Victor Crouin: 2022 Year In Review

As we come to the end of 2022, we have spoken to some of the Tour’s stars of the year. Our focus in today’s piece is Frenchman Victor Crouin.

The Harvard-graduate started the year as the World No.20, but over the course of the last twelve months, he has become the French No.1, reached a first major final, and moved inside the world’s top ten for the first time.

He won two Challenger Tour titles in 2022, lifting the trophies at the QSF 4 and the Life Time Chicago Open, both Challenger 30 level crowns.

Crouin also made a first major final, losing out to Mohamed ElShorbagy at the QTerminals Qatar Classic, before winning his first PSA World Tour title, where he won on home soil at the Bronze level Open de France de Squash.

Those performances, including two other finals over the course of the last twelve months, have seen the 23-year-old break into the world’s top ten for the first time in his career, and he is now the French No.1.

Victor Crouin

World Ranking – January: World No.20
World Ranking – December: World No.10 (career-high)
Titles Won: 3
– QSF 4 (Challenger 30 level)
– Open de France de Squash (Bronze)
– Life Time Chicago Open (30)

See what Crouin had to say about his incredible 2022 here..

“It’s been probably the best year of my career so far. Got my first wins against top ten players and beat Paul Coll in March and made it into the top 20 before the end of last season.

“And I didn’t think I would get into the top ten that soon to be honest. I thought I would get… Well my goal was to get into the top 12 before the end of this season and I made it to the top 12 after [a few] months.

“So yeah, I had to reevaluate my goals a little bit. And the good thing is that it wasn’t also just a one time thing. Like I, for example, I was quite amazed how I backed up from the Qatar Classic, winning the French Open because I was actually worried when I got to Nantes, and I had to compete like a day later and I thought, ‘How am I going to do that? Especially in the best of three format?’

“And I think because I was so worried, I just, I don’t know, I didn’t feel the pressure at all. I tried not to, and I had the crowd, [which] was actually a good thing to me.

On beating Paul Coll at the Canary Wharf Classic…

“I mean, first match, I was kind of, I think played Josh Masters and I was 5-0 down and something like that. And I eventually scrapped to 12-10 and then won the second comfortably.

“But it wasn’t a great start and I remember I was 5-0 down it was like, ‘Well Victor, this is best-of-three format, you got to wake up’. I mean, everybody knows how good of an atmosphere it can be and it is. But it’s also, I think for players who haven’t played yet, it can be quite a lot to handle.

“In addition to having to play squash, a lot of thoughts running in your mind like, have I played good enough that they didn’t buy the tickets for nothing, just like… Bad thoughts like this can come in and you kind of have to put them away and focus on the squash.

“But yeah, I think that day against Paul, I just played one of the best… Someone asked me on Instagram the other day like, ‘What do you think was your best performance so far?’

“And I was like, well, probably that match [against Coll], or that I won against Tarek [Momen] in the Qatar Classic. It’s just some days where there’s everything goes right and I think that was one of them.

On how close the rankings are outside the top ten…

“Yeah, [at the] end of last year, I felt like all the players from World No.16 to World No.25, were kind of having the same average and also the same level.

“And so it was important to get more points on the ranking and usually to do that you just have to beat them when you have the opportunity because if you don’t beat them, then they’ll get more points than you and that stays for a year.

“So they got that point advantage for ranking for a year, so it’s like when you have the head to head, it just so important to get the win because it affects your ranking for a year. And you see, you try not to think about that when you play because that’s a lot of pressure. But you still know that it’s a very important match.

On making the final of the Qatar Classic, his first Platinum final…

“It’s interesting how sometimes things happen when you don’t expect them to happen, like you just don’t force it. And it just happens because you playing, you just playing the right shot at the right time that day.

“I think something that I will have to remember and in the months and years to come is how important this tournament is.

“I mean, the draw was out and I was playing Joel Makin the first round. I was like, well, my goal this week is to get a game out of Makin. That was it.That was my goal for the week. [I] just want to get a game of Makin just to get some learning experience and show myself that I can actually beat him.

“And that’s usually my trick. Like usually when I haven’t beaten someone yet, I’m not trying to tell myself like, ‘You got to win the match now’, I’m just trying to tell myself, ‘Just win a game’.

“And then maybe that will remove some psychological barriers. Because if you’ve won the game, then you might actually be able to win two others. And during that match I remember, I don’t actually remember which games, I think I won the first 2 games.

“I remember I could feel like something wrong with him, I was like this is your day, and yeah, I got through that first round. I wasn’t putting any pressure, I think. I wasn’t putting any pressure on me during each round because I knew how dangerous those players were. And how good they can be.

“And so I was just going out there and figure it out, during the moment and once I could feel like I had a door open to win the game and then the match, I seized the opportunity, I think. And that’s just the same thing that happened with Tarek [Momen].

“Again, like definitely not the best performance from Tarek. He was definitely feeling something with his injuries for a long time now. And [he’s] just been making semis even though he’s half injured so but this aside and and I think as the same way I had one of my best performances against Paul [Coll] I think this match was quite a great performance from my side.

“The pressure came back in the final though which was quite, like, I regret it. I felt like, damn, I just had such a great run. All the thinking about the consequences of making it to quarters, making it to the semis, making it to the final.

“But I don’t know if it’s because I was playing a final or if it’s because I was playing Mohamed ElShorbagy… But you can, and there’s been a few matches like this during the season, during this half of the season where I could feel like I could feel pressured because of the opponent who’s on court with me.

“And it’s been the case with Mohamed, it’s been the case with Mostafa [Asal] as well in Singapore. And then the match that we played in Hong Kong was, was quite another story from my side at least.

On the rest of the 2022-2023 season…

“I mean, in the last few days I’ve been kind of thinking about what I would want to achieve next, for the next half of the season, because I’ve already achieved the goals that I set to myself for the season, for the entire season.

“So I need to change them in order to be motivated. I think… Apart from the ranking points and, and all that, I think if I can make it to the World Tour Finals, that will be a really good achievement for me.

“It would be an honour to be part of that championship that I always watch on SQUASHTV. I think that when you talk to players, it’s definitely a… There’s less pressure coming into this tournament because it’s the end of the season.

“The same way they kind of celebrate the best. The best eight players of the season, or let’s put it another way, the best eight performers. And so even if I don’t make it to the top eight [of the rankings] before the end of the season making it into the World Tour Finals would be a good achievement, something I’d like to achieve.”

Check out the full interview with Victor on our YouTube channel here ⬇️