Motor City Main Draw Complete

Marwan MCO

by James Hawkins

Egyptian Omar Abdel Meguid has been making quite a first impression at the fifteenth Motor City Open, presented by The Suburban Collection.

After his quick, thirty-minute victory in Round One of Qualifying Thursday night, Abdel Meguid downed England’s Chris Simpson, the top-ranked qualifier and World No. 25, in straight games Friday in the qualifying finals: 12-10, 11-2, 11-7. Abdel Meguid was one of four players that won spots in Saturday’s Main Draw. France’s Gregoire Marche, Egypt’s Marwan Elshorbagy, and veteran Olli Tuominen of Finland also advanced.

In a back-and-forth Game One, Abdel Meguid (World No. 30) had a game ball against at 9-10 but came back to take the next three points. Abdel Meguid closed out Game Two with a run of six straight points on an array of dazzling boasts and drop shots then sealed the match with another late flurry in Game Three.

The Egyptian’s size (6’2”, 207 pounds) and reach seemed to frustrate Simpson (5’9”, 156 pounds) as the taller player seemed able to reach anything and everything thrown at him.

“I’ve seen (Simpson) play a lot of times and he seems to struggle against someone who is bigger because he can’t see the ball properly and he’s a second late,” Abdel Meguid said.

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