Evans Scores Comeback Win Over King at US Open to Reach Last Eight by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
October 9, 2018
- World No.12 Tesni Evans overturned a two-game deficit against New
Zealand’s Joelle King at Philadelphia’s Drexel University earlier today
to book her place in the quarter-finals of the prestigious FS
Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships.
Evans had beaten Commonwealth Games gold medalist King in their last
meeting during May’s Allam British Open, but she found herself down in
the opening two games after a bright start from King, with Evans
struggling to contain the World No.5.
However, a virtuoso fightback from Evans saw her play some
spell-binding squash as she took control and she came back to record a
7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 victory which will see her take on World
No.8 Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in what would be a first ever PSA
World Tour Platinum semi-final for the 25-year-old from Rhyl.
"I was getting completely outplayed for the first two games, she had me
everywhere and was all over me, so something had to change," Evans said
afterwards.
“I tried to change my game a little bit and luckily it paid off in the end.
“I’m not going to lie, if you look at the head-to-head [against Perry]
then I’m not looking very good. I’ve never beaten her before but it’s
another opportunity to have another go. I’m really looking forward to
the quarter-finals and I will give it everything in that match.”
Perry earned her quarter-final place courtesy of a comfortable 3-0
victory over India’s Joshna Chinappa, while there were also wins for
England’s Laura Massaro and last year’s runner-up Raneem El Welily,
with the duo seeing off Malaysia’s Nicol David and United States No.1
Olivia Blatchford, respectively,
World No.7 Massaro and eight-time World Champion David have contested
an enthralling rivalry over the past 13 years and were meeting for the
34th time on the PSA Tour, with David leading the head-to-head record
23-10 coming into the match.
It was their third meeting of the season - with both players taking a
win apiece before today - but Massaro prevailed by a 12-10, 11-8, 7-11,
8-11, 11-7 margin despite squandering a two-game advantage.
“Before the fifth, [three-time World Champion] Nick Matthew came over
to me and said ‘you need to get your body language up, you’ve got to
hit the ball the way you know you can hit it and it comes down to
whether you want it or not’," said Massaro, who will play El Welily for
a place in the last four.
"Sometimes it just needs to be simplified like that and I just went on
there and tried to fight, [there were ] a few more fist pumps and I
just tried to get myself moving and that transferred into how snappy I
was. It was tight but I’m just happy to get over the line in the end.”
In the men’s tournament, World No.2 Ali Farag continued the defence of
the title he won alongside wife Nour El Tayeb last year as he overcame
Welshman Joel Makin in straight games.
World No.33 Makin tested Farag at times during the fixture and even
forced him into a tiebreak in the second game, but the player from
Egypt was able to close the win out by an 11-5, 13-11, 11-5 scoreline
and he will play three-time U.S. Open champion Gregory Gaultier in the
next round.
“I’m delighted,” said Cairo-born Farag.
“You can see how hungry he is, he never gives up on any ball and never
gives you any cheap points, which is great to see. On court with him it
is never easy and being 9-2 up in third he still caused me problems. I
think the second game was crucial, I think if he had have won that then
the dynamics of the match would have changed and I got away with a 3-0
win."
Gaultier will aim to end a four-match losing streak against the
Egyptian in their quarter-finals match, and he earned his place in the
last eight after beating Farag’s compatriot Zahed Salem 3-1.
“I didn’t play amazing squash,” Gaultier said afterwards.
“It’s the first time I have played on this court and it was quite
difficult, the ball moves quite fast, I just needed to get my mark and
find my length. I was judging my game all the time and couldn’t get my
short game [working], but at the end of the day I did what I had to do,
just win, and that’s all I care about."
The other men’s quarter-final on the bottom half of the draw will be
contested by Germany’s World No.5 Simon Rösner and Colombia’s World
No.6 Miguel Angel Rodriguez after they enjoyed respective wins over
England’s George Parker and Mexico’s Cesar Salazar.
The quarter-finals of the U.S. Open begin at 18:00 local time (GMT-4)
on Wednesday October 10 and the action will be shown live on SQUASHTV
(Rest of World), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and DAZN (Japan).
Results – Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3 (67m)
[5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-1: 11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9 (63m)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3 (57m)
[2] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0: 11-5, 13-11, 11-5 (52m)
Draw - Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played October 10
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[8] Paul Coll (NZL) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Draw - Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played October 11
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) v [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)
Results – Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships
[12] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [4] Joelle King (NZL) 3-2: 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 (69m)
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (28m)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [9] Nicol David (MAS) 3-2: 12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 (56m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [14] Olivia Blatchford (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 (32m)
Draw - Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played October 10
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v Amanda Sobhy (USA)
Draw - Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played October 11
[12] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
