ZURICH, Switzerland — World No.1 Nour el-Sherbini showed her class when it mattered most against Sarah-Jane Perry, beating the experienced Englishwomen to reach the semi-finals of the Grasshopper Squash Cup.
El-Sherbini of Egypt controlled much of game one, dictating a high pace of play to take it 11-5.
Perry, though, showed the determination that has underpinned her stellar career, fighting back from an early game-two deficit to take a 7-6 lead.
She got there with a delightful backhand drop shot, but not to be outdone, El-Sherbini produced one of her own on the very next point.
The Egyptian regained the momentum from there, sealing victory in style soon afterwards with a brilliant winner on a high backhand volley.
“I love it, that’s my favourite shot, so I’m glad it came at the perfect time” she said of her match-winning effort.
“[Perry] has a lot of experience. I’ve had a lot of tough matches against her and she always finds a way.
“She comes back very, very strong, even if you have a big lead, but I’m really happy with the way it ended in the last game.”
El-Sherbini will now face Gina Kennedy in the semi-finals, having knocked out the English No.1 en route to glory at last week’s US Open.
Kennedy has spent just 37 minutes on court this week, but speaking on whether that freshness would be a factor, El-Sherbini revealed that she herself would rather get minutes under belt.
“I prefer playing longer matches in the early rounds than playing an easy match,” she said according to psaworldtour official website.
“I think I play better in the important matches when I’ve played tough matches before, but it doesn’t matter if she’s fresh or not, she’s always going to play well and be ready.”
