Manchester Open RD2: ElShorbagy Moves Past Waller

World No.7 Marwan ElShorbagy claimed a 3-1 win over Englishman Adrian Waller in round two of the Manchester Open to ensure he will take on No.2 seed Ali Farag in an intriguing quarter-final encounter.

It was their first PSA World Tour meeting since 2013 and the courtcraft from the Egyptian was on full show early on as he played some well constructed rallies to take the opening game, but Waller’s impressive ball control saw the World No.19 come back to level.

He continued to pose a real problem for his opponent until mid-way through the third game when he began to tire and it allowed ElShorbagy to step up the court and go on the offensive to restore his lead.

The fourth game followed along a similar vein as Waller again started to feel the effect of the match in his legs and ElShorbagy made no mistake in closing out an 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 triumph in 48 minutes.

“I was happy with my performance today, I think I played better than in the first round,” said ElShorbagy afterwards.

“I would say I was sharper but I think I need to relax a little bit. I was in a rush in the second game and I wasn’t thinking about what I should be doing in the rallies themselves. But I’m happy with the way I played and I think it will make me sharper.

“Tomorrow I think I need to find the balance and maybe settle just a little bit. “

On playing a left-hander, ElShorbagy said: “I think Adrian is the only player inside the top 20 or 30 who is left handed and I know how tricky and dangerous his forehand specifically is because he can hold the ball really well. I was trying to play a little bit faster so I didn’t give him enough time.

“In my head-to-head with him I think he’s beaten me three times before, so I knew how dangerous this match would be, I was really focused and I’m happy to win in four games. I’m not happy with the second game but in a way I think it could be good for my match tomorrow.”

Result
[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [13] Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (48m)