U.S. Open: Momen Comes From Behind To Defeat ElShorbagy

Tarek Momen ended a run of 12 defeats in succession to Mohamed ElShorbagy to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open presented by TRUIST.

Momen, whose last victory against ElShorbagy came at the Canary Wharf Classic back in 2019, came from 2-1 down to defeat the Englishman 3-2 in 65 minutes.

It was a positive start by Momen in the opener as ElShorbagy was struggling to find his targets, while some errors from the World No.4’s racket also aided Momen’s 8-3 lead.

Errors from Momen began to creep in as ElShorbagy reduced the deficit, and the Englishman saved game ball before drawing first blood by winning 12-10 in the tiebreak.

Another bright opening from Momen in the second helped him level the match as he kept ElShorbagy at arm’s length with a three-point cushion throughout.

But two-time winner ElShorbagy began to step up, as he regained his lead in the third as he looked to win the tussle for the middle of the court.

The request for the new ball went in for Momen at the end of the third game as the Egyptian started the fourth in similar vein to the first two games. Patient play from Momen paid dividends as he restored parity once more.

Momen charged his way into a 5-0 lead, and the World No.9 diffused an ElShorbagy comeback to give himself five match balls. Momen, who was runner-up in Philadelphia back in 2021, emphatically converted match ball to reach the last four where he will face Ali Farag.

“I’m very happy with today’s performance,” Momen said.

“I feel like it’s been a long time coming. I had to push myself and I worked so hard in the summer. Everyone thinks I’m 35 and the curve is going down and I knew this wasn’t the case.

“I knew I had issues and I knew they were all gone in the summer, and I needed to prove to myself that that I can get back to where I was. Thankfully at the beginning of the season, even though I wasn’t getting the results, I could see I was playing better and I was fitter.

“Today was the day when I managed to convert thankfully.”

Result
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 10-12, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5 (65m)