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afp
Dubai
World champion Gregory Gaultier sent a message to world number one Mohamed Elshorbagy with words and deeds at the PSA World Series finals on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Frenchman brilliantly overcame Cameron Pilley, the in-form Australian, by 11-1, 11-3 to ensure he became the first man to qualify for Friday's knockout semi-final stage.
"I am going to try everything I can, because winning something like this can be one of the highlights of my career," said the player who six months ago made history by becoming the oldest man to win the world title for the first time.
"I am playing with no pressure," Gaultier continued."I have reached what I wanted in my career (the world title) and everything now is a bonus. I just enjoy being on court."
The unlucky Pilley did not do much wrong, but in truth there was little that could be done against a great player in such a relaxed mood and inspired form.
Gaultier was supremely accurate down the backhand wall, played at a high pace, and injected lethal drop shots with few signs of when they were going to come.
Pilley could still be the first Australian in ten years to qualify for the later stages if he overcomes Simon Rosner of Germany on Thursday, and manages to forget a hustling 24-minute defeat which ended with a penalty point conceded under pressure by a mistimed backhand drive.
For Gaultier, getting to this happy state has been a lot harder than expected, for it has taken many months fully to recover from a serous ankle injury sustained at the Tournament of Champions in New York in January.
"Yes it's true, I am back to almost my peak, maybe my peak," he said."I am really pumped up. For three months I was struggling, but now I am coming back stronger. I can move without pain and I feel really delighted."
On Thursday he will play Omar Mosaad, the tall Egyptian whom he beat in the world final in Seattle, a memory that could help him to an unbeaten group record and a potentially more favourable semi-final on Friday.
Earlier, former world number one Raneem El Welily, keen to regain the status of the world's best player, became the first woman to be sure of a place in the semi-finals when she succeeded in a cliff-hanging finish for the second day in a row.
On Tuesday she beat world champion Nour El Sherbini after saving four game points in the second game, and this time she came from 6-9 down in the final game to win 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 against Camille Serme, the former British Open champion from France.
"I was behind 80 percent of the time in every game. I don't know how I won that," Welily admitted."I don't think I was energised enough like I was yesterday. I was too laid back."
Serme can still qualify but will have to beat El Sherbini, who still needs another victory after keeping her semi-final hopes alive with an 11-4, 11-8 win over Omneya Abdel Kawy, her compatriot, friend, and regular sparring partner.
