South Western Open: El Tayeb exacts revenge on Hany to reach Houston final

No.1 seed Nour El Tayeb marched into a second successive South Western Open final after defeating Egyptian compatriot Salma Hany in four games in Houston.  

El Tayeb had steamrolled through her opposition in the previous two rounds in Houston and looked content at keeping the points short and sharp once again at the beginning of her semi-final bout. 

The World No.8 looked to have put her five-game defeat to Hany in the second round of the Qatar Classic earlier this month firmly behind her, delighting spectators with a string of eye-catching winners to move into an early lead and take the first game 11-5. 

No.4 seed Hany, who struggled to find her length amid the El Tayeb onslaught in the opener, began to work her way into the match early in the second game, moving her opponent around the court and using her short game especially well to move into an 8-3 lead. 

Despite El Tayeb chipping away at her opponent’s lead and bringing the score back to 10-7, Hany had enough to take the second game and bring the match level. 

The momentum swung back in El Tayeb’s favour in a stop-start third game, with the Egyptian racing into a 5-0 lead and always looking favourite to edge ahead in the match again. The first of five game balls was subsequently taken by El Tayeb to move 2-1 up in the match. 

The No.1 seed continued the trend of quick starts at the beginning of the fourth, accelerating into a 6-1 lead and looking ever more nailed on for a spot in the final on Sunday. 

El Tayeb completed the highly impressive display by winning the fourth and final game 11-3 and progressing to face American No.1 Amanda Sobhy. 

After the match, El Tayeb said: “I’m very happy with how I played. Salma has been improving so much over the last few months, so for me to win, I’m very happy with that and to keep my focus and confidence. 

“She [Hany] kept fighting every point, so she never let me get any points easily, but thankfully I was able to focus and play well. She is playing very well at the moment, so winning in four gives me a lot of confidence.”

On the prospect of tomorrow’s final against Amanda Sobhy, she added: “Me and Amanda have been playing a lot since juniors, but I always remember when we were young, playing her was an easier game for me, but look at us playing in a final now, and it is not easy at all.

“We play well against each other, we have a lot of respect for each other, our careers and how we play on the court, so I hope tomorrow is going to be a good one. 

“I think she is playing very well as well at the moment, she has been very consistently making the latter stages of events, so I’m just happy to be in the final and happy to play her.” 

Result: 

[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [4] Salma Hany (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3.