Challenger Tour Round-Up: Romba Upsets Hopton in Richmond, Final Set in Giza

Richmond Open 2024 

Elise Romba knocked out No.4 seed Ineta Hopton in the only upset on day two of the Richmond Open. 

Hopton is ranked at No.56 in the world, 50 places higher than the left-handed Frenchwoman, but quickly found herself two games down on court two at The Country Club of Virginia. 

She rallied to take the next two and force a decider, but crucially, Romba got herself into an early game-five lead. 

From 4-1 up, she quickly moved to the brink of victory at 10-6, squandering the first two match balls before clinching the third, setting up a quarter-final clash with sixth seed Menna Hamed. 

Hopton was the only top-eight seed to go out on day two, though top seed Sabrina Sobhy was made to work hard early on for her victory over Mexico’s Diana Garcia, coming back from a game down to win 3-1, winning game four 11-0 to finish in emphatic fashion. 

Young American stars Marina Stefanoni and Caroline Fouts also won, beating Amina El Rihany and Ali Loke respectively, while Farida Mohamed continued her quest for a third straight title with a 3-0 win over Danielle Ray. 

Giza Region Challenger 1 2024 

Mohamed Gohar knocked out No.1 seed Seif Tamer in a five-game thriller to reach the Giza Region Challenger 1 final, where he will play third seed Yassin Shohdy. 

Gohar – the No.5 seed – came out on top of a dramatic semi-final encounter, taking the deciding tiebreak 13-11 to reach his first Challenger Tour final, denying Tamer a shot at his first title at this level. 

Shohdy, meanwhile, ended the fairytale run of 15-year-old Adam Hawal. 

Hawal had enjoyed an impressive week to this stage in what was his debut event on the Challenger Tour, but was outplayed by the No.3 seed, who won 3-0 to reach his second Tour final. 

The New York Hyder Trophy 2024 

Margot Prow continued her red-hot form with a dominant display day one of The New York Hyder Trophy. 

The Barbadian lefty finished runner-up in the PSA Challenger Tour Player of the Month voting for April after winning back-to-back events, and had no problems booking her spot in round two in the Big Apple, needing only 20 minutes to beat the USA’s Grace Fazzinga 3-0. 

Elsewhere, there was an even more impressive win for American teenager Eva Salzman, who took just 16 minutes to beat Guatemala’s Mary Mijas, losing only five points in the entire match. 

Salzman, was, however, forced to withdraw from the event ahead of her round-two match, meaning fellow American Emma Trauber – who would’ve been Salzman’s opponent – will instead play a lucky loser. 

In the men’s draw, seven of the [9/16] seeds booked their spots in the second round, with England’s Mark Broekman the only exception. Broekman was thrashed 3-0 in less than 20 minutes by Egypt’s Omar ElKattan, who will now face the in-form Muhammad Ashab Irfan in round two. 

GL Hunter Singleton Open 2024 

Nicholas Calvert came through an epic, all-Australian battle with Bradley Fullick in round two of the GL Hunter Singleton Open. 

Calvert is the highest-ranked Australian player in action this week in the Hunter Valley, but was moments away from defeat against a player ranked more than 100 places below him. 

Ultimately, though, the Queenslander came through to win game five 11-8, after losing tie breaks in both the third and fourth games having earlier taken a two-game lead. 

Calvert’s win came in the penultimate match of the day and was followed by a routine victory for top seed Temwa Chileshe. 

The New Zealander swept aside Aussie Cameron Darton 3-0 to ensure all eight seeds would be through to the quarter-finals, after wins for the other six earlier in the day.

You can stay up to date with all the results on the PSA Challenger Tour here.