[3] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 2-0 [6] Camille Serme (Fra) 11-8, 14-12 (48m)
Two numbers for you : 17 and 30. That’s the number of minutes per game. I think we can safely say they both played their cute socks off.
Helped by 5 Camille errors (plus a stroke given away, that’s 6 points overall) in the opener, Nouran took the first game, 10/5, 11/8, a few errors creeping for the Terminator at the end.
The second is as intense as those two can play when they face each other. Again, the number of errors of Camille is pretty high but as she mentioned, it was the right shot to play. Still 6 errors plus a stroke given away, that’s 7 points, and Nouran only having to score 4 points on paper.
But la Panthère pushed the Terminator till the last shot, manage to get 2 game balls but finally bows with grace as ever on Nouran’s second match ball. Another very impressive performance from both girls. Merci à vous deux.
Nouran : “Everyone in here can see how tough it was.
“Winning 2-0 in 50 minutes is incredible. Camille never makes it easy on me, even if I’m going to win the match she’s running everywhere and getting everything back. She is one of the most experienced and consistent players on Tour and I have so much respect for her. It’s always tough to play against her.
“It’s all about tactics. Even if it’s not the pace, it’s something in the game plan with me it’s more about the pace, but it’s not only about the pace. Camille likes to play fast as well which is why it’s very physical out there, the ball is really bouncy. Every match is different even if I’m trying to implement my game plan, you have to adapt to every opponent.
“Nour is World No.1, I’m World No.2 – we have played in finals and this time we are playing in the final of the pool matches, which is going to be challenging as always. I’m looking forward to it.”
Camille : Well, I think it was a good match, I had the good game plan, and the errors I made in the first game were actually the right shot to play. I was patient enough, I didn’t go for silly shots.
It was a big match, it reminded me our big battles like the TOC, and most of all, I took pleasure in the match. Which wasn’t the case for a long time, I was getting frustrated. But today, even when I was making errors, nothing was negative, and that’s very positive for me.
My goal is the Worlds in Chicago, for me I see those matches here as a perfect preparation for it, I am physically feeling great, no pain anywhere, whereas I had a few niggles that delayed my preparation. So as they say here, Insh’Allah it will stay like that.
