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- Welsh Ace Tesni Stuns World Number Three In Open
Tesni Evans, the pride of Wales, produced a stunning comeback to beat Egypt’s World number three Nour El Tayeb and reached the biggest PSA final of her career at the 2019 Manchester Open.
Cardiff-born Evans, who lives in Rhyl, was staring down the barrel of defeat at 2-0 down when top seed El Tayeb took control of the opening two games to put one foot in the final at the National Squash Centre.
Evans fought back tenaciously fought back in a gladiatorial battle to win 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 in 72 minutes and reach the final of the inaugural women’s only PSA World Tour Silver tournament.
The next test for Evans is against New Zealand’s World number five Joelle King on Monday.
Oh come on, @tesnievans , show some emotion ……….. pic.twitter.com/KF4SGr9ILD
— manchester_open (@manchester_open) May 12, 2019
“I felt, even in the first two games, that I was playing quite well,” said the 26-year-old Welsh ace.
“I just couldn’t string a few points together, but I’m really happy with myself because I never let that get to me.
“I kept digging and digging, just to see how far it would get me and I can’t believe it in the end.
“The more matches I play, the better I get. I just don’t normally get the opportunity to play more than a couple of matches.
“My squash was probably the best I’ve played at the end of the match and I’m really proud of myself.
https://twitter.com/Lth79Thomas/status/1127634979092074496
“It’s probably my biggest win because she is number three in the world, reached the final of the World Champs and it’s one of my biggest wins.
World number five King overcame United States’ number one Amanda Sobhy in straight games to reach her second final of the season, following her victory at the Hong Kong Open in November.
Both players enjoyed strong wins in the last round, with Sobhy continuing her strong run of form to down Egypt’s World number seven Nouran Gohar, while King saw off England’s Alison Waters in straight games.
An emphatic first game from both players saw them consistently trade blows with both pulling out some of their best squash for the occasion.
It was King who took advantage as took the first game, 17-15.
From then on, the momentum stayed with King, who didn’t put a foot wrong and adapted to the conditions of the warm court well to advance against Sobhy.
“It’s no secret that Amanda has been coming back strong this year,” said 30-year-old King.
“It’s credit to her that she’s in the semi-finals of a Silver tournament not so long after coming back from injury.
“I’ve been feeling mentally quite good. Even in my other matches if I had lapses, I was able to close out in the business end and I guess that is one of my strengths when I’m playing well.
“I was down in the first and I was able to claw my way back and take a crucial first game and I’m pretty happy with my mental performance.
“At the start of this year, after winning Hong Kong I put a bit of pressure on myself to do well and it didn’t work out so well for me.
“I’ve tried to come into every tournament and treat it like it’s my last one and it seems to be working. Hopefully it will carry on.”
The final take place on Monday, May 13 (7pm local time).
Results: Manchester Open Semi-Finals
[6] Tesni Evans (Wales) bt [1] Nour El Tayeb (Egypt) 3-2: 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (72m)
[2] Joelle King (New Zealand) bt [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 17-15, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)
Manchester Open Final (to be played May 13:
[6] Tesni Evans v [2] Joelle King
