Day ONE at the 2021 CW Classic

“I was excited and nervous about getting onto this court,” said Soliman afterwards.

“I played Borja in Chicago and he gave me a lesson. I managed to sneak the win, I was nervous coming onto this court, I was hoping to play better, it was a bit tight.

“He has the passion, you can see how he is firing himself up and doesn’t give up. He uses all of his experience. James [Willstrop], Daryl [Selby] and him, you feel like ‘wow’ about playing on the same court with them.

“I was edgy but sometimes it’s just about finding a way through the matches. I’m playing maybe the most consistent player right now in the next round in Paul [Coll]. He wants to get closer to the World No.1 but I won’t make it easy for him, I want to prove to myself that I can beat these top guys.”

“I’m happy to be back in England, this is my first trip – I couldn’t play the British Open and Manchester because of the restrictions and quarantine, I’m just glad that I’m here,” said Ghosal.

“It was difficult to stay fit during lockdown because you never knew when the tournaments were going to come back. I’m glad that we’ve gotten through it a little bit, a lot of people all over the world have suffered and it’s something that is very sad and words aren’t going to do much for them but hopefully they can find the strength and as a human race we can learn something from this.

“The quality that James is producing is unreal. His racket skill, even when he’s 80, will be up there with the very best and by the looks of it he is still moving more than alright. He’s a playing legend right now, he’s the last of that generation. The quality that they have produced and taken this game to is unbelievable and everyone is lucky to watch someone of James’ quality still producing.

“It’s been a bit of a hard run over the last few months, I’ve had a few rough draws and I got sick in America. It’s been hard both physically and mentally, but it’s good to be back in London and England. It’s a brilliant tournament and I’m happy to play here and hopefully produce some quality squash. Greg is a top player and hard to break down and I’m glad I could win 2-0 and put together some good points during that match.”

“I thought I played ok, bit of a slow start to get used to the lights and stuff,” said Parker.

“Daryl is such a tricky player, every shot is slightly different so I was really struggling with my short game. I managed to get stuck in a bit when it got tough and got away with it.

“Every time I left it a bit short, it was so awkward, it just felt slow but it’s his quality. It was really slow getting back to fitness and I struggled during lockdown. Not having a thing to train for, I really struggled with and as soon as I found out we had a date for a tournament, that gave me a kick. Hopefully in the next year I’ll be pushing on in the rankings.

“I grew up watching Daryl, Nick [Matthew] and Jimbo [Willstrop] – they inspired me to start playing so to be able to compete with these guys like I have is a great experience. Daryl is such a humble and nice guy and I wish him the best after squash.”

Selby said:

“It was one of those annoying matches to be honest because I always felt like I was in there. I knew George would be a little bit edgy and I was trying to use my experience to switch it up and make him feel uncomfortable. I left too many balls in the middle and it wasn’t the best quality match that we have played, I was probably a bit edgy knowing it was my last Canary Wharf opportunity. I was desperate to win to try and play one more match. Fair play to George and hopefully he can kick on from here.”

“It was so dead on there, Raphi is such a talented player with great hands,” said James afterwards.

“He just completely caught me dead at the start of the match. It took me longer than it should have to get used to how dead it was and towards the end of the first game I just told myself to get further up the court and start volleying, you’ve not come here to go out like that in front of this amazing crowd. I dug deep and that’s what I’m most proud about.

“I’ve just been desperate to play matches. I feel like in the last two years I’ve had like 10-15 matches and these guys that are in the top 10 and 15 have been playing a lot more than me because I haven’t been winning, it’s not been good enough. Coming here this week, I’ve been training hard, it’s not good enough to just come up and win a first or second round, I need to be pushing to the next level.

“I prefer the best of five because there’s more physicality and I can work things out. Get some work into my opponents, if I’m going to go further than I have to come out of the blocks sharper. I’ve been working with Nick [Matthew] for two years now and he’s shown a lot of belief in me and it’s time to start repaying that.”

“I’m over the moon with this victory,” said Pajares afterwards.

“Mathieu used to be one of my favourite players and when he won the tournament here, he won that final without making any mistakes. I learned a lot from this match and it feels amazing to finally beat him.

“I’ve been a bit unlucky with the draws and I’ve been meeting all the top players in early rounds. Tomorrow I’m playing Ali Farag, but it’s best-of-three and I take a lot of confidence from today.

“I don’t know what they do in Egypt – they are so good and so strong, to learn from them and the small details of why they are better. Tomorrow, best-of-three, I feel very ready and I’ve been working hard, so who knows.”

“Charlie is one of the nicest guys on Tour, he always has a smile on his face and is always fair,” said Masotti following his win.

“His family are doing so many things for squash and it was a pleasure to play him, even if I didn’t know what to expect. At the start my arm wasn’t moving well.

“One of my best friends, Mathieu Castagnet, won it here and he always tells me good stories about playing here and the atmosphere. In my head it was a goal to play here and I really enjoyed my match and I want to win as many matches as I can this week.

“I lost 3-2 with Asal at the U.S. Open, I was 2-1 up and I lost, even if I was playing well. It’s a bad performance if I lose and I hope to play my best performances here this week.

“Tarek is one of the best in the world. I’ve played him a few times in training, but I won’t reveal my strategy. I will do my best tomorrow and try to give everyone a good one.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to see that I started well,” said Waller afterwards.

“I imposed my game quite early in the match, but credit to him, he’s not going to lay down and he came back with a brilliant game plan and got back in front, took the ball to the front with some confidence, which is hard to do in best-of-three because you’ve always got that thing in the back of your mind that if one or two go down then that’s it for the game, whereas best-of-five you might allow yourself if you’re ahead on the scoreboard. In the beginning of the third, I started a lot better and I managed again to push forward and find a few more shots short.

“I just needed to move play along a bit, it was quite passive. In a best-of-three you have less margin for error. It’s a lot shorter and I think mentally it’s different, you will see everyone approach it more cautiously. As soon as you feel comfortable then you have to go through the gears because that first game is important and allows you to free up. You will see a lot of tight first games but after that it should kick off.

“All I can put across is my best squash. Mostafa has had a great year, winning the U.S. Open – which is a huge first title – he’s playing really well but as long as I bring my best squash onto court then that’s the best I can do.”