U.S. Open: El Hammamy Axes Gilis

World No.3 Hania El Hammamy booked her spot in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open presented by TRUIST following a straight games victory over Belgium’s Nele Gilis at Philadelphia’s Arlen Specter US Squash Center.

El Hammamy had already beaten Gilis’s younger sister Tinne in the previous round and completed the set courtesy of an 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 margin which sees her reach the U.S. Open last four for the first time since 2021.

The Egyptian was on a five-match winning run against Gilis coming into today’s match and started on the front foot.

Gilis was able to stay with El Hammamy’s relentless pace and match her accuracy into the front corners for much of the opening game, but El Hammamy was able to twist and turn her opponent with some well-placed cross court efforts in the crucial points to take the opening game.

The second game was also closely-contested, with both players cancelling each other out as El Hammamy targeted the back corners and Gilis responded with some clever boasts to mix up the angles.

With the scores poised at 8-8, a big error from Gilis saw her boast the ball into the tin on a volley, and that swung the momentum into El Hammamy’s favour as she took the next three points to double her advantage.

The high-quality squash continued into the third game, with the brutal nature of the rallies sapping the energy reserves of each player. El Hammamy made a big push physically at the back end of the game and that proved Gilis’s undoing as the Egyptian sealed the win in three.

“I’m over the moon to win against Nele, especially in three because she’s so physical, we both are,” said El Hammamy afterwards.

“We both went to the wire and it was a matter of who could execute their plan better and stick to it. I tried to remind myself of the things I needed to do to reduce the running a little bit and I’m glad I managed to do that.

“The early exit in Paris was tough for me and it was disappointing to have a bad start to the season. I have goals that I haven’t achieved yet, so the first loss was depressing. I’m so proud of how quickly I bounced back and moved on from the loss.

“I used Qatar to give myself confidence and prove that Paris was just a one-off performance. I’m doing well so far and looking forward to the other rounds.

“After my exit in Paris I approached former World Champion and World No.1 Laura Massaro and she really helped me mentally. She’s preparing me to be ferocious on court. Laura has a lot of experience and I speak to her about a lot of things that I go through on court.

“She’s been through it all and she knows what I’m thinking without me saying it, so it’s helping me not think about the future and be here in the present.”

Result

[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [6] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (54m)