Throwback Thursday: Story of the 2016 Women’s NetSuite Open

The PSA World Tour heads to San Francisco next week for the Oracle NetSuite Open, taking place between September 26-30.

Join us as we take a look back at the story of last year’s women’s NetSuite Open when England’s Laura Massaro was crowned champion.

Round one – results
[4] Joelle King (NZL) bt Line Hansen (DEN) 3-0: 13-11, 11-9, 11-8
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Olivia Blatchford (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (31m)
[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [Q] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 3-1: 11-3, 9-11, 11-4, 11-1 (39m)
[5] Victoria Lust (ENG) bt [Q] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) 3-0: 11-8, 13-11, 13-11 (39m)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt [WC] Reyna Pacheco (USA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 (18m)
[8] Heba El Torky (EGY) bt [Q] Samantha Teran (MEX) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 (42m)
[7] Joey Chan (HKG) bt Coline Aumard (FRA) 3-2: 8-11, 11-0, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9 (59m)
[3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [Q] Fiona Moverley (ENG) 3-1: 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 11-4 (31m)

Defending champion and United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy booked her place in the last eight with an 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 11-4 win over qualifier England’s Fiona Moverley.

The match featured a series of quickfire rallies as both players took a game apiece, before Sobhy moved on to wrap up the win in four and set up a quarter-final meeting with Hong Kong’s Joey Chan, who overcame France’s Coline Aumard.

England’s Massaro also made her way through to the quarter-finals as she beat Sobhy’s compatriot Olivia Blatchford in straight games. Whilst Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David and fourth seed Joelle King also came through the first day of the main draw.

Quarter-finals – results
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [5] Victoria Lust (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (32m)
[4] Joelle King (NZL) bt [8] Heba El Torky (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (31m)
[3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [7] Joey Chan (HKG) 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 (24m)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt [6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 7-0 retired (24m)

The top four tournament seeds all made it through to the semi-finals in straight game wins with defending champion Sobhy overcoming Hong Kong’s Chan by an 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 scoreline.

England’s Massaro was also in impressive form as she dispatched compatriot Victoria Lust in just 32 minutes.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Joelle King saw off Egypt’s Heba El Torky before Malaysia’s David booked her place in the semi-finals with her opponent, Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb forced to retire in the third game.

Semi-finals – results
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [4] Joelle King (NZL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (33m)
[3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [2] Nicol David (MAS) 3-1: 10-12, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (41m)

Sobhy secured a final berth at the NetSuite open for the second successive year as she overcame Malaysia’s David over four games in the semi-final.

The defending champion went a game down early on after a fast start from David but soon Sobhy began to dominate and took the next three games to earn her first ever win over the eight-time World Champion.

Meanwhile, England’s Massaro continued her strong run of form as she secured another straight games win, this time over New Zealand’s King.

The World No.4 overcame a strong start from King – who built up two game balls in the opener – to record a 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 win.

Final – results
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (47m)

Massaro and Sobhy locked horns in the women’s NetSuite Open final with the woman from England prevailing in four games.

It was Massaro who found her length the fastest, taking the ball early to build up a strong rhythm of hitting and she triumphed in a comfortable opening game for the loss of four points before Sobhy came back to level the scores in the second.

The Englishwoman got herself back in front in the third to restore her one-game cushion. The United States No.1 put up a real fight in the early stages of the fourth game, but an in-form Massaro was just too strong and feathered in a forehand volley drop on her first match ball to triumph 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.

“I’m really happy to get my hands on the title,” said Massaro after the final.

“I don’t know how many more years I’ll be playing for it and Amanda is such a good talent coming up, so I’m glad that I managed to get one more win.

“I absolutely love playing in front of the crowd in iconic settings just like this. It’s an absolute privilege to play on this court and finally get my hands on another title.”