Tesni Takes Out Perry To Capture Monte Carlo Classic Crown

Tesni Murphy of Wales claimed her second and biggest career title on the PSA Squash Tour, beating No.1 seed Sarah-Jane Perry in straight games in the Monte Carlo Classic final.

The two players are good friends off the court and had been sharing a room together in Monaco this week, but had to put their friendship to one side as they went head-to-head with the trophy on the line.

Both players are former runners-up here - Perry in 2015 and Murphy in 2020 - with both hoping to go one better this time around and get their hands on the silverware.

England's Perry had beaten Murphy in the pair's most recent encounter, coming at last season's British Open, but it was the Welsh No.1 who came out on top of a hard-fought opening game here at the Stade Louis II, taking it 11-9 after just over 10 minutes.

The margins remained extremely tight deep into the second game, with Perry finding the tin at a few crucial moments as Murphy moved two games up, winning game two by the same 11-9 scoreline as the first.

Only once in the first two games had there been more than two points between the two players - at 8-5 in the second - but Murphy took control of game three early, racing out to a 6-2 lead to move within touching distance of glory.

6-2 soon became 8-4 but Perry was not about to throw in the towel, battling hard to close the gap back to 10-8, before saving two match balls.

The first came on a crunching volley drive down the line, while the second resulted from Murphy finding the tin on a forehand kill, but saving a third match ball would prove to be one step too far for Perry, as she tinned a backhand drop at 11-10 down.

Murphy turned to the crowd and lifted her arms aloft in celebration, and speaking after collecting her trophy, she revealed how much it meant to end the week with glory.

"It means a lot," said the Cardiff-born 32-year-old. "I think it's pretty well-known that I've only won one title in my career, so I think this week I was really looking for a title. It's never been the most important thing to win loads of titles for me, but at the same time it feels very special.

"Big smile on my face, I've really enjoyed this week. I'm just trying to enjoy my squash again. It makes me play better so I was pretty happy with how it went.

"SJ is obviously a great player, we've had some insane battles over the years so I was expecting a big one today and that's what it was, so yeah, really happy."