ToC Update: El Sherbini Overcomes Serme in Brutal Battle

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Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini produced a superb performance to eliminate World No.4 Camille Serme in the quarter-final of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions after a brutal five-game battle.

El Sherbini looked to be heading to a comfortable win after dominating the early parts of the fixture to rise into a two-game lead but a resilient Serme dug in to bring the match back to all square. The World No.5 held on though and eventually prevailed with an 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8 victory to move on to the next round.

“It was really, really hard mentally for me because I thought that maybe I was going to win but it turned upside down and I started losing,” said El Sherbini.

“Thankfully I managed it in the end. All of our matches are always tough and I’m really glad that I could win 3-2. Amr [coach Shabana] gave me a lot of advice and he is always making me calm down like it’s the first game and like nothing has happened.

“I was really trying to think positively and just enjoy it. It wasn’t very enjoyable for me at the time but I am happy I got there in the end.”

The talented 20-year-old controlled the opening game from the outset and hit her targets consistently to draw out errors from Serme. El Sherbini took the opener for the loss of just three points and she fended off a much-improved Serme in the second to double her lead.

It was the Frenchwoman though who dictated the tempo in the early part of the third game with her accurate shot placement causing all sorts of problems for El Sherbini and she clawed a game before levelling things up in the next game to send the match into a dramatic finale.

Both players played out a nail-biting conclusion to the match and dipped into their repertoires to hit a range of spectacular winners that elicited numerous excited gasps from the gathered crowd inside New York’s Grand Central Terminal. El Sherbini remained composed to edge out the win and set up a semi-final clash with either 2014 winner Nicol David or compatriot Omneya Abdel Kawy.

Result – Quarter-Final: Women’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions 2016
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [4] Camille Serme (FRA) 3-2: 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8 (74m)