U.S. Open: El Hammamy Storms Past Sobhy to Reach Final

World No.3 Hania El Hammamy has reached the final of the U.S. Open presented by TRUIST for the second time in her career after a masterclass performance saw her down United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy earlier today at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center.

El Hammamy – who was runner-up in 2021 – had won seven of their 11 matches on the PSA Tour coming into today’s encounter and overcame the American in a one-sided 3-0 victory last month at the QTerminals Qatar Classic, a tournament she eventually went on to win.

The 23-year-old imposed her game plan to perfection, dictating the tempo of the match and targeting Sobhy on the left-hander’s forehand side, particularly in the second game, with 87% of her winners coming there.

The third game was a different story though, with El Hammamy making five errors to Sobhy’s two. This time around it was Sobhy winning the battle on her forehand side, with El Hammamy’s percentage of winners on that side dropping to just 29% compared to the previous game, while all five of her errors came off her backhand.

After Sobhy drew level – to huge applause from her home crowd – El Hammamy rediscovered her length and cut out the winners, putting in some clinical winners to finally dispatch her opponent by an 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 scoreline.

El Hammamy has recently started working with former World No.1 and World Champion Laura Massaro and was full of praise for the Englishwoman, saying: “I know how much experience she has and how tough she was when going through experiences like this. I thought that she would be a great supporter for me and I’m very happy and excited to have her on board.”

El Hammamy then went on to talk about the work she’s been doing in between matches on rest days: “I had a couple of hits with Ali [Farag] and Mo [ElShorbagy]. I was able to keep myself going, I like to move around in the court, so playing against male players has made me ready and up for the next rounds.”

Result

[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [5] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-1: 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 (47m)