The Allam British Open third round will feature an all-American battle between Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Blatchford Clyne, while Sabrina Sobhy celebrates her third round debut following second round victories in Hull, England.
Both Amanda Sobhy and Blatchford Clyne overcame challenging second round opponents in the first slate of matches Tuesday after first round byes.
Blatchford Clyne, world No. 13, pulled off a dramatic five-game comeback against Holland’s Milou van der Heijden 10-12, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 11-6 in fifty-two minutes.
“That was tough, I feel relieved,” Blatchford Clyne said. “Milou played fantastically, she was cutting off any loose cross-courts that I hit and my rubbish length was definitely punished. Honestly I’m glad to have hustled through that. [In the final two games] I tried my best to play more simple squash–I love to make a meal out of things and go for fancy stuff when I shouldn’t, much to the dismay of everyone who supports me–so I doubled down and forced hit winners.”
Meanwhile on the neighboring court, Amanda Sobhy held off a difficult opponent in the form of Cornell Sivasangari Subramanium. The Malaysian started on the front foot taking the first game 11-9, but recovered to win the match in four games and forty-one minutes.
“I’m happy to have won,” Sobhy said. “I think it was a bit scrappy and she surprised me with how well she backed up her match from yesterday. I thought that maybe she’d come out a little slower out of the blocks, but actually I ended up starting slower. I think having isolated yesterday and not having played on this court until today, I’m happy to have won and come out using my B or C game. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be sharper. I think dropping the first game actually settled me more.”
Sobhy and Blatchford Clyne’s tenth career PSA match up will take place on the glass court Wednesday, August 18, at 12pm noon local time, 7am ET.
Sabrina Sobhy, world No. 21, entered the second round with an opportunistic match up against Belgium’s world No. 19 Tinne Gilis. The match came to an unfortunate and early end when the Belgian was forced to retire in the second game due to injury.
“It never feels good to see another player injured,” Sobhy said. “I hope she’s ok, you’d never wish an injury upon an opponent because we’ve all been through them and they are horrible no matter the severity. I hope she’s ok and has a speedy recovery.”
Sobhy will face New Zealand’s world No. 8 Joelle King for the third time on the PSA Tour in search of her first win Thursday, August 19, at 5pm local time 12pm noon ET.
For more tournament coverage visit allambritishopen.com.