Windy City Open 2024 Presented By The Walter Family SF: Farag Fights Back to Reach Eighth Straight Final

Ali Farag put a poor start behind him to fight back from 2-1 down and beat Mazen Hesham in the Windy City Open semi-finals, continuing his record of reaching the final in every event he’s played this season. 

Farag had beaten his compatriot 3-0 in the HSC Houston Men’s Squash Open final less than two weeks ago, but Hesham has arguably been playing the best squash of his life in the past few matches, and he pushed the World No.1 to five at the University Club of Chicago. 

Indeed, it was the World No.7 who made the better start, opening up a 7-3 lead in game one with a forehand drive that wrong-footed Farag. 

A handful of errors allowed Farag back within a point, but Hesham closed out the game on a brilliantly soft forehand drop that left the World No.1 with no chance. 

Hesham’s extravagant racket skills had been on full display in game one, but it was the consistent length he’d hit that had been key to his success, and he carried that into the second, opening up a 6-1 lead. 

The 29-year-old was playing at an exceptionally high level, but his standards dropped ever so slightly, which is all the top seed needed to claw his way back into the contest. 

From 6-1 down, Farag reeled off seven points in a row to shift the momentum in his favour, and let out a huge scream of emotion after clinching the game on a backhand volley drop just a few moments later. 

Plenty inside the club’s Cathedral Hall would have been expecting the World No.1 to run away with it from there, but Hesham had other ideas. 

At 8-5 down after a few uncharacteristic errors, Farag appeared to take a more passive approach, limiting his attacking shots and sticking to the long game, but it would prove to be in vain as Hesham moved back out in front with a backhand winner to clinch game three.

Hesham then had an upset within his sights at 2-0 up in the fourth, but the tides turned in dramatic fashion from there. 

Farag went on the charge – just as he’d done in the second – dropping only one more point in the game as Hesham appeared to throw in the towel, focusing his energy instead on the decisive fifth. 

But unfortunately for the World No.7, that decisive fifth followed a similar pattern to the fourth, with his frustrations on full display through several outbursts of anger. 

He would win only two points in the game, putting the final nail is his own coffin with a backhand into the tin on match ball, prompting a huge roar of celebration from Farag, who booked a spot in his eighth straight PSA Tour final.

“I had to dig very deep, mentally, physically and tactically,” Farag said. 

“For the first game and a half Mazen was outplaying me. He was hitting better length, better winners and had a better balance overall. I was using height, but not enough, and then I used pace and then somehow, I found myself back in it after two long rallies when I was 6-1 down.

“I had to dig in deep, even if I went 2-0 down it would be a long road back, but at least I would have put myself in the match. I thought I had him in the third, but he’s become even tougher this season and he kept fighting back. I was a bit rattled in the third and he ran away with it. 

“I was thinking of changing the ball, but then I decided not to as I thought I could take advantage of the softer ball. He got off to a good start in the fourth and I didn’t want to go home, so I kept on screaming. I know it’s not a very pleasant watch, but it’s the way to get out of it.  

“Obviously I was screaming at myself, not anybody else. I’m very proud to fight back and end the match with the win.”

Speaking on the way he ran away with things in game five, he added: “I tried to play shorter rallies and take advantage of the dead ball. He also lost his head after 4-0, 5-0 with a couple of decisions which I believe were the correct decisions. He gave me a bit of headway there and I took advantage of it.”

Farag also discussed a nice moment between the two players, which ended in them sharing a smile and hug after a discussion with the referee. 

“Mazen and I are very good friends off court, but on court the two of us want to kill each other, we want to win, respectfully. He said something to the referee about me and I told him not to talk to the referee about me, and he said that he was talking to the referee, not me. It was a funny moment, it wasn’t anything, it was just heated up because of the adrenaline. 

“We hugged, we went to the towels together and I didn’t recover from it that well, he did very well to keep his focus.” 

Result: 
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, 11-2 (65m)