Season Review: Victor Crouin

It was a breakthrough season for France’s Victor Crouin during the 2022/23 campaign. The Frenchman played the most events out of all the players inside the top 50 in the world and kept his quality all season. He featured in six finals, winning three of them, two of which were World Tour events. The Frenchman also reached the World’s top 10 for the first time in his career. We caught up with him to discuss his season:

“It’s been an incredible season for sure,” said Crouin.

“I wasn’t expecting to be that high on the rankings at the end of the season. I’ve always said my goal was to get into the Top 12 Top 10 was the was probably the high end goal.

“So when I reached that goal halfway through the season, I really had to just think about it and re-set some new goals and so top 8 was my new goal, and I made that. World Tour Finals  was on my mind as well and I achieved that. So it’s been an incredible season, especially for first time playing full time professional.”

On focusing on squash full time after graduating from Harvard University

“I think it’s very different to be waking up in the morning and having just to think about squash. In the past I’ve always had my schoolwork so I would wake up in the morning and go do a practice session most of the time, but I would also have time to spend in school or doing schoolwork, and usually during the bad times especially that would help me to stay grounded and if my squash wasn’t going that well then I could just focus on something else. So it was kind of good to get away.

“That’s something that I’ll always remember is my squash helped me to be better in school and my school helps me to be better on the squash court. So even though I’m a full time professional player these days, I’m still spending so much time reading newsletters trying to stay up to date with the latest research in economics or politics, because this is something that I really love doing. I’ve always been curious and passionate about academics. So this is my way of staying grounded even though squash is the biggest thing is in my life today and it became my job a year ago now.”

On his season overall

“It’s been an incredible season. I think I’ve experienced it all from being on the on the biggest stages of the PSA World Tour, playing finals in front of my home crowd. Also having to digest some tough losses during the season. I also had a few injuries here and there and had to take decisions about whether to take some time off or trying to weather the storm and play with it. And obviously the end of the season was really tough in terms of keeping the motivation. World Tour Finals was kind of one too many in terms of trying to be competitive. Obviously I enjoyed my time that the World Tour Finals but I wish I had more of that fire in me that helped me to win matches in the past. I felt like there was a couple of games that I lost by two points and for me it’s essentially because I just didn’t have that fire to keep pushing for those last few hours. But all in all, it’s been a great season and I’m looking forward to next season.”

On his favourite moment 

“The French Open for sure. I think there was tremendous pressure on my shoulders coming into the French Open because I had already played three events before going back home and playing the French Open. I played the Zed open where I made the finals. So that was that was full matches already. Then I went to Qatar and played all the matches, making it to final and I had to be in France the next day and not having any days off before playing Aly Abou Eleinen, who’s an incredible player and he’s beaten me this season.The French Open was also best of three until the final so you really have to be ready from the get go and because of the results I had the week before I knew players would be chasing me all the time. They had really nothing to lose and I was playing in front of my friends, my family, the whole fans.

“So it mattered a lot to me, but I was also fighting with myself to try and stay focused I was playing at night. I still made it to final and then played Marwan ElShorbagy and it was my biggest title to date so it’s definitely going to be one of the best memories of my life.” 

On the final against Marwan ElShorbagy

“I kept believing in myself during that final match. It didn’t matter that it was Marwan ElShorbagy on court with me and I had never beaten him before, I had the crowd with me and it kept me going even though I was 2-1 down and close to losing this match.

“But what I remember is that after winning the fourth game, we both took a break and then I came back on first and I started to hit the ball and they everybody started to chant my name and I was like well better keep pushing. I tried to stay in the moment and then from 0-0, just one point at a time and try to find a way to win this match with some crazy shots at the end.

“I’m still emotional when I watch this match. I’ll definitely watch it a few times again during the summer to get my confidence up and to get me fired up and ready for the next season.

“It definitely made the start of the season better and I had  higher expectations for the rest of the season. Just from myself and also the pressure from being in the spotlight.”

On his successful start to the season

“Being so successful at the beginning of the season meant there was definitely some pressure mounting for the rest of the season. After the French Open I had to go to the Egyptian Open straight away and I had to keep fighting hard. I played Leonel Cardenas in the first round and he would always give me a tough match. I won that one and I was really proud of myself for continuing the streak and then eventually lost to Marwan in the next round, so he took his revenge. We always laugh that I won in France and he won back in Egypt. So we both won when we wanted to. At least that’s how I see it.

“After that my goal was to be consistent. I had broken barriers that I hadn’t broken before. I had some good wins the season before but I’d never gone so far in those big tournaments, so my goal was to make it to the quarters or semis of the events that I would compete in and I think I did that pretty well, which helped me to keep going up.”

