Season Review 23/24: Georgina Kennedy

England No.1 Georgina Kennedy has continued to move from strength to strength throughout the 2023/24 PSA World Tour the season, adding a number of firsts to her ever-improving resume.

Despite playing in just her third full season on the World Tour, Kennedy has made herself at home in the world’s top ten, battling back from an injury in the mid-stage of the campaign to reach a career-high rank of World No.5 in May. Kennedy has also managed to capture two World Tour titles and reach the semi-final stage of three Platinum events – a feat which she had never managed before this season.

However, the 27-year-old admitted it hasn’t all been plain sailing, as she explained: “The 2023/24 season, like every season, was full of ups and downs. I feel like I had a really good start to the season, making my first-ever Platinum semi-final in Paris, and then I had some good performances at the US Open and at a few other events. 

“I felt like I was improving a lot of different areas of my game, and I was really hoping to be able to take some titles at the end of the 2023 calendar year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to achieve some of the goals I had set for myself, so that is never a nice feeling. 

“I also injured myself in November and was struggling for a few months with a hip problem. Obviously, this dampened my confidence quite a lot, and it took me quite a long time to find my level again, but I was really happy with the way the season ended. So, overall, there were lots of positives to take.”

Kennedy has built a reputation as one of the quickest and most dynamic movers on the women’s tour over the past few years, but she admitted she has been most pleased with improvements made in another particular aspect of her game over the last 12 months.

She said: “I am always looking to improve my short game and my ball control, and I think this is constantly improving every season. I think I really made strides in my decision-making this season – tactically I felt much more aware, so my shot selection has improved.”

The 2023/24 season couldn’t have started in any better fashion for Kennedy, with the Englishwoman powering her way to a career-first Platinum semi-final at the Paris Squash season-opener. This result, coupled with her subsequent visit to the last eight at the Qatar Classic, saw Kennedy rise to a then career-high rank of World No.6.

“Making the semi-finals in Paris was one of the highlights of my season for sure,” Kennedy reflected. “Being at that stage of a Platinum event was something that I had never experienced before, so I feel like it really helped me evolve as a player. Nour El Sherbini absolutely chopped me in that semi-final, but making the semis definitely gave me a lot of confidence going forward into the rest of the season.”

In particular, Kennedy highlighted her quarter-final victory over Sabrina Sobhy in the French capital as one of her favourite victories of the entire season. Kennedy, who had previously fallen at the quarter-finals stage of five Platinum events, chartered new territory on this occasion as she fought back from 2-1 down to reach the last four at the Palais de Tokyo. 

“I think my match with Sabrina in the quarter-finals of Paris is up there as one of my favourite matches of the season,” Kennedy said. “Sabrina and I are such good friends off the court and every match we play is always so brutal but so enjoyable. 

“I think our game styles really complement each other, and we always have such entertaining battles. She had a brutal match against Hania in the last 16, so I was lucky that she was slightly tired in the fifth because she outplayed me for a significant part of that match. It was really special to be playing against such a good friend at such a big stage of a Platinum event, and it is definitely one of my favourite moments of the season.”

What was notable from Kennedy over the course of last season was her improved consistency, with the 13-time Tour winner reaching at least the semi-finals stage of 10 events – double the amount she managed in the 2022/23 campaign. 

After clinching her first World Tour title of the season by defeating then-World No.4 Nele Gilis in the final of the German Open in April, Kennedy backed this up with another impressive title, this time at the Silver-level Manchester Open. Kennedy by no means had an easy route to the title that week, having to overcome the likes of Satomi Watanabe, Salma Hany and Nour El Tayeb to win what was her eighth career title on home soil. 

Reflecting upon that event, Kennedy said: “Being able to win the title in Manchester this year was an amazing feeling. Winning this title felt extra special because my coach and my family were with me the whole week. 

“My coach, Ben Ford, has worked with me since I was 12 years old, and he does so much for me on and off the court. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him, so it felt so nice to be able to lift the title whilst he was there in person. I just really enjoyed having him there and it is something I really cherish because I don’t get to have him with me at the international events.”

After taking the honours in Manchester, Kennedy rose to yet another career-high rank of World No.5 – a position she would hold for just two weeks before falling back beneath Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb and Belgium’s Nele Gilis in the World Rankings. 

However, Kennedy admitted her main target was not just to reclaim this position in the 2024/25 season, but in fact go one better and make a concerted move for the much-coveted World No.4 spot. 

She said: “I was really happy to finally break the top five this season – even if it was only for a couple of weeks – because that has been a goal of mine for the past couple of seasons. 

“This season, I definitely want to try and break the top four – there are four or five players who probably also have this goal, so it is going to be very interesting to see how it plays out, and I’m looking forward to some great battles.”