Squash Player of the month article

LAURA MASSARO ranked the 2015/16 season as “definitely one of the best, if not the best” of her glittering career after rounding it off in sensational style with victory in the PSA World Series Finals in Dubai.

Not only did the 32-year-old English star win the Finals for the first time last season, she also claimed the U.S. Open and Qatar Classic titles.

She told squash player: “I thought the 2013/14 season would be my best ever with British Open and World Championship wins, but 2015/16 is equally up there. Achieving world no.1 and three big titles was huge for me.

“Dubai was up there as one of my best wins for a couple of reasons: 1. Because I have never won it before and winning titles I haven’t won before is important to me at this stage of my career; 2. The calibre of players at that event makes it a very satisfying win. Having only the top eight in the world there and every round being against one of them makes winning that event even more difficult.”

Massaro’s WSF success was even more laudable considering it came only a month after her dramatic 3/2 loss to Nour El Sherbini in the World Championship final.

“Definitely having to go to the European Teams helped,” she said. “I had to step up and be part of the team. No one wants a miserable team-mate, so I tried to immerse myself in that event and that helped me move on.”

Now it is time for her to take a well-deserved break from squash. “Yes, holiday time,” she said. “Rackets away, mentally switch off and then come back rejuvenated for the summer block.”