Serme Soars Into Home Soil Final In Nantes

A convincing straight-game victory over Egypt's Hania El Hammamy sent local star Camille Serme into the women's final of the Open de France - Nantes 2019 presented by Tailor Capital at the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, France.

The pair were meeting for the fourth time on the PSA World Tour, with Serme bidding to maintain her 100% record over the Egyptian since 2016. The top seed started off with that mindset, restricting the 19-year-old to just four points in the first game.

Serme continued that form into the early part of the second, taking an 8-2 lead. However, the Egyptian looked to fight back, reeling off four straight points. The world No.3 managed to compose herself though, and was able to double her lead in the match with an eventual 11-7 victory in the second game. A similar pattern happened in the third, with Serme going on to take a big lead.

This time, though, El Hammamy managed to come back from 6-1 to level the game at 7-7. However, a couple of strong shots from the Frenchwoman moved her back in front, allowing to comfortably take the victory in 35 minutes, to the rapturous applause of the partisan crowd.

"Obviously, I am very happy to win in three. When it was 2/0, I was actually thinking how nice it would have been to be over. Obviously, I was ready from the start. Even if it was best-of-three, I wanted to keep the momentum going with a really good start and I think I showed that in the first game," Serme said.

"The third game, I was feeling really hot on court. It is warmer today on court and I think I felt a little bit of fatigue and she came back to 7-7. Luckily, I managed to play two good shots at the right time so I am really happy.

"It is amazing. Every time I think of it, or I hear them [the crowd], I get goosebumps. It is like in the third game, I used the extra push. From the very first match, it was like this and I thought to myself that I wanted to play as much as I could on that court. I just want to finish on a win tonight.

"I think I will be watching [Sobhy v Perry], maybe while I am having dinner to make sure I recover properly. I have been to a couple of finals, but it has been a while since I won a tournament. No pressure on myself but I would really love to win this one!"

In their first clash on French soil for seven years, Serme will play Amanda Sobhy in the final after the US No.1 upset Sarah-Jane Perry, the No.2 seed from England No.1, in four games.

In the men's draw, Welshman Joel Makin made it through to the final after beating home favourite Gregoire Marche in front of the partisan crowd.

Third seed Makin was forced to fight back from two games down. Marche, the No.6 seed who ousted the top seed earlier in the week, got into an early rhythm - taking the first game 11-8, then the second 11-6 to double his lead.

However, the 'Golden Tiger' came roaring back into life, and was able to get in front of Marche in the third and put pressure on the Frenchman. As the match time ticked over the hour mark, Makin took the game to reduce the deficit.

The Welshman then dominated the fourth game to send the match into a decider. In the end, Makin had too much for the home favourite, winning the fifth 11-7 to seal victory after 95 minutes of brutal squash on the glass court.

"I am relieved to get through that one to be honest. I was passive and I got it wrong early on. I sat back too much, even though I knew what I wanted to do. I didn't quite get it right and credit to him, he was moving unbelievably well," Makin admitted.

"He was taking the ball in and taking his chances. Once it got to 2/0, I knew I needed to take him in and just work him. I had to try and stretch him out and he started to slow down. It was tough after that and it worked in the end.

"The atmosphere has been brilliant all week so I have enjoyed coming down and watching. Seeing your opponent for the next stage gives you a bit of a feel of how they are playing. We have all seen each other loads before but you get a feel for what they are doing this week."

Makin will play New Zealand's Paul Coll in the final after the world No.6 got the better of Egypt's Zahed Salem in the last match of the night. The Kiwi rounded off the semi-finals action with a convincing victory over the Egyptian.