Farag On His Injury, His Return And His Updated Goals For This Season

Former World No.1 Ali Farag is continuing his return to the Tour after a four-month layoff with injury, and we spoke to him ahead of this year’s Black Ball Squash Open.

Farag, who made his return at the Pittsburgh Open in February after missing the last two major tournaments, will continue his return from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) this week in Cairo at the PSA World Tour Gold level competition.

We spoke to him ahead of the tournament, and he explained what the problem initially was, along with how excited he is to be back playing once again.

“It feels amazing to be back. When I first got injured, I thought it was going to be a two to four week period of being off but then it turned out to be longer than that. It is typical with my kind of injury that you don’t really have a timeline for it and I was probably a little naive at the beginning,” Farag admitted.

“I am super excited to be back on Tour. You don’t really know the meaning of what you do until you really miss doing it. I think, aside from COVID where every was off so I didn’t feel odd, this is the longest period of time that I have not been on a squash court. I did really miss it a lot, I missed the training, the competition, the routine, everything about it. I am super happy to be back.

“The term for it is Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, but it can happen for many different reasons. What happens is that the patella, the kneecap.. The cartilage underneath gets degenerated because of the wear and tear of the years of playing squash. Then, when it produces friction with the femur bone underneath, it is really painful. I had to regenerate that and more importantly, I had to work on my quads to be stronger so the joint space is wider so there is less friction.

“I have been working in the gym, hours and hours, trying to do that, changing a bit the way I move, at least in the gym so that I can replicate it on court. There are so many great people that have worked with me in the gym, in the clinics, the hospitals, to get me back to where I am, so I am super grateful for all of them.”

Farag’s last appearance in a major tournament came in the final of the U.S. Open, when he had to retire just two points in.

Since then, the Egyptian has dropped from the summit of the World Rankings and now sits at World No.3 below Mostafa Asal and Diego Elias, the men to win the two Platinum tournaments that Farag has missed in his time out.

“Where it happened, it was in the final of the U.S. Open in Philly. I drove overnight to New York and saw one of the biggest figures in the knee medicine department in New York. He said all the ligaments were fine but then he explained it was. I flew the next day to Germany to see another knee specialist, and he agreed. Then, I came home and my dad, he is an orthopaedic surgeon, and he also agreed,” the Egyptian explained.

“A couple of weeks later, I saw Derek Ryan [PSA Physio] in Ireland and then I saw a fourth doctor. They all agreed that the knee is very healthy, but I just had to get my quads stronger. I have been working on that with Derek, a couple of doctors here and my fitness trainer. They have all been brilliant with me, very patient. As an injured man, you can be hard to deal with! They have got me back on track, not quite 100% yet but I am on the right track, so I am happy.”

The Pittsburgh Open was Farag’s first appearance since an awkward match at the Grasshopper Cup, where he was clear inhibited with the problem.

After four months out, Farag returned, and made it to the quarter finals. He came up against Youssef Soliman in the last eight at the Rivers Club, and although he lost, he was able to take the positives from the week.

“The three days before travelling, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go [to Pittsburgh] as I hadn’t had much time on court. My knee was not at 100% but it was stagnating a little bit, because I was not pushing it,” Farag said.

“I needed to push it to see where I stood compared to the top guys and the fact that I hadn’t been on court for four months, but I pushed Youssef Soliman to five in 80 minutes, I was very proud. It told me a lot about my knee, what I needed to work on, how it is, so it was a really positive match.

“I got the green light from the doctors before travelling that it was not going to get injured further, so as long as I had that, I knew I wanted to go and test it. It was a very good stepping stone and hopefully here continues that as I build for the World Championships.”

Having won it in 2018-2019, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, Ali Farag is a three-time World Champion, and he will be the reigning champion this year as the tournament returns to Chicago.

Two of those World Championship titles were won in Chicago, and sandwiched in between those victories was a win at the Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family, meaning that the American city has a special place in his heart.

Having started the season aiming to be World No.1 come the end of June, the Egyptian has now changed his goals after this period away from the sport. The World Champs now becomes his main goal for the next three months.

“Squash, I do still have my goals but you have to reassess those goals due to what happens during a season. My goal at the beginning of the season was to end it as the World No.1 and I knew it would be tough. Now it is impossible, or almost, because I have missed so many tournaments. I know from where I stand, where my knee is, that my goal is the top four, and the World Champs. 

“The British Open was another goal of mine, but it maybe is too soon, it will be during Ramadan as well, which is extra tough. Now though, it is the World Champs and the top four. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, then I am going to hungry to get back there next season.

The four months away was the longest period of time, barring the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Farag was way from the Tour.

Despite this, he has been happy to have the time away from the game, finding both himself and a new-found knowledge and love for his faith, in that time.

“Believe it or not, and I surprised myself, but I loved it, I absolutely loved it [the time away]! The only one week, that I was upset, was during Hong Kong because everyone was there, Nour [El Tayeb, Ali’s wife] was there, and I was on my own. I felt sorry for myself for not being there, but then all of a sudden, it turned around overnight and ever since, I have been very happy,” he explained.

“I have realised that there is much more to life than squash. You always find yourself as a squash player and I realise I am much more than that. I am a very happy husband, and so happy with my wife! I am a happy son, I am a happy brother and I have so many good things in my life that I really enjoyed and cherished. 

“I am super grateful for my religion. It is a beautiful religion as well, that gives you perspective on life and squash is so little in the greater context of things. I have taken a deeper dive into my knowledge of this religion and you just realise that at the end of the day. There is so much you can control. You work really hard and you work really smart and at the end of the day, there is a greater superpower that is in charge of this. 

“Once you really let that sink in, you feel more in peace with everything that is happening it doesn’t mean you become complacent and you don’t work hard enough, but you work as hard as you can and the end result… Ever since this injury happened, this really sank in a lot more. Obviously, it is a work in progress and it is not a finished product yet.”

Despite all the titles and the time spent at World No.1, Farag admits that he had maybe lost his love for the game at times during that run.

However, after time away from the game, and now facing the challenge of trying to returning to the sport’s top table, he is more excited than ever to get back to the top of the rankings.

“I had lost my squash spark for the past couple of years. People around me really know, that was the case. Now there is a new challenge, I am really excited to go through that and to see how it feels I am excited for what is to come, as I told you, I am not 100% and I was never going to be at the first tournament. 

“The right thing to do is to come back and play squash matches. In practice matches, I protect it way too much, so playing Pittsburgh made it a lot better. Hopefully here at Black Ball it will be better, and then Canary Wharf and so on. The aim is to be fit for the World Champs and to give myself the best chance to win it, that would be great.”

Watch Ali in action, along with all the other matches from the Black Ball Squash Open, LIVE on SQUASHTV.