Top Seed Gilis Takes Down Khafagy

No.1 seed Nele Gilis defeated Egypt’s Malak Khafagy in straight games to book a spot in the 2024 German Open semi-finals.

In a impressive showing from the Belgian, the first game saw Gilis make quick work of the young Egyptian, maintaining a constant fast tempo that Khafagy struggled to keep up with.

The second and third games were a similar story, and Khafagy only managed to accumulate 12 points in total (11-4, 11-4, 11-4) as Gilis showed her class and claimed victory in just 28 minutes.

“Every tournament there seems to be a few, new Egyptians cropping up and they’re all so fearless, so strong and good at a young age,” said Gilis after the match. “I had never played her [Malak Khafagy] before, but I’d watched some of her matches and I wasn’t going to take her lightly at all. She’s definitely an up and coming player and I’m very happy to get away in three.

“For any athlete the highs are very high and the lows are very low. There’s no really a consistent feeling. At first, losses hurt but you have to learn from them and they make the fire inside burn even more and make you stronger and you can learn from your mistakes.

“Usually you come back stronger from those setbacks and people always see the success, but behind the success there’s so many losses and tears! At the end of the day they fire you up to improve and they’re stepping stones to success for sure.”

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Results: German Open 2024 – Presented by Sportwerk Women’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [7] Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)