Gilis Reaches German Open Final After Testing Encounter

In an exciting third semi-final of the day, No.1 seed Nele Gilis defeated Egypt’s Salma Hany to progress to the 2024 German Open final where she faces England’s Georgina Kennedy.

In a 12-minute first game, Gilis showed strong signs in the opening phases, managing to nullify the threat that Hany possesses, and pulling the Egyptian into the front of the court to suit the Belgian’s game style.

The Egyptian responded well, firing four unanswered points to start the second game, with the fourth coming in the form of a pin-point accurate backhand drop into the nick. Despite a fightback from Gilis from 4-8 to 7-9, the Egyptian held her lead and levelled the match at 1-1.

Hany took an early 6-3, but the top seed pushed back to level pegging despite a dramatic double dive from the Egyptian. A taxi from Hany at 8-7 restored a 2-point cushion, but the top seed’s physicality was too much as Gilis overcame the deficit to take the lead in the match after a close-fought tie-break.

The fourth game wasn’t as close, with the Belgian went ahead from the outset. Hany fought back to 10-10, but Gilis’ quality and athleticism made the difference in the end as she took the game 13-11 and booked her place in tomorrow’s final.

“I’ve played Salma [Hany] since the under-11 juniors and she has chopped me 3-0 every single time we played, which is a lot of times!” said Gilis after the match. “I beat her on court for the first time last year, and that’s how many times it took me to get used to her game and her attacking skills. She’s definitely one of the most skilful players on Tour and I’m very proud of myself with the way that I dug in and stuck to my game plan.

“When I was up the in the fourth I thought to myself, ‘come on, stay focused, focus on your game plan because she can come back’. Maybe I manifested that and next time I should do the opposite! I know how dangerous she is and she can get points very quickly if you’re off your targets.

“I really enjoy my battles with Gina [Kennedy] – it’s back and forth all the time and I’m really enjoying the rivalry that we’re building and I’m really looking forward to a battle tomorrow.”

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Results: German Open 2024 – Presented by Sportwerk Semi-Finals
[1] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [4] Salma Hany (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 13-11 (66m)