Yesterday's exertions resulted in a cancelled trip to the cinema for Scotland's top singles player but Kirsty Gilmour's main objective had been to ensure that she would never have to watch what she considers a real video nasty.
A quarter-final at the Scottish Open Grand Prix last night had pitted her against Linda Zetchiri, the Bulgarian who had knocked Gilmour out of the Bitburger Open in straight sets earlier this month, and the 20-year-old from Bothwell admitted she had been so horrified by her own performance back then that she could not bring herself to watch the re-run.
"There would be no point in watching that video because I wouldn't have learned anything," said Gilmour. "We just went over the notes of where I went wrong that time, which was keeping the shuttle in the park."
Last night it was a very different tale as she rattled through their encounter in less than half an hour, the 21-10, 21-9 scoreline reflecting her complete dominance. It was a result which means that she is now just one match away from reaching tomorrow's final. "I don't want to blame the environment at Bitburger but the shuttles weren't great and I just couldn't get a grip of the hall, so I'm very happy with that," she said afterwards.
"I just wanted to play at my pace which is faster than most people's. I don't think Linda played her best but I'm really pleased with that."
From a singles perspective it could hardly have been a better day for Gilmour since she had come through a tricky second round tie earlier in the day against Beiwen Zhang of the United States, 22-20 12-21 22-20. It had looked like that match was running away from her, though, when she conceded 13 successive points to lose the second set. "I just lost the drift so I kept hitting it marginally long," she acknowledged.
Winning the first point of the final game seemed important in getting her back on track and, while there were a few hairy moments thereafter, the Scot held her nerve impressively when it mattered.
"It gives you quite a bit of confidence that you know, if it goes even tighter in a later game, that you've already done it and already come through it," said Gilmour. "It's quite reinforcing. It might make you a bit more tired, but I think it's a good thing.
"I'm seeded two and I'm feeling good about that. There's not going to be any easy games here."
The scheduling also represented something of a challenge since she had begun the day facing the prospect of having to play four matches, but that was reduced when her last doubles appearance for the time being - alongside Jillie Cooper - ended with the disappointment of a second round exit.
The pair had been seeded to reach the doubles final as well, but they were well beaten by Indonesian duo Keshya Nurvita Hanadia and Devi Tika Permatasari, whom Gilmour now sees as serious title contenders. Even without that match it had been a tough day and enough to bring about a change of plans last night. "I was maybe going to go to the cinema but I think that's off the cards. We'll maybe do that tomorrow," she said.
Imogen Bankier and Robert Blair also had their schedules reduced, but in their case that was down to being given a second round walkover when Australian pair Robin Middleton and He Tian Tang withdrew.
The fifth seeds subsequently defeated Poles Robert Mateusiak and Agnieszka Wojtowska to reach today's semi-final. Both will contest two semi-finals since Bankier and Bulgarian partner Petya Nedelcheva are through to the last four in the women's doubles, as are Blair and his Malaysian partner Bin Shen Tan.
Scotland's last interest in the men's singles ended, however, when Kieran Merrilees was beaten in straight sets by Malaysia's Kwong Beng Chan in their third round match.
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