Another great day for me. It was a very close match, which started out very comfortable, but turned very tough in the end, with me winning 3-1, 11/5 12/10 8/11 11/9.

I felt ridiculously relaxed in the first game and was hitting a great length which, if you remember, was my game plan and I felt like I was attacking short very well on my backhand volley drop. I sailed through that game winning 11/5.

The start of the second I still felt really relaxed and even after hitting some errors, I still felt super comfortable and not under any pressure. My brain started talking to me and asking me if I should feel this good and comfortable. That may have been either the time that Sherbini upped the tempo or my brain said no and I freaked out a little. I was getting a great length again and still felt comfortable going short, but at the end of the game Sherbini started putting me under more pressure. I was lucky at a crucial point where I believe it was 9/9 and Sherbini hit a good crosscourt, which I wasn’t in position for, I reached back and snapped my wrist at the ball and luckily framed it above the tin for a straight drop winner. Pretty much exactly what Sherbini did to me in the PST Bottini World Open 2 weeks ago, although his was at 10/9 match ball down in the fifth. I’ll take my shot, but Sherbini’s was definitely a better timed frame  I squeaked out that game 12/10.

I went into the third game still feeling relaxed and ended up being a little too relaxed. I was a little slower getting to the “T” and I was too impatient and was trying to go short too early. Even though the score suggested it was a close game I was always behind and didn’t feel in it at all. I lost that game 11/8.

So in between games I had super coach once again and she was once again giving me great advice. Sometimes even agreeing with what I said  It also didn’t hurt after the 3rd game that former World No. 1 and multiple World Champion, David Palmer from Australia told me that I was being too impatient and attacking short too quickly. I guess if someone like that gives you advice, you better listen. Luckily it coincided with what Heather had been telling me anyway.

The last game, I was a lot more patient and a lot more bouncy on my toes. I got back to the basics of hitting a better length, before going short. I even noticed during the last game that when I got the front position and hit it deep again, I had Sherbini running forwards for the short ball and having to backtrack to get the length shot. It’s always good when the game plan works. So from there it was still really tough as Sherbini upped the tempo again and I tried to play smart squash and it was neck and neck, to which I finally won the match on two errors from Sherbini to take the final game and the match 11/9.

I’m obviously very happy to have won and am looking forward to playing David Palmer in the Final tomorrow at 2.30pm. I hope everyone gets a chance to watch. GO TEAM WADE!!!!!!!

Wade