Season Review: Tarek Momen

Former World Champion Tarek Momen featured in two World Tour event finals this season at the Malaysian Open and Black Ball Open. Momen also continued to be one of the most consistent players on the tour as he reached the quarter finals of all the Platinum events as well as narrowly losing out in the last eight of the World Championships. We caught up with ‘The Viper’ to discuss his season.

TK – “When I think about it, this was one of the most challenging seasons I’ve ever had to go through.

“It wasn’t easy from the very beginning. I had so much going on. I had a lot of changes. I moved to a different home, I changed coaches. Then I had to face some struggles where I wasn’t aware of what was going on really. I had some health issues that I wasn’t able to understand. 

“Some players get injured and they have to sit out for a while like [Karim Abdel] Gawad. He had to spend a lot of time off court which is very frustrating for the player. I guess the good thing for me, even though I struggled, I was still somehow able to compete and be there and earn money, earn ranking points and play. So I have to be very thankful for that. But again, it was very challenging mentally as well because for the first six months I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was just struggling physically for no apparent reason. 

TK – “It took me six months to be able to figure out what was going on. Eventually we’ve come to the conclusion that I have had some complications post COVID, which I contacted in the summer, and I hated the timing of it. It came at a time where you would enter the season and you think that you’re not much match fitness prepared. So for the first few months, I wasn’t fit at all. I was playing well but then 30 minutes into the match, my resistance would fade and I thought okay, maybe I needed these few tournaments or a few matches to get things started. 

“But when we started to play tournaments in November and December and I was still struggling, that’s when I started to get concerned. 

“So, it was a long season. There was so much going on. Thankfully I did the testing. It was tricky because there wasn’t much wrong but then eventually we got the diagnosis and by January/February, I started to feel a lot better all of a sudden, which is quite common with long COVID cases where, six months later or three months later, you start to get better on your own. 

“That’s when I started to feel good on court again. I think in February, I didn’t have the best results, but I felt better on court and then eventually when I played the Black Ball Open in March, that’s when I felt like okay, I’m physically back to where I was and I had a very good tournament. I think this was the best tournament I’ve had this season. 

“Unfortunately then I had a few other setbacks from March until the end of the season. So, overall, it was challenging season but I’m very proud with the way I fought through it. 

“Because it’s so hard when you’re used to playing at a level and I know that I’m still able to play at that level, but something out of my hands is keeping me from from doing it. For the entire season I was in that position. I was trying so hard. I knew I was on a good form, but for every month there is something. I guess all other players have to go through something like that, but it was just very challenging for me.

“You sometimes question whether it’s an age thing and then I know that even though yes, I’m 35, I feel like I haven’t lost my speed and my fitness has gone from too bad to good in a matter of two months, which means that it’s not a fitness issue as well. So I had to deal with so much but, I’m very thankful for the way I ended the season without injuries which is a huge plus. Niggles are okay but major injuries at this stage of my career are quite concerning so I’m very happy with that. I’m just looking forward to this summer break to get things started again in the right manner.”

On changing coaches for the first time eight years

TK – “Last summer, a lot of changes happened. Haitham [Effat] moved to the USA and I had to think of an alternative and obviously Omar [Abdel Aziz] was the most sensible option for me because first of all we are neighbours since I moved. I literally moved into the house right next to him and the club is only a couple of minutes away. So it was a perfect setup for me to train with him. 

“I’ve enjoyed our season so much. I think it was the right time for me to seek another coach anyway. Obviously if Haithal hadn’t have moved, I probably would have stayed with him but I’ve worked with him for more than eight years now. So I needed someone to have a different approach to training and everything so I’m quite happy with that. I felt this season especially in the month of March/April. I could see a lot of changes to my game. I could see that I could only do it in practice and then for whatever reason in the matches, I wasn’t consistent enough. I could still see that I’ve added a few things to my game which hopefully can help me out throughout next season if I can stay in good shape.”

On the Black Ball Open

TK – “The Black Ball Open was kind of a turning point for me this season. Because I was so down at the time, I had just started to develop a foot injury right after I recovered from COVID. So I was super frustrated and I thought this is it, it’s never going to end and it will stop me from from doing what I want to do. 

“I couldn’t train well, right before it I had a phone call with Omar right before my match with Fares [Dessouky]. I told him that I don’t even know what I am doing here. I got through the first match but I wasn’t moving well because I was hurting a little bit. I wasn’t sure how I was going to play never mind win, and if I don’t feel like I have a chance to win then what am I doing here? 

“Thankfully, we had a very good talk and he just gave me the confidence that I needed and he reassured me that the problem was there but all I needed to do is push. Push myself, leave it all out on the court and if it doesn’t happen, then we just keep grinding until it happens. 

“I went the next day and I played with Fares. I was a bit shaky at the beginning but then I noticed he was struggling a bit and then this was kind of a turning point. The match obviously ended and it was quite brutal. 

“But there was a moment in this match where I felt like I’m crossing a barrier, like I’m able to go through an obstacle. From then on, I felt like I was back to where I was, even if I wasn’t playing my best sports, but from a mental and physical perspective. I felt like ‘okay, I’m back’ and that’s when I gained my confidence back and it gave me the push I needed until the end of the season. Despite every other struggle I had to face later, it gave me the push to see it through.”

On his win over Diego Elias at the Qatar Classic & loss to Victor Crouin

TK –“I thought I played very well in what was the first tournament of the season and at the time I remember I was still struggling physically. I remember in that match (against Elias), it was 1-1 and I was playing really well, but then I hit a wall in the third game. I could not push anymore. I thought ‘oh well, it’s what I’ve been facing’, but at the time in my head it was the beginning of the season and I wasn’t match fit, so I didn’t think there was something wrong with me.

“For Diego it was his first tournament of the season, so he was probably lacking a bit of match fitness as well. When he started to show some signs of fatigue in the fourth game, it gave me the ability to push a bit harder. We were both very tired in the fourth and the fifth, but I was very proud of that win – especially because Diego proved to be playing the best squash of his career this season, so to get a win against him was obviously a good thing. 

“Then in the semi final it was the same story again. Victor played some really good squash and I just couldn’t physically match him, but overall, Qatar was one of the really good tournaments that I had during the season. Unfortunately, the ones that followed were not at the same level.”

On his performance at the World Championships

TK –“I am proud of how I pushed at the World Championships. I had three brutal matches back to back. I don’t want to keep talking about all the struggles that I faced, but the World Championships was one of the tournaments where I was pushing through so much. There were other things happening and I was trying so hard to focus and give it 100%.”

On his favourite moment of the season

TK –“If I were to pick my favourite moment, I would probably say the win against Joel Makin at Black Ball. Obviously he had the brutal match the day before and it was so hard for him to keep pushing, but for me to come back from 2-0 down, to get into a Gold final in a long time. It was something I was proud of, especially since it came in a week where I was really down mentally only a few days before, so that was probably my favourite moment.” 

On looking forward to a stronger season next season

TK – “I’m Iooking forward to a fresh start, because I would love to end my career on my own terms. This season I felt a bit hard done by. I’m not complaining, but I would love to give everything I have and have no external factors coming in. Hopefully what happened this year will not happen again. There will always be a few niggles here and a few issues there, but I had to deal with so much this year. It hasn’t happened before and hopefully it won’t happen again, so I’m really looking forward to playing a season where I only face the normal issues that every other player faces.”