Matthew, Shabana in Action in Cambridge Cup Opener, Day One Report by Mark Porter January 18, 2016
- Excitement was in the air as the fans packed the seats at the Toronto
Lawn Tennis Club for the highly anticipated match up between the world
#4 Omar Mosaad and the young world #22 Ali Farag.
Ali and
Omar dazzled the crowd with a fast paced game featuring remarkable gets
and shots that left members of the crowd scratching their heads
wondering "how did he do that?". Ali jumped out to an early lead in the
first and was able to hold on to take the 1-0 lead in the match. The
second was a seesaw battle but the younger Egyptian was able to win the
big points at the end of the game. Down 2-0 in games it was do or die
time for the world #4. Mosaad snuck out the 3rd and upped the pace in
the 4th to level the match at 2 games each.
The 5th
was a battle of attrition. Mosaad shut down the court as he worked
Farag with a steady dose of tight length followed up with lethal drops.
Farag put on a remarkable display of retrieving but it was evident that
the long rallies were taking a toll on his body. At one point Ali asked
for a "time out" to catch his breath (the referee didn't allow it).
Mosaad cruised to a 10-4 lead before eventually taking the deciding
game 11-6.
After the match the fans were treated to a
Q&A session hosted by Lawn member and former world #10 Graham
Ryding. Graham facilitated an informative discussion between the crowd,
Omar, and Ali which gave our members some insight to what life is like
on the PSA tour.
It was a great experience to have Omar
and Ali at the club. The duo picked up some new fans tonight and the
TLTC will be cheering them on in their upcoming events!
Mosaad v Farag 3-2 ((9), (8), 8, 7, 6) in 55 minutes.
