Germany's
Simon Rösner will compete in the semi-finals of a major PSA World
Series tournament for the first time in his 14-year-career
after defeating World No.6 Marwan ElShorbagy courtesy of a highly
impressive display in the quarter-finals of the 2017 Qatar Classic - the
second PSA World Series tournament of the 2017/18 season.
Inside
the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha the World
No.12, competing in his 21st World Series quarter-final,
followed up his superb last sixteen win over World Champion Karim Abdel
Gawad with a highly polished display that saw him dominate ElShorbagy
in the third and fourth games and take an 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 victory
to seal a maiden last four appearance.
“This is the biggest win of my career - it has to be the biggest achievement of my life,” said a delighted Rösner afterwards.
“Even
though I beat Karim last night, getting to the semis is the most
special thing for me because I haven’t been able to reach this
stage at this kind of tournament.
"To reach this stage after so many years is a great feeling, and I’m turning 30 on Sunday,
so it’s just before my birthday. I think
this is already a good birthday gift but the tournament is not over
yet, if I play like I have done the past two days then I can get even
further.
“I’m
feeling comfortable here, I’m playing well and feeling good, I’m
confident that I can beat these guys and I think that made a
difference today."
Rösner
will go up against World No.7 Tarek Momen for a place in the finale
after the Egyptian 'Viper' knocked out 37-year-old Nick
Matthew of England in four games to secure his first World Series
semi-final berth in three years - taking advantage of an uncharacteristically error-strewn performance from Matthew.
"I’m very happy that I managed to get the win," said Momen.
"I’m expecting a huge battle [against Rösner], I can’t believe we’re both playing in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Simon has been trying
to get to this stage for a long time and I’m happy for him because he
has been working so hard and he has been very unfortunate a few times.
"For
me, it’s back to the semi-finals after a three-year drought. The last
one I was in was in Hong Kong and I beat Simon to get there,
so I’m hoping for a good win tomorrow and maybe I’ll get through to my first ever World Series final."
Meanwhile
the top half of the draw saw the latest instalment of the rapidly
developing rivalry between Egyptian stars Mohamed ElShorbagy
and Ali Farag go the way of World No.3 ElShorbagy - as he withstood a
late fight back from Farag in what was yet another superb clash between
the two.
The
two Egyptians were meeting for the third tournament in succession and
had shared the spoils in their last two meetings, with Farag
overcoming ElShorbagy in last month’s U.S. Open final, while ElShorbagy
avenged that defeat with victory in the Channel VAS Championships a
week later.
But
this time around it was ElShorbagy, a two-time winner and last year’s
tournament runner-up, who prevailed 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 16-18,
11-8 in a mammoth 93 minute encounter.
“He’s
making me push that extra mile every time we play," said ElShorbagy.
"We’re going to push each other for the rest of our careers
because we always play such great matches together.
“I’m
really happy I got through, it was 50-50 and I’m happy I got the win in
the end. I’m not going to be able to beat him every time,
that’s just how it is and that’s the beauty of the sport.
“This
has been a really tough draw for both of us. Neither of us deserve to
go out in the quarters, we both deserve to go through
to the semis but I’m happy to be back here in the semi-finals.”
ElShorbagy
will face World No.1 Gregory Gaultier in the last four after the
Frenchman defeated young Peruvian Diego Elias in straight
games.
Results - Quarter-finals: 2017 Qatar Classic
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Diego Elias (PER) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 (44m)
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [5] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 16-18, 11-8 (93m)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [4] Nick Matthew (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 (43m)
Simon Rösner (GER) bt [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 (53m)
Draw - Semi-finals
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Simon Rösner (GER)
No comments:
Post a Comment