QF : Sherbini 3-0 Perry

[1] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-0 [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) 11-4, 11-6 , 11-6 (31m)

It was not the best of days today for Sarah Jane. She didn’t enjoy the court, asked if she could wipe her shoes several times, and was not impressed when she slipped heavily and that the ref just asked her to get on with the game, probably having not spotted the slip.

Nour had a little worry on her left leg during the first game on the left part of the court, and asked for Derek the physio after that opener. But it didn’t seem to affect her movement too much, maybe she was going for a bit more shots than normal but then again, they were all going nicely, so…

Nour, very suave today, smooth in her shots, calm and collected, truly in control I felt…

Nour : “It’s always tough playing SJ. You can see our head-to-head, it says it all. We have been played each other, I think, in every tournament this season, so I was trying to stick to my plan and to focus until the very last point.

“This tournament has been difficult for both of us because we didn’t play many matches and we have had a lot of days off. We both tried to get our bodies moving and to get ourselves ready. SJ and I have had the same situation and I think we struggled a bit in the first game to play good squash. It was a bit difficult today but I am happy I played good. I tried to hit different shots and to make myself ready for the semis tomorrow.”

SJ : I didn’t play at my best today but to be honest I was never really gifted for iceskatting! I really struggled on that court, if you look at our match in BB, I was catching shots I couldn’t get near today, and I am fitter now than then.

Also, that terrible shocker at 8/6 that no let, it would have been 7/6, but it was 9/6, that’s a big difference. I know I was not at my best today but that didn’t help…