Number three?  
I lost in the second round, first tournament of the year to Azlan. I didn't play bad at all, I played well, was hitting the ball sweet and didn't do anything wrong, just Azlan out-played me. It was a big wake up call for me because I thought I was ready and at the top of my game. You can't take your foot off the gas, the player's are always improving; so I got to keep on improving my own game and changing little things to try and stay on top. There was nothing negative from that match because I didn't tank it, I did everything I could to win but Azlan was too good. I thought I did enough hard training during the off season and was feeling quite confident and ready to win the tournament.  I learnt a lot of good things out it that paid off at the end of the year. 
 
What has clicked in the past 2 years? 
Well, many things, the most important was my squash diet so to speak. I've found the right balance of squash, gym, physical and mental fitness. They have all come together in right combination for me personally and how I play. Also from all the matches over the years has given me a lot of match fitness and most importantly the mental strength that comes from experience.
 
A big turning point for me was in March when I won the Tournament of Champions.  I started to think about the numbers and not the game.  I was going on court telling myself "I don't won't to lose", rather than going out there wanting to win. By the Saudi final I knew it was now or never, I already had a few loses coming into the event and I knew how to deal with it, the cobwebs were gone and I just went for it, like I used to play but with all the experience behind me. 
 
From what I've heard, Karim Darwish seems to beat you quite comfortably down at the practice courts, more than Ramy or anybody else? 
Karim is the best practice player in the world without a doubt; if we play a hundred times I would win two of them. There's just something about the match feeling that gives me the edge when we play a PSA event. 
 
Sort of like Joe Kneipp; I've seen Jon Power go crazy during and after losing a few practice matches. They were great matches and the tension was hilarious.  
Man, I've seen Power break his racket during a solo session!! 
 
Why when you speak Arabic on court people who understand you seem to laugh? 
Maybe it's the way I say certain things in Egyptian that make people laugh. Always as a junior I spoke in Arabic on court, asking the ref "what the hell he was doing", or other funny comments they couldn't understand. Now with the three Referee system I can hardly say anything at all. So If you want to understand me learn Arabic cause the ref's are making it more difficult. 

The spicy part! What has been the backlash from your comments over disappointment with the Olympic struggle, to prize money and the overall organization of the PSA and WSF?  
Actually, nothing really. I've had a few people from the PSA board tell me that it's not the right decision for player's to speak out like that because it damages the image of the game. I see it a little differently; I've been a PSA member for fifteen years and the same problems are still there. 

I don't see my comments as damaging to any particular person or the game. If I offend some people with my honesty then that's their problem, I got my job to do and they have theirs. If I think they are doing a bad job then I'll say it. If I'm affecting something then it would be me and the entire player's on tour, who are and have for so long been paying the price. I'm just sick of hearing their plans and seeing no results from the PSA or WSF.
   
I feel we should forget about getting into the Olympics and start looking at our game in a different way.  Squash hasn't got into the Olympics for a lot of reasons and the demands from the Olympic committee for acceptance is what we all in Squash want; better quality and more TV. coverage, bigger   events, spreading out the big events so it's easier to travel, perform, recover, play smaller events or leagues in-between, less discussions, better refereeing and for each organization to work together.
 
Once these measures are reached then I feel the Olympics would come to us and not the other way around. We don't need the Olympics, forget the Olympics, we've survived without, our tour seems to grow but in honesty it's always been a sustainable business, I haven't seen any real difference from when I started playing PSA. We must look how to market our game, which is exactly what the I.O.C has mentioned time and time again. Some think if we get into the Olympics, squash would have a better future which I disagree with. Let's focus on building the game properly before blaming the I.O.C for Squash's struggle and look within our own organizations.
 
One of the factors I would change is getting the big promoter's around the world in squash to work together. Some events have money but don't grow and some are run poorly because no one from the PSA is there throughout the event, including promotional advice, setting up the court, looking after the player's and whatever else needs to be done to make the event run smoothly. Ross Triffit did an amazing job at this years World Open, the court and the surroundings were the best I've ever seen at a tournament. We need guys like that employed by the PSA to help at every event, just to help and work alongside the promoter.
 
Also the camera angles are mostly too far away, it's very difficult to see the ball and how fast the game is. There should be a lot of close-ups, improve interactive methods to make the game more exciting.