right position – it’s not intentional, but his basic movement, although it’s improved immensely compared to before, is still often obstructive. And that’s frustrating because you waste a lot of energy. And on a court like this, where you don’t have time to reset into the rally, it’s immediate punishment….

Mostafa :  “It’s so good to be playing in front of this amazing crowd and in El Gouna as well. What a time you can have here, all day pool and beach and then coming for squash in the night and if you win you can stay here so what an incentive or the players.

“I had some physical work to do today, played some FIFA and was at the pool and beach too.

“Youssef is like a big brother to me. We used to share rooms in our junior days. Hopefully it will be an amazing match, Youssef is such a skilful player and what a great match him and Karim played today so I’m really looking forward to that.”