SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open: Asal Beats ‘Idol’ Elshorbagy in Five to Reach Final

Mostafa Asal overturned a 2-1 deficit to beat Mohamed Elshorbagy in the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open semi-finals, setting up a final clash with Mazen Hesham. 

The young Egyptian had demolished Sebastien Bonmalais in a ruthless 3-0 win yesterday, but this was a different affair altogether, with Elshorbagy calling on his years of experience against the ‘Raging Bull’. 

Never was that more apparent than in the opening rallies, with Elshorbagy taking a more measured approach to play than yesterday, in an attempt to nullify the pace and power of his young opponent. 

That tactic paid off as he took game one 11-7 on a no-let decision down the backhand side, which was where most of the action was taking place. 

Asal then dominated the opening rallies of game two and was soon 9-5 up, at which point Elshorbagy slammed a return of serve into the nick and then closed the gap to two points, but his charge was halted by a backhand cross-court into the tin, with Asal taking his first game ball on the following point. 

Game three was a tight and tense affair with little to separate the two players throughout, not least in the tie break. Asal had just saved two game balls at 10-8 down when the players engaged in a breathtaking rally that lasted more than two minutes.  ElShorbagy won it and then the point that followed to give himself a 2-1 lead, but the effort exerted in game three appeared to take its toll, with the next two games largely one-way traffic. 

The Englishman won just one point in game four, perhaps conserving energy for the decider once the gap had opened up, but it would be to no avail, as Asal picked up in game five where he had left off in game four, cruising through the remaining rallies without much trouble. 

Speaking after his victory, Asal discussed the special feeling of recording a tough win over his idol. 

“It’s an unbelievable win,” he said. “The last few events weren’t that good for me, but I’m happy to be in the final of a big event again. 

“Every single point was emotional against Mohamed. Not many people will understand that, when you’re playing your idol, it’s so difficult to play against him. You repeat everything in your mind, visualising it, and not too many people will understand that, but I’m glad it was a fair match, and I came out on top. 

“I wasn’t pleased with the way I played the first three games, but all this work got into him as well and I just though in the fourth and fifth, I have nothing to lose, so I just said to myself… put more confidence in yourself and go for shots.”

Result: [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-1, 11-2 (70m)