Doha, Qatar: Egypt’s Ali Farag yesterday justified his ‘favourite’ tag at the QTerminals Qatar Classic when he clinched his third title in Doha by beating Diego Elias 3-1 in a mouth-watering final.
In a blockbuster showdown between the World No.1 and World No.2, top seed Farag’s dominance was put to the test by the former champion Elias before the Peruvian was beaten 15-13, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9.
“I had to put in a world class performance to be able to compete with Diego. He’s such a champion, the way he’s been playing these last couple of years,” Farag, who had won the Qatar Classic in 2018 and 2020, said after yesterday’s final at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Farag had previously held a formidable 19-3 head-to-head record over Elias,
Despite Farag’s impressive record, it was Elias who grabbed an early lead in the opening game, taking the first five points. However, Farag showed his prowess by turning the game in his favour by claiming 10 of the next 12 points to make it 10-7.
Elias refused to give up and fought back to level at 10-10 before Farag took the 1-0 lead with a score of 15-13.
Elias struggled in front of Farag’s aggression in the following game as the 31-year-old doubled his lead with a commanding 11-5 win.
But that’s when Elias staged a brilliant comeback to reduce Farag’s lead.
The third game provided a more evenly matched contest. Farag, who appeared to be heading towards his third game win with an early 8-5 lead, made a series of errors as a resurgent Elias came back to clinch the third game with a score of 11-8.
Early in the fourth game, Farag was trailing 0-3, but used his exceptional skills and experience to regain momentum and secure the game 11-9 to emerge victorious in Doha once again.
“This week he’s been phenomenal, and I don’t need to talk about his squash because it speaks volumes about itself,” Farag commended his opponent’s efforts after the title showdown which lasted one hour and nine minutes.
“He’s a true champion. To call a tin against himself at 12-12 when we’re going for the No.1 spot and the referee hadn’t called it speaks volumes about the character he is and I really appreciate sharing a court with him and I look forward to many more [finals] together in the future,” Farag said after winning his latest Platinum level title.
Farag also credited the enthusiastic crowd at the Arena.
“The crowd lifted me up all week.
“It doesn’t get any better than this. I had a lot of the people I care for and who care about me in my corner.”
Elias wasn’t happy about his performance yesterday, but vowed to comeback stronger and win the title next time.
“I’m not very happy with the result, but I’m actually very happy with the way I ended up fighting at the end of the match.
“I’m just happy I’m getting closer and hopefully next time I get the title.
“I’ve been improving match by match, tournament by tournament and I didn’t finish too badly. I’m just excited for the next one and hopefully I can fight for another title soon.”
Both Elias and Farag are now setting their sights on the upcoming Platinum-level US Open in Philadelphia next month.
