King stuns world No 2
Kiwi Joelle King has continued her strong run of form after stunning world 2 Camille Serme in the second round of the US Squash Open.
Serme was the defending champion in Philadelphia but that mattered little to King, who fought back from 2-1 down to win 11-5 4-11 6-11 11-9 13-11 and book her place in the quarterfinals.
The result came after the 29-year-old from Cambridge easily accounted for Milou van der Heijden in the first round, while she entered the tournament on the back of a string of impressive displays that saw her reach the semis at the China Open and the final in Macau.
There was no such luck for fellow Kiwi Paul Coll, who lost 10-12, 8-11, 8-11 to Egyptian Omar Mosaad in his second round match, and was unable to follow up his own impressive opening result - a win over world No 2 Karem Abdel Gawad, another Egyptian.
King, ranked 10th in the world, said victory over the Frenchwoman was another sign that she was nearing her best.
‘‘Camille is a classy player and she has won some of the biggest tournaments and she’s defending champion here,’’ said King.
‘‘The main thing for me is that I’m trying to play at that level again so to come away with a win against her is huge for me so hopefully I can continue the form that I have started with this season and see where it takes me.’’
‘‘It’s one of those matches that could go either way and it’s just a case of whichever player doesn’t make those mistakes and doesn’t get rattled by what the score is, is the person who comes out on top in those ones and today that was me.’’
King had been ranked as high as fourth in the world before rupturing an Achilles tendon three years ago.
But having shaken the selfdoubt that comes with such a serious injury, she is determined to maintain the momentum.
‘‘I guess a few people didn’t think I would be able to get back to that standard after such a major injury and I guess for a period there I didn’t think I was going to get back,’’ she said.
‘‘I sort of got to a level and then I stagnated a little bit and you’re never sure after a major injury like that how it’s going to go.’’