Tinne Gilis Reacts to Breaking Into Top 10 for First Time

In the latest PSA World Rankings, Belgium’s Tinne Gilis was the only significant mover in the women’s top 20 as she jumped up five places to finally earn a spot in the world’s Top 10 for the first time in her career.

The Belgian No.2 came close to achieving the feat at different times last year, reaching World No.11 in November 2022, but couldn’t quite score the breakthrough into the top 10, until now.

We caught up with Tinne to discuss her breakthrough into the top 10, the significance of her Squash on Fire triumph and what she’s hoping to achieve this season:

Q. How does it feel to finally break top 10 after being so close all season?

TG – “Honestly, it’s such an amazing and weird feeling,”

“I think I had a pretty consistent season with some good wins, but unfortunately also struggled with quite a lot of different injuries which affected my ranking as well. It was my goal to reach the top 10 last season so it was very frustrating that I got so close but never actually made it. When I got tagged in a post saying I jumped up to No.10, it was a very pleasant surprise for sure!”

Q. Did you feel like you were playing that level in the season?

TG – “I think I was. I had some good matches with some of the top 10 players but also with the players above that. The women’s game is so close that I feel like every win is a good win and you’ve got to be on top of your game from round one.”

Q. What part of last season were you most pleased with?

TG – “The tournament I’m most proud of has to be the Bronze tournament I won in Washington D.C. Knowing two weeks before that I had to pull out of the Cleveland Classic, it felt so special winning my biggest title unexpectedly, even though I was the top seed. I was just excited to be playing again and testing how my body would react, it probably took away the pressure of winning.”

Q. What’s the aim for this season coming now that you’re in the top 10?

TG – “This season I want to play and feel my best again on court. I’ve been doing a lot of good training in Prague with an amazing team and group around me so I’m hoping I can take everything I’ve worked on with me to the tournaments and show it on court. I like to take everything step by step so my next goal would be breaking into the top eight.”

To view the latest PSA rankings, click here.