SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open: D1 Afternoon Round-Up

9 January 2024

Nicole Buynan kicked off the new year with an impressive comeback win over Mariam Metwally, as play got underway in round one of the SmartCenters Kinetic Florida Open.

The Canadian endured a tough first half of the season, including first-round defeats to Metwally in both Hong Kong and the Grasshopper Cup, but she reversed her fortunes here, twice coming from a game down to eventually win 3-2.

Speaking after the match, Bunyun put the win down to a shift in her approach entering 2024.

“It’s been a rough season so far, I have to say,” she said.

“The first half didn’t start so well, but I knew that my level has been pretty decent, I just haven’t been able to find that form in tournaments.

“So even though it was just a couple of tournaments between this week and the last one, I felt like coming into the new year would just be a clean slate, so I just tried to approach it like that, change a couple of things in my mindset and it paid off.”

Having fought back from from a 1-0 and then 2-1 deficit, Bunyan took control in the deciding fifth and opened up a sizeable lead, but was cautious never to take her advantage for granted.

“I told myself never to relax, because if I do, then I’ll just lose my structure, and she’s capable of hitting some pretty outrageous winners, so when I was up 8-3, 9-3, I just told myself to stay with it.”

Victory for Bunyan followed comeback wins earlier in the day for both Abdulla Al-Tamimi and Leandro Romiglio, who booked their spots in round two with 3-1 victories over Curtis Malik and Shahjahan Khan respectively, while Lucy Beecroft ensured there would be no winning return to World Tour action for Danielle Ray.

Ray was playing as a wild card in what was her first event at this level since March, after missing most of 2023 through injury, but Beecroft was in no mood to be charitable against her friend, winning 3-0 in 26 minutes.

Chan Sin Yuk and Salma Eltayeb were among the other winners in the afternoon session, with Chan beating compatriot Tsz-Wing Tong on the glass court, while Elytayeb swept aside Ineta Mackevicka.

Results: SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open RD1:

Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-1: 13-15, 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (50m)
Nicole Bunyan (CAN) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY)3-2: 4-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 (48m)
Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-2: 12-14, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-1 (55m)
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-2, 9-11, 11-6 (39m)
Nick Wall (ENG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 (28m)
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt [WC] Danielle Ray (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 (26m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (33m)
Salma Eltayeb (EGY) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 (18m)