Rachel Arnold (left) and Nour ElSherbini in action during their match yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: England’s Rachel Arnold yesterday sealed the biggest win of her career, overcoming eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini of Egypt, coming from a game down to book her spot in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Qatar Classic in Doha.
The Malaysian World No.26 lost the first game but fought back to win 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10 in a 43-minute battle at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex to set up a quarter-final meeting with England’s Jasmine Hutton who comfortably defeated seventh seed Georgina Kennedy in another upset in Doha.
“Pretty amazing, I think. I’ve never beaten a top 10 player, or maybe top 5, I think, so it’s pretty huge for me,” Rachel said after the win.
Rachel credited her belief and patience for the breakthrough win, explaining that she stuck to her game plan rather than rushing to finish points.
“I just had to stay consistent with my game plan and stick with it. Before I would have probably played more shots to the front and be impatient, but today I stayed patient and lifted it to the back first,” she said.
Her next opponent, Hutton, defeated her English compatriot Kennedy 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 in 33 minutes.
The 25-year-old felt she made the most of the conditions on court, particularly by exploiting Kennedy’s shorter length.
“I think it was more about taking advantage of the conditions today and I think I did that really well. I felt like her length was quite short, so I just wanted to take advantage of that as much as possible,” she said.
“Whether that was holding it and sending it long or putting in the straight short one, I was just trying to take advantage of the court today.”
Hutton also welcomed Arnold’s stunning win over ElSherbini, believing it reflects the growing strength of the women’s game.
“Like Rachel just winning today, there’s a lot of us knocking on that door and I think there’s a lot of us that on our day can beat a lot of the top 10 and vice versa, they can beat us quite comfortably,” she said.
“It’s very strong and I think the women’s game is in an incredible place at the minute. So it’s really promising and really motivating.”
Also yesterday, sixth seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir edged past Aifa Azman 11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, while second seed Amina Orfi prevailed in an all-Egyptian clash, brushing aside Nardine Garas 11-2, 14-12, 11-3 to advance.
On the men’s draw, World No.4 Karim Gawad advanced in convincing fashion, dispatching 21-year-old Frenchman Melvil Scianimanico 11-9, 11-8, 11-2 in 31 minutes.
Gawad will now face compatriot Youssef Soliman, who stopped sixth seed Mohamad Zakaria with a 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 win.
Second seed Paul Coll also advanced, beating Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 to set up a meeting with fifth seed Victor Crouin who earlier overcame Egypt’s Kareem El Torkey 11-8, 11-3, 10-12, 11-5.