On his performance at the Qatar Classic

“Qatar classic is definitely a tournament I don’t remember as well as I should, because the French Open happened the week after and became the best moment of my life so far. I came into Qatar classic thinking ‘well, let’s get a game out of Joel Makin.’ That was my goal going into the event because I had never beaten Joel. He was such a beast the season before and made the final of the Commonwealth games and I had no idea he was still struggling with injuries. When I saw that opportunity after winning a game I told myself ‘you have to take it, it’s now or never,’ and I did.

“Then I played Patrick Rooney, who in my opinion is one of the most skilled players in the world. I’ve grown up watching him in European squash and he’s always been one of my role models in terms of technique in squash 12.04. I beat him and then the next day I beat Abdulla [Al Tamimi], who was playing at home, so it’s never easy. I knew I had a chance to win the match, but I could also easily lose it and he deserved it as much as I did. But I was the one who won the match.

“Tarek’s [Momen] match was a big one, with me making it to the final, but Mohamed [ElShorbagy] was maybe a step too far that day. It still is because I haven’t beaten Mohamed so far in my career, but it was a great learning experience. I fought till the end, coming back from a 2-0 deficit. I think I played very well in the first few rounds and even in the quarters and the semis, I didn’t feel the pressure. During the final it was a little different, which was frustrating but again it was a learning experience. Mohamed is used to those stages and he rises to the occasion and definitely had his tactic in place to make me feel uncomfortable on court.

“I wish I had won this match because I always say if I had won this match, then I could have retired and played the World Tour Finals at the end of the season, but it definitely kept my hunger for the rest of the season, because I knew I had a shot at the World Tour Finals. I had to fight hard at every event I competed in to get as many points as I could, or at least more than my direct opponents in the ranking.”

On the rise of another U.S College graduate Aly Abou Eleinen

“Surprisingly, we’ve only played once in college squash because he was playing at two for Penn and I was playing at one for Harvard, but I knew he would break into the top at some point. He definitely moved up the ranking very fast this season. I had the advantage of having played a little more when I was in college and so my ranking was already up when I graduated, so it took him a little more time to get to where he is, but I’m sure he’s gonna make it to the top 10 or close to the top 10 very soon. He’s a big threat on the PSA World Tour and unfortunately I had to play him quite a few times. I feel like we both bring our best self when we play each other, it’s very fair, it’s very tiring and there is good squash going on. It’s an honour to be battling it out on court with him and I wish him the best. We definitely have different strengths on the squash court, but I think we are very similar in the way we approach our career and our squash. I hope we’ll have more players from the college squash system – and also from other college squash systems around the world – that will make it to the PSA World Tour.

On playing high level squash as well as studying

“I think it’s a great platform to learn more about ourselves and to see if we want to do it, as being a professional player is not for everybody and I’ve seen a lot of my teammates eventually deciding that it’s not for them. I had teammates coming to visit me back home and witness my training every day and saying ‘yeah, I don’t regret having a job and not having to go through the pain of training hard every day.’ It’s also a risky investment, especially when you make it to the top universities in the US. Why not just go out there and have a pretty comfortable salary? But squash for some of us is our biggest passion and we’re not going to do it until the end of our life, so why not give it a go.

“It’s always been my goal and I’m pretty big on setting goals. I took a gap year after high school to go and play full time professional before going to college, so that I could make that decision very early on. So whilst I was going through my four years of college I knew that I would graduate and then go full time professional, so it was always on my mind, but it’s always great to get that confirmation whilst being in that college environment. I encourage all the kids that are also passionate about academics – because it’s important – to go to college and give it a go. College squash was also a great learning experience. I learned a lot from my teammates and coaches on how to navigate both academics and squash, which I have been doing since I started competing in the European circuit. Also, navigating things with my teammates such as working together.”

On his favourite phase of the season

“That phase from the European individuals to the Egyptian Open was definitely some of the best squash I’ve played for a long time, but I think I’ve improved over the season. The way I played today was better than the way I played during that time of the season. Although, I think during that phase I was really good at getting through the storm when things weren’t going well during patches of a game, and then making sure I was playing well tactically during the crucial points of the game to go and win those important points, especially against the top players. I think when I beat Tarek [Momen] and Marwan [ElShorbagy], I’m sure in their head they would be thinking ‘well, we’re getting into the later stage of the game. I’m going to stay strong and then I will win the game.’ But I managed to rise up to the occasion and played the good shot at the right time. It often makes a big difference, playing the right shot at the right time, staying in the rally and not making a mistake, giving them an opportunity to win the rally. 

“I think a second phase of the season that I’m really proud of is when I won the Squash on Fire Open. I won my first match there in five games against my former teammate, Timmy Brownell. From then on I told myself it’s going to be a long week, because I was already very tired after that match, but I found a way every time to win. I was top seed, so I was expected to. Each match wasn’t easy and I didn’t feel my best all the time, but I still found a way to win and I think those performances are sometimes more important than the times where you feel like it’s easy to play, you don’t have to force anything and you don’t even have to think hard about sticking to your game plan, so it’s definitely a tournament I’m proud of.”