Raneem said…

“I’m sure my family, my coaches are extremely happy”…..

“I’m so confused about this. I mean yes I have reached the Number One spot, yes I’m super happy that I achieved that and I’ve always wanted to be Number One, ALWAYS, to the point that sometimes people made fun of me, for saying that this is exactly my target and goal out loud.

BUT…

I’m also very aware of the fact that I’m not sitting there comfortably I’m barely touching it, what’s the points difference again? It’s so tiny, it’s just a matter of calculation at this point.

So yes I’ve reached that spot but I could be out of it in a month again, and that’s ok because I still have to fight harder for it, because yes I did so well, but only for half a season. So I’m really excited to see how the next season will go.

I’m sure that my family is extremely happy my coaches too. I’m happy for them that all their hard work with me over the years paid off. I’m happy to have reached this point with them by my side. They’ve done so much for me and I hope that I one day I could do half as much for them.

I’ve always heard people around me say that I could be or should be Number One. It was encouraging at points and frustrating at others, and at so many points I lost hope in achieving that goal.

“that’s what I want, but how bad”

Reaching that spot is so hard mentally, having such a big goal in life is always so hard to achieve, because your eyes are not always on it. Its so vague, yes that’s what I want but how bad? And what is it I should do to achieve it??

Lots and lots and lots of small targets to get to that one big goal and it is extremely hard. Having your eyes on just that every minute of every day is just impossible. You forget it a lot of times, you lose hope at times

BUT you know when you want it the most?? Every time you lose!!

When I lose that’s when I see it the most. And as much as I hate bringing up that match from the World Open again, but I remember saying those words to my coaches: yes I lost the World Open but now I want the Number One spot.

I’ll keep working till I reach one of those two goals I don’t care what comes first, but I have to reach at least one of them. So yes this year is the year I want it the most, so I have to keep fighting.

“Nicol is going to fight very hard, this season is going to be on fire”…

And yes of course I know Nicol is going to fight very hard, has she ever not? It’s NICOL, it’s who she is. But not only her, everyone else is on the rise, everybody else is getting better by the minute, so as always this season is going to be on fire.

“Huge thanks to”…

My Mother the person whom I owe everything to, my Father my role model and my Brother my inspiration.

My entire Family, Grandfather, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Sisters and my In laws for always supporting me.

My best friends, Nourhan, Hania, Sarah, Moe, Omneya, Nour and Nour, Engy and Omar (Aziz).

My Coaches:

Haitham Effat, Ahmed Faragallah and Bassem Makram, you’ve earned this and you’ve worked for this just as much as I have, so thank you is not enough.

Wadi Degla: Karim Darwish thank you for your appreciation and respect and to the whole Wadi Degla team, thank you for killing me and motivating me on court.

My Sponsors:

Abu Qir Petroleum: My first Sponsor ever, thank you for always being there.

Harrow Sports: Mark Hayden and the entire team at Harrow years and years of endless support.

Everyone that ever believed in me, all the coaches I’ve worked with in the past, you all had a huge impact on me so thank you.

And finally Tarek Momen. My Masterpiece! BELIEVE and you’re THERE.