Dec 7, 2025
Kenilworth Tennis, Squash and Croquet Club's new coach, Jenny McKenna, promotes squash as a lifelong sport
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Kenilworth Tennis, Squash and Croquet Club's new coach, Jenny McKenna, promotes squash as a lifelong sport
Georgina Kennedy beats Tinne Gilis to join Sarah-Jane Perry in the British Open quarter-finals
Sarah-Jane Perry won silver at Gold Coast in 2018 and is hoping to go one better at her home Games this summer.
Coping with containment : SJ Perry
SJ searching for second title
British no.1 Sarah-Jane Perry is relishing the opportunity to get back out on court at the AJ Bell British National Championships in Nottingham from 13-16 February.
The 29-year-old won her maiden National crown in 2015 and reached the final in 2017, but was forced to watch from the stands last year after failing to recover from injury.
This time round, she is determined to put that disappointment behind her and compete for her second title at a tournament she describes as one of the highlights of her season.
“When I won the title in 2015 it was one of the defining moments of my career so far. It’s an event I look forward to on the calendar every year and you want to make sure that you’re playing well.
“It’s been a while since my last Nationals. I missed last year because I wasn’t quite back from my elbow surgery. I went down to watch the final and although it was good to see, it was gutting not to be playing.”
Unlike in previous years, the World No.7 enters the tournament as top seed and favourite to lift the trophy a second time. The Warwickshire native, however, is unfazed by the extra expectation and hopes her travelling fans can inspire her to victory.
“When I won in 2015, I beat two players seeded ahead of me [Laura Massaro and Alison Waters] so it was a bit of an upset. It’s a different challenge as top seed but one I’m looking forward to.
“Of course, there’s added pressure as top seed, but I don’t put too much pressure on myself. I just want to get the best level of squash out that I can and hopefully that will be enough to win. If it’s not, then I want to make it so that if someone does beat me they have to put in a really good performance.
“It’s a bit closer to home this time being in Nottingham rather than Manchester, so hopefully I’ll have a lot of home support!”
Following Laura Massaro’s retirement last season and back-to-back champion Tesni Evans’ withdrawal from the tournament through injury, Perry could be forgiven for thinking she has one hand on the trophy. However, with four of the world’s top 30 competing in Nottingham and a host of emerging talent, Perry knows the competition will be fierce.
“There are some really strong players in the draw. There’s the experience of Alison Waters who’s won it a few times before, but also the young players who’ll be trying to upset the rankings.
“I’m just going to try and play the best squash I can and hopefully that will be enough. It’s always a battle and if I can win, it will be a big achievement.”
As she prepares to fight for victory, Perry is taking inspiration from an unlikely source, her beloved Liverpool F.C.
“If you look at some of their recent performances, they haven’t played the best football but they’ve found a way to win. This is something that’s really underestimated.
“Sometimes your best results come when you didn’t play so well and still managed to find a way to win. Just keeping the belief that you can win. That’s what I’m taking from Liverpool.”
El Gouna : Sarah-Jane Perry
Breakfast with Fram : Sarah-Jane Perry
SJ wins the ‘David & Goliath’ encounter..
[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1 Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 8-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 (59m)
A contributed injury in the last game didn’t prevent SJ from taking the victory..
SJ
Eventually, I was just pleased to win but I wasn’t particularly happy with my performances for most of the match. There were patches where I was playing quite well and quite controlled, but I think I just lost my concentration a bit more than I would have liked to.
She is a very dangerous player, and because we have not played before, I think she just caught me out a bit in the first game. She was firing a few different shots in. I have seen her play before, but not loads so she just caught me out with a few little boasts and things. She is a quality player, but I am just trying to keep upping my level to get back to where I was. I am getting there and I am looking forward to playing Annie in the next round. We have had some good matches in the past and hopefully, my ankle will be fine, so fingers crossed. I think Rowan might have stood on my foot as I went to change direction but it was one of those that just happened to quickly and then there was a big shock of pain. One of those unlucky ones, but I just managed to strap it up and I think it was alright for the rest of the match, so fingers crossed a bit of ice and some painkillers and I should be good to go on Monday.