SF: Nour 3-1 Tinne

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[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) 3-1 [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)  8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 (49m)

I am personnally a great fan of Tinne’s squash. If her sister Nele worked on her short game, Tinne worked on her fitness, and the results she is having at the moment are a reflection in my opinion of the hard work produced.

Tonight, no Allez Tinne Come on, or Allez Nour come on from Greg Gaultier, coach to both. He was sitting at the back not far away to me. “oh you are going to be able to relax” someone told him. “RELAX????” he replied. ‘Have you met Greg’ I completed…

Tinne started the match to perfection, maybe helped a bit by a Nour opening the court a bit too much. 3/1, 5/2 the Belgium. Nour catches up 5/5, 6/6, but the wnning shots are coming from Tinne’s racquet, 10/6.

It’s a bit of an awakening at the end of the game for the Egyptian, but it’s too little too late, 11/8, game 11m. Nour gave away 5 points, Tinne 3. Nour 5 winners, Tinne 6.

Coached by Atef – Nour’s dad, if Calsberg did Dads… – Nour came out firing, 4/1, 5/2, 9/3, 11/7. The rallies were going extremely fast, only 7m game.

The third is the turning point. Nour is again calling the shots, 2/0, 5/2, 7/4, but pressure comes again from the Belgium racquet, and forces a couple of unforced errors. 9/9.

A stroke gives Tinne a game ball, another stroke takes it away. Nour is a bit lucky to get away with playing far too short at that point, and she takes the crucial 3rd, 12/10, 15m of hard work for both.

Nour gave away 4 points, Tinne 5. 7 winners for Nour, 6 for Tinne.

Full of beans and energy, the Belgium takes the lead in the 4th, 2/0, 3/1, 5/3, 4/6. But Nour is back to the front, and put her opponent under hell, two errors at at the business end of the game, and it’s 10/6 match ball.
And if Tinne finds a lovely return of serve nick, Nour closes the match in the next rally, 11/7, 9m game.

Tinne

I’m working on my belief in myself now with a mental coach. But today, I stepped on court with no expectations.

I know how good she is, what she is capable of doing, and I think I was playing well. I know the rallies were short, well I felt they were very short, that’s why it was a bit frustrating.

I knew at the end I was attacking too soon, and not that I was doing it in purpose, but to be honest, I was struggling with the heat today. Compared to the past two days, it feels like 10° hotter!

So at the end, I was a bit struggling. I was trying to find solutions, because I didn’t want to step off court without giving it my all.

I’m definitely happy with the squash I played and the fight I put up tonight, the fight spirit I had throughout the event.

Nour

“I’m very happy with my performance. It was a tough match. Tinne’s been playing amazingly all season and this tournament especially. She’s been through in a couple of five-setters as well. I’m really happy that I stuck until the end and am looking forward to tomorrow.

“Before I play I’m nervous in a nice way. I don’t think I’m nervous in a way that won’t let me play good squash, I’m just nervous in a way that I’m eager and just want to play and get the game started. I didn’t think I was nervous today, I just wanted to play well. I wasn’t happy with my first couple of rounds and just wanted to be in the mood of playing good squash, relaxing and being happy on court.”