U.S. Open: Story Of 2022

With the 2023 U.S. Open just around the corner, we’re taking a look back at the 2022 Platinum-level event, which saw Diego Elias and Nouran Gohar capture the titles in Philadelphia.

The 2023 U.S. Open will take place between October 7 – October 14, with the event broadcast live on SQUASHTV.

You can also keep up to date with all the action by visiting the PSA World Tour website or following the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

In the build-up to the tournament in Philadelphia, we’re reflecting on the main talking points from last year’s event.

Round One

Spain’s World No.26 Iker Pajares Bernabeu came back from two match balls down to avoid an upset against wildcard Timothy Brownell, winning the deciding fifth game 13-11 to take the clash in 93 minutes.

Elsewhere, USA duo Sabrina Sobhy and Olivia Clyne booked their spots in the last 32 following respective wins over Haley Mendez and Ka Yi Lee.

Egypt’s Nadine Shahin played her part in another action-packed opening round match, completing a huge comeback against 18-year-old wildcard Lucie Stefanoni. Shahin was caught off guard at the beginning of the match to fall two games down, but finally turned the match on its head, progressing to the third round to face Tesni Evans.

Round Two

Defending U.S. Open champion Mostafa Asal’s title defence came crashing down in round two after an opponent-inflicted injury sustained by Lucas Serme resulted in the Frenchman being awarded the match.

Asal, who was the youngest-ever winner in the history of the event in 2021, was cruising at two games up when he turned a loose ball at the back of the court and hit a ducking Serme in the head with the ball.

The match referee deemed it to be an opponent-inflicted injury which was caused accidentally by Asal, with Lucas subsequently permitted 15 minutes to recover. The physio then deemed Serme to be unable to continue, with the World No.43 requiring further medical examination, resulting in the match being awarded to Serme.

Elsewhere, two-time champion Ali Farag got his title challenge off to a winning start with a straight-game victory over Malaysia’s Main Yow Ng, while No.4 seed Elias and No.2 seed Paul Coll also eased into the third round.

In the women’s side of the draw, history was made when three American women progressed to the third round for the first time, following wins for Olivia Clyne and the Sobhy sisters, Amanda and Sabrina.

Egyptian trio Gohar, Nour El Sherbini and Hania El Hammamy also moved into the next stage of the event without fail.

Round Three

World No.20 Sabrina Sobhy reached her first PSA World Tour Platinum quarter-finals after stunning World No.2 El Hammamy in four games. Sobhy joined her sister Amanda in the last eight after the American cruised past Alexandra Fuller in just 26 minutes, winning 11-5, 11-7, 11-8.

Elsewhere, El Sherbini delivered a performance that befitted her ‘Warrior Princess’ nickname as she recovered from a nasty injury to reach the quarter-finals at the expense of Wales No.1 Evans.

In the men’s draw, world No.12 Youssef Soliman produced a sublime performance to beat Egyptian compatriot Mazen Hesham in straight games and set up a quarter-final against Marwan ElShorbagy.

Meanwhile, No.1 seed Farag and No.6 seed Tarek Momen set up an all-Egyptian quarter-final after they defeated Miguel Rodriguez and Saurav Ghosal, respectively.

Quarter-Finals

No.5 seed Mohamed ElShorbagy moved into his seventh U.S. Open semi-final after overcoming World No.1 Coll in an epic 90-minute thriller.

The Englishman fought back after losing the first game to take the second and third 11-7, 11-8 before the New Zealander forced a decider by taking the fourth 11-3. ElShorbagy edged the fifth game 11-7 to set up a semi-final against Elias after the ‘Peruvian Puma’ defeated Joel Makin in straight games.

In the bottom half of the men’s draw Farag and Marwan ElShorbagy also progressed to the last four.

In the women’s event, unseeded Nour El Tayeb produced a sublime performance to beat home favourite Amanda Sobhy and progress to her fourth U.S. Open semi-final. The Egyptian roared out of the blocks to take the opener 11-5 before continuing to dominate proceedings by claiming the next two games 11-7, 11-8.

Elsewhere, Joelle King silenced the home crowd to defeat fellow American Sabrina Sobhy, while El Sherbini stormed into the last four with a dominant display against fellow Egyptian Salma Hany.

Gohar was the final player to book her spot in the semi-finals after beating Rowan Elaraby in four games and 59 minutes of action.

Semi-Finals

Elias became the first Peruvian to reach the U.S. Open final after overcoming three-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy in straight games, winning 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 in 47 minutes.

The Peruvian’s victory ensured a final against Farag after the Egyptian dispatched ElShorbagy’s younger brother, Marwan.

Farag, who had lost eight of the pair’s 14 encounters entering the game, raced into an early two-game lead and, despite seeing his advantage cut in half by ElShorbagy, claimed the final game 11-6 to progress to the final.

The women’s semi-finals saw World No.1 Gohar and World No.3 El Sherbini come out on top of their bouts against El Tayeb and New Zealand No.1 King. Gohar continued her title defence by defeating the dangerous El Tayeb in four games, using a combination of hard-hitting and her relentless pace to power her way to victory.

The Egyptian moved from strength to strength as the contest progressed, taking an early 2-0 lead and eventually winning the match in four games.

Meanwhile, El Sherbini squashed any injury worries with a rampant straight-game victory against New Zealand No.1 King. The ‘Warrior Princess’ took the first two games 11-8 to place one foot in the final before taking the third by an 11-5 scoreline.

Finals

Egyptian No.1 Gohar became only the second player – after the legendary Nicol David – to win three U.S. Open titles on the bounce as she retained her title courtesy of an 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 victory over El Sherbini.

After starting strongly and using her trademark power hitting to pin El Sherbini deep in the court, Gohar took the first game without too many causes for concern.

Despite El Sherbini levelling the match by nicking the second game 11-9, Gohar moved through the gears to take the final two games of the match 11-7, 11-6 and seal the victory in 51 minutes.

In the men’s final, Elias became the first Peruvian to win the prestigious event after his bout with two-time champion Farag was cut short after two minutes due to an injury to the Egyptian.

Farag, a winner in 2017 and 2019, was carrying a knee injury sustained during his semi-final match against ElShorbagy, and he struggled to move properly during the opening couple of rallies, resulting in him shaking hands with his opponent with the score at just 2-0 in the first game.