Open de Maurice

Vendredi 10 juin – Les Demies

[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-0 [6] Enora Villard 11-4, 11-1, 11-8 (27m)

Jeudi 9 juin – Les Quarts

[3] Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-0 [7] Marie Stephan 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (18m)
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-0 [5] Coline Aumard  11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (27m)
[2] Melissa Alves 3-2 [8] Julianne Courtice (ENG)  3-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 (47m)
Enora Villardpar abandon

[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-1 [7] Gregoire Marche  11-6, 13-15, 11-8, 11-5 (58m)
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-1 [8] Baptiste Masotti  8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (68m)

Melissa

« Je n’ai pas vraiment d’explication à mon entame de match, car je m’étais préparée très sérieusement. Une chose est sûre, je ne m’attendais pas à ce qu’elle joue aussi bien – elle avait de très belles longueurs – et de mon côté je ne pensais pas que j’aurais autant de mal à trouver mes marques sur le court. (On lui dit qu’à l’issue des deux premiers jeux, on ne voyait pas comment elle allait pouvoir redresser la situation). Moi non plus, je me suis vue en train de faire mes valises !

“Avoir le soutien du public m’a aidé et même si on n’a pas le droit au coaching entre les jeux, un regard avec son clan peut suffire à se rebooster et c’est ce qui s’est passé pour moi. Je me suis dit que ce n’était pas possible de perdre 3-0 en montrant aussi peu de choses, et que quitte à perdre il fallait se battre sur toutes les balles. Dès le début du troisième jeu, j’ai commencé à avoir de meilleures longueurs, et tout a été plus simple. De son côté, elle a commencé à décliner physiquement et à faire plus de fautes.

“C’est vrai aussi que ce n’est pas facile d’affronter une joueuse qui affiche deux visages aussi différents dans le même match, et j’en ai fait moi-même l’expérience au premier tour du championnat du monde contre Zeina Mickawy. Dans le cinquième jeu, tous mes coups d’attaque sont passés, notamment un improbable double mur nick, et à ce moment là je me suis dit que plus rien ne pouvait m’arriver (rires).

“Je suis très motivée à l’idée de jouer contre Farida Mohamed en demi-finale, on ne s’est jamais affrontées. Je vais bien me préparer, notamment en faisant de l’analyse vidéo de ses matches contre des joueuses qui ont un style similaire au mien. Qui sont-elles ? Je pense notamment à Nada Abbas, ou encore Jasmine Hutton. On sait que Farida a un style de jeu très physique, mais ça ne me dérange pas et je n’ai pas peur d’aller au combat. Je pense que j’ai toutes mes chances si je parviens à adopter la bonne tactique : par contre si vous jouez sur ses forces et que vous mettez la balle à mi-court contre elle, elle ne reviendra pas … »

PRESSE

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Mercredi 8 juin

[7] Marie Stephan 3-1 Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP)  11-9, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7 (37m)
[6] Enora Villard3-1 Karina Tyma (POL) 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 (36m)
[5] Coline Aumard 3-0 Millie Tomlinson (ENG)  11-2, 12-10, 12-10 (37m)
[2] Melissa Alves 3-0 Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (35m)

[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-0 Lucas Serme  11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (38m)
[8] Baptiste Masotti 3-0 Sebastien Bonmalais  11-3, 11-9, 11-9 (43m)
[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt [WC] Gregory Gaultier 12-14, 11-2, 11-3, 11-6 (41m)
[7] Gregoire Marche 3-0 Karim El Hammamy (EGY)  11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (37m)

Greg Gaultier

“Thanks everyone for the support. Obviously, it was a tough day for me. Mazen was playing some good squash and I haven’t played for quite a while and I couldn’t see the ball, my movement was way too off but I did what I could. I tried to hang in the rallies, but obviously my fitness wasn’t adjusting at all.

“I’m of course disappointed to have been unable to perform a bit better than that, but it is what it is and I did what I could on the day and it’s been a pleasure to be on this beautiful court. It’s been fantastically organised and I was really lucky to be amongst those great guys and all the people around who’ve made this event so great for the players.

“Thanks so much, it was an honour to play my last match and let’s enjoy the rest of the week with some more action.

“It was my last match on the PSA Tour, but I try to keep playing for fun. It’s always a pleasure to step on court. It’s like a drug, I wish there was no age, I wish I had another leg but obviously I’ll keep on playing because I love the sport way too much. As long as I can step on court, even if I’m totally broken, I will still be hitting some balls.”

Baptiste

“It’s very difficult to play in tropical weather, you’re sweating a lot, it’s very unique and difficult to keep your focus, that’s my weakness as well so I need to work on it. My first two games were good and then when I went 5-1 up in the third maybe I told myself it was all over but Seb is a good guy and good player so will fight until the end, so I need to keep my lengths good and that’s what I did so I’m very pleased.

“I love this club and this atmosphere, I’m here with my wife, this is the first time she’s been with me at a tournament since the pandemic so there are good people here and it’s kind of like a holiday too with one match a day and I can’t wait to be back on court tomorrow.

“It’s helpful playing with a French teammate because I know that the match will be clean, there weren’t many decisions between us but at the same time it’s hard because I love him, he’s one of my best friends on tour and I hate to see him lose but if I wanted to win, that had to be the case. I’m just happy to be through and he’s still my friend don’t worry and I’m sure we’ll have many battles together in the future.

“When I was young, I went to the European Individuals in 2007, I was a young kid and I was watching the likes of Greg Gaultier, Thierry and Renan with open eyes and it’s an honour for me to play in front of them. I wouldn’t have accepted that when I was young but they are cool guys and an inspiration for all us French players.”

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Mardi 7 juin

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-0 Kara Lincou  11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (19m)
Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-0 Ninon Lemarchand 11-5, 11-1, 11-5 (19m)
Saskia Beinhard (GER) 3-0 Vanessa Florens  11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (16m)

Sebastien Bonmalais 3-1 Mazen Gamal (EGY)  11-3, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4 (49m)
Lucas Serme 3-0 Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT)  11-4, 11-7, 11-5 (32m)
[wc] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) 3-1  [9/16] George Parker (Eng)  11-7, 15-13, 8-11, 11-9 (60m)

Greg Gaultier

“It’s a pleasure to be here, of course, I was planning my retirement here but we had to postpone the event, the last two years, we came here and had a good party and we came to the agreement with the team to have one more go so I’m happy to be back on court.

“I’ve been on the other side, coaching a lot recently and sometimes you feel a little pinch and you want to be there but it’s time for something else, but I still enjoy being on court and practising and I like being on court with other players as much as possible. Obviously, I can’t train as before but I’m happy to step on court and have fun.”

Lucas Serme

“I think playing an exhibition earlier on this court helped mentally, feeling a bit at home. Still a bit nervous and it’s different from Prague, where I train, so I still had to get used to the court a bit. But I definitely felt some positive vibes here!

“It feels like home here. Playing PSA and seeing all the players here, the top ten, coming here to play really against us, not for fun or exhibition, that’s great and a big difference.”

Sébastien Bonmalais

“I had too many balls in the middle and it was hard for me to move. I lost my focus in the game, it was a lot of up and down. I just need to reset and focus for the next match.

“Playing close to my home in Réunion, I feel it’s really close and I feel the good vibe and good energy, so I’m happy to be here.”