Windy City Open RD1: Brownell Marks Event Debut with Win over Ghosal

Men’s United States No.1 Timothy Brownell marked his Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family debut with a fine victory over Indian veteran Saurav Ghosal to book his spot in round two this afternoon.

Brownell, the World No.41, is enjoying the finest season of his career to date and the 26-year-old continued his fine recent form to secure a 13-11, 2-11, 11-3, 14-12 win over World No.25 Ghosal under the chandeliers of the University Club of Chicago’s Cathedral Hall.

After a hard-fought opening game went the way of Brownell, 37-year-old Ghosal stormed back in the second to level as he dictated the tempo of the match and utilised his accurate line hitting to take attacking opportunities away from the American.

Brownell regrouped though to take a quick-fire third game and held his nerve in a tightly-contested fourth game to secure one of the biggest wins of his career. He will take on Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez in the next round.

“Saurav is one of my heroes,” Brownell said afterwards.

“Ever since I saw him play Ramy Ashour in the World Team Championships about 10-15 years ago, I went to my dad and said: ‘Look at this guy, he grabs his arm, I used to play left handed, he’s like me and he’s given Ramy a hard time’.

“He’s one of the fairest guys on tour, so hats off to him.

“He’s so experienced, I knew that I’ve been improving so much and I had a bit of a physical edge, but it doesn’t matter when he controls you. You could see that in the second game when I had no shots. I didn’t know where to place the ball and I was trying to brute force it.

“He was manoeuvring super well and I had to let the guns out at the end. When I was playing straight you could see he was more accurate than I was, there was no way through.”

Brownell will be joined in the last 32 by Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio, who also claimed a win on his first Windy City Open appearance, beating Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie 6-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-3 to set up a match with No.2 seed Diego Elias.

Romiglio, who was coached in between games by Elias, took a while to get going as Idrakie’s skills with the racket saw him put in some nice winners to take the first game.

But the Argentinian soon worked his opponent out as he began to put in some well-constructed rallies, moving Idrakie around the court to sap the energy from the Malaysian’s legs.

“The second was crucial, I was down and I don’t know how I won that one, I fought hard,” said Romiglio.

“I found my spots on the court a little bit more and that gave me the confidence to get back in the match and win it in four. I’m really happy with the way I’m playing, I’ve been training hard in Prague for the last two and a half years with some really good players. I hope to keep improving and playing in these beautiful events.”

12 of the 16 matches in the afternoon session took place on the traditional plaster courts on the 11th floor of the University Club, and that was the scene for Aira Azman’s comeback from two games down as she ousted Scotland’s Georgina Adderley in one of the most gripping matches of the session.

The 19-year-old was making her Windy City Open debut and she found herself on the wrong end of the majority of the early rallies as a high-quality start to the match from Adderley took her into a two-game lead.

Azman stayed composed though and worked her way into the match, ultimately coming through to take three games without reply, and her second round opponent will be No.5 seed Georgina Kennedy.

“I think it was a very tough match for me today because my game plan wasn’t really working on her, so I tried to fight back in the last three even though I was 2-0 down,” Azman said.

“I was just trying to hang in there a little bit more in the rallies, because I was too fast to go through shots, so I tried to play more rallies and eventually it got me to a winning point. 

“I’m feeling a bit more comfortable compared to the last season in Asia. These last few weeks were really good, I think I played really well, gave a good fight in every match and I think I’m doing well, better than last season.”

Back on the glass court, Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy also moved through to the next round, earning a comfortable 3-0 win against Finland’s Emilia Soini to set up a clash with 2022 runner-up Hania El Hammamy.

“It’s really big to be playing here and also winning the first round. I’m happy I’m going to play on this court again and I’m excited to play tomorrow,” Mickawy said.

“Hania is a great player, she’s in the top three now and she’s a fighter. We’ve been playing since juniors and I really enjoy the matches against her. Hopefully it’s going to be a great match and everyone will enjoy it.”

England’s Jasmine Hutton saw her tournament cut short after she was forced to retire from her match with Marie Stephan due to an ankle injury. Egypt’s Hana Ramadan is also out after falling to Hong Kong’s Tsz-Wing Tong, while there were wins for the likes of Iker Pajares and Rory Stewart, who both prevailed in five games.

The evening session gets under way at 17:00 (GMT-6). Action from the glass court and all three traditional courts will be broadcast on SQUASHTV.

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Results – Men’s First Round (Afternoon Session): 2024 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family

Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-1: 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (59m)

Iker Pajares (ESP) bt Andrew Douglas (USA) 3-2: 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3 (61m)

Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 3-1: 13-11, 2-11, 11-3, 14-12 (59m)

Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Leung Chi Hin Henry (HKG) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 11-0, 11-5 (40m)

Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) 3-1: 13-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5 (45m)

Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-2: 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 11-5 (89m)

Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-1 (31m)

Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-1: 6-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-3 (57m)

Results – Women’s First Round (Afternoon Session): 2024 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family

Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-8 (28m)

Marie Stephan (FRA) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-2: 3-11, 2-11, 11-7, 12-10 retired (39m)

Aira Azman (MAS) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 10-12, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (51m)

Tesni Murphy (WAL) bt Jana Shiha (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (21m)

Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (40m)

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (22m)

Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (25m)

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (23m)