Day One: Split first round…

PHOTOS

And so it starts… Will Ali keep his number One ranking? Will Tarek and Nour preserve their title?….

[4] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 Jelena Dutina (Srb)                11-3, 11-1, 11-3 (14m)
[14] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 3-1 Menna Hamed               12-10, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7 (55m)
Youssef Soliman 3-1 Declan James (Eng)               5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (106m)
Emilia Soini (Fin) 3-1 [31] Mayar Hany                   11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (35m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-0 Haley Mendez (Usa)                   11-3, 11-7, 11-6 (20m)

[15] Omar Mosaad 3-0 Syed Azlan Amjad (Qat)                 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 (24m)
Mohamed ElSherbini 3-0 Christopher Gordon (Usa)           11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (32m)
Youssef Ibrahim 3-1 [16] James Willstrop (Eng)    13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10 (61m)
[3] Tarek Momen 3-1 Asim Khan (Pak)                    6-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (32m)
[5] Marwan ElShorbagy 3-0 Henry Leung (Hkg)             11-7, 14-12, 11-7 (34m)
[25] Sivasangari Subramaniam (Mas) 3-0 Sana Ibrahim  11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (33m)
[22] Nada Abbas 3-0 Tsz-Wing Tong (Hkg)                       11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (35m)
[1] Ali Farag 3-0 Faraz Khan (Usa)                                   11-3, 11-2, 11-7 (17m)

Nour El Sherbini:
“It’s really nice to be back here. I have many good memories here and it’s good to be back at a big tournament in Chicago. Playing at this venue and on this court is special and I’m really happy with how I played in my first round. I’m looking forward to the next one.

“We haven’t had a PSA match, but we have played many times in practice and have been travelling together since juniors. Her family are also my billets when I go to Brooklyn, so I have a good relationship with the whole family. It’s tough to play her, it was a little uncomfortable in the second game, but I just tried to stick to the game plan.

“I just want to play my game and stick to my game plan. Just take it match by match, I don’t want to think too far away.”

Marwan ElShorbagy

“I’m happy with my performance, the first round is always tricky, especially on the back courts. He surprised me, especially in that second game, but I’m happy overall and I’m looking forward to my next match.

“Mohamed ElSherbini a very good player and we come from the same generation but we haven’t actually played before. I’m looking forward to it, he’s a very good friend of mine and he’s made a lot of progress over the last couple of years. He made it to the top 100 and then the top 50, and I’m looking forward to being on court with him.

“It’s the biggest event of the year, everyone is here to win the title and I reached the final in 2017 and was just a few points away from winning the title against my brother. I’m really looking forward to it but I’m just going to take it step-by-step and focus on my match in two days against Sherbini.”

Tarek Momen
“He has some really good racket skills. The first game went to 5-0, 6-0 and I thought “hmm, ok”, from then on I just tried to get into the first game and try to find some rhythm because my length was really short and he was just volleying everything.

“I haven’t travelled in a long time, but I’ve also been lucky to spend so much time at home because we just had a baby six months ago and it was really enjoyable for me to spend so much time with him and not be travelling so much.

“But I’m happy to finally make it here after a year and a half.”

Youssef Ibrahim
“I’m really happy, playing James is such an honour, I’ve played him two times before and I lost both times 3-0. He’s so experienced at crucial times and I’m very happy with how I played. Every game was almost a tie-break, so to play someone as experienced as James and to be able to get those last three points is very big for me mentally.

“I used to live in the States for a couple of years to study but now I live in Egypt and I get to train with all the top players consistently. I’ve managed to play a lot of practice matches, I haven’t won those my whole career, so now I’m able to play tough matches and beat top 10 players and I think that I can beat the best players and I think that’s making a difference mentally.

“I have belief in myself, I just need to work on the consistency and I’m getting better every tournament. I came here very prepared since El Gouna and have put some good work in my training. I feel confident in my body, my physicality and my game, and I’m giving 100 per cent in every match and I’m hoping to go far in this tournament.”

Hania El Hammamy

“Really looking forward to this tournament, it’s the first time that I have been one of the World Championship contenders. I feel really excited and hopefully I can keep pushing. It’s very good to be one of the contenders at this tournament, it’s not easy and I’m looking forward to this week.

“I practised with her yesterday. It’s important she does what she can and never give up, give it your all and that’s the key to improving and to reach the top.

“It’s just taking it one match at a time. It’s not just about the prize money, it’s about the title, it’s the biggest title on the Tour.”

 

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