World No.1 David, took on a confident No.8 seed Ireland’s Madeline Perry, who impressed crowds with her enthusiasm early on in the tie. Maintaining a high-pace, the Irishwoman kept her opponent moving, and found a tight working drop to put the pressure on David in the early exchanges. The Malaysian was happy to wait for her own opportunities however, and countered Perry’s efforts at the halfway point to stretch out a lead for the first game.
The second game saw a similar pattern as Perry raced out of the blocks, cutting the ball short and making David scramble to retrieve. Again at the halfway point, David began to assert herself on the court. Intricate line and length combined with precision drop shots gives the Malaysian a two game lead.
Perry again starts the new game powerfully, an increased pace followed by some accurate short play gave the experienced Irishwoman a four-point lead early on. Varying her short and long shots, she slowly adds to her lead with David struggling to find her foothold in the match. ‘Resilient’ is one word to describe the world No.12 in this game, and she certainly deserved a comeback game.
David gathered her composure in between games, and returned to court refocused as she took an early lead. She slowly added to her lead as the rallies progressed, denying Perry any cheap points and making the Irishwoman work for every inch. Perry hit the tin to give her opponent match ball, before deep crosscourt nick ends the contest in the Malaysian’s favour.
Final:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v [2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY)
Semi-finals:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [8] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7
[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [3] Alison Waters (ENG) 11-9, 11-9, 11-5
