Expression Network LLC Kinetic Racquet Women’s Squash D1: Elalfy Upsets Mateos, Khafagy Impresses

Egypt’s Salma Elalfy caused the only upset on day one of the Expression Network LLC Kinetic Racquet Women’s Squash, while fellow Egyptian teenager Nour Khafagy also impressed. 

19-year-old Elalfy was taking on Spain’s Sofía Mateos, a player ranked 31 places above her in the world, but defied those rankings to ease through 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 in 26 minutes, reaching round two of a 20K for the first time. 

That win followed a hard-fought victory on the glass court for Lowri Roberts, who came through a lengthy first-game tiebreak – winning it 16-14 – before taking the next two games 11-9, 11-7. 

Roberts will now play her training partner Saran Nghiem in round two, as the top eight seeds enter the draw. 

Among them will be No.1 seed Farida Mohamed, who will go head-to-head with 17-year-old Khafagy, after her impressive round-one win. 

The Alexandra-born teenager was taking on American wildcard Eliza Schuster, who was playing just her fourth Challenger Tour event but had reached the semi-finals of her most recent one. 

She was no match for the British Junior Open semi-finalist though, with Khafagy cruising to a 3-0 win in just 20 minutes. 

Round two of the Expression Network LLC Kinetic Racquet Women’s Squash continues at 12pm ET/4pm GMT today, with action from court 5 streaming live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel. 

You can see all the results from day one of the Expression Network LLC Kinetic Racquet Women’s Squash here.