Windy City Open RD2: Sobhy Ends Losing Run Against El Tayeb

World No.15 Sabrina Sobhy claimed her first ever win over World No.8 Nour El Tayeb at the eighth attempt this afternoon to send the No.6 seed out of the Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family.

The pair were meeting for a second PSA World Tour Platinum event in a row following El Tayeb’s victory at last month’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, but it was Sobhy who would emerge victorious under the chandeliers inside the University Club of Chicago’s picturesque Cathedral Hall.

While the 3-0 scoreline looked one-sided, the balance of the individual games was anything but, with Sobhy needing to play her best squash to get the better of the 2018 Windy City Open champion.

The American constructed her rallies superbly and was able to get her opponent away from the middle of the court, where she is at her most dangerous. 

El Tayeb frequently went short but Sobhy’s speed enabled her to pick up the majority of El Tayeb’s attacks and she replied with some terrific defensive lobs to put El Tayeb into the back corners, before following the resulting loose shot from El Tayeb with a clinical counter drop.

El Tayeb came close to clawing a game back, with three game ball opportunities in the third, but Sobhy came back every time and was able to convert in the tie-break to claim a big win. She will take on England’s Lucy Turmel next for a place in the last eight.

“It’s a huge win for me,” Sobhy said afterwards.

“I’ve grown up playing with Nour and everyone knows her talents and her capabilities, she pushes everyone to their absolute max. She’s come back with amazing wins when she is 2-0 down, match ball down or whatever. I had lost to her every single time and she’s made me feel really uncomfortable on court and like a beginner.

“To come out with this performance, it’s what I’ve been working towards. I’m really proud of how I competed and held my composure on court today.

“It’s a completely different atmosphere and environment here [compared to their match at the ToC]. It was 8pm at Grand Central on a weekend night, so the energy was pretty much night and day compared to this, which is at noon and a little bit quieter.

“It helps me stay composed when it’s a vibe like this. The cathedral setting has a presence of calm and composure, so I’m glad I embodied that a little bit.”

Up on floor 11 at the University Club, a number of round two matches were taking place on the ‘traditional’ plaster courts and England’s Georgina Kennedy contested one of the most exciting matches of the afternoon session as she came back from two games down to beat Malaysia’s Aira Azman.

Azman was competing in the last 32 of the Windy City Open for the first time and took the match to Kennedy, who found herself on the brink of a shock defeat after going two games behind, and she looked unable to live with her opponent’s accuracy.

But an adjustment in tactics from Kennedy paid off as she stretched the court out and started to move Azman around the court more. The No.5 seed dropped just eight points over the next three games as she sealed the comeback.

Kennedy said: “Obviously I’m very pleased to live another day. 

“Aira is a very talented player and in the first two games she completely got the better of me. I was struggling to read her and they were such short, sharp rallies. She was just rolling off winners in the first two games and I definitely wasn’t finding my targets well enough, so I was giving her opportunities.

“I’m actually really proud of myself for the way I turned it around from the third game onwards because the past couple of months have been quite tough. I’ve been struggling with a couple of things ,so obviously confidence-wise it was a bit touch and go. I think it could’ve gone a different way if I didn’t just back myself and turn things around mentally, so I’m really proud of that, and I hope that that performance will help me for the later rounds.”

Azman’s compatriot, Sivasangari Subramaniam, had better fortunes as she narrowly beat Wales’ Tesni Murphy in five games to set up a match with Kennedy, while 2020 champion Nour El Sherbini began her title challenge with a 12-10, 11-5, 12-10 win against Malaysian Rachel Arnold back on the glass court.

World No.1 and 2020 champion Ali Farag also got his title charge under way with a comfortable win against Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi.

It was a patient, probing performance from Farag, who had earlier seen wife El Tayeb fall to a surprise defeat. He seldom hit a drop, instead looking to extend the rallies and force Al Tamimi into mistakes. Farag will go up against Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas in the last 16 after he upset Spain’s Iker Pajares.

“Playing with Abdulla is always very tricky because he’s got every shot in the book and sometimes he invents some shots,” said Farag.

“He is very talented and explosive, so I had to contain him as much as possible without being too passive or negative, and I think I got that balance spot on today. I’m really happy to advance to the third round here.

“I’ve put in a lot of hard work with my coaches and my team and it’s paying off. I need to cherish every single moment of it because in a blink of an eye you can feel not confident and start losing matches. It can be a vicious cycle.

“I don’t take it for granted one bit and long may it last.”

Two-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy also claimed victory this afternoon with an assured performance seeing him get the better of Egypt’s Youssef Soliman, who was in good form after his win at the Squash on Fire Open last week.

‘The Beast’ wasn’t to be stopped though as he dispatched the World No.12 in straight games, and the 33-year-old is rewarded with a third round match against Mohamed ElSherbini.

“Youssef and myself go way back,” said ElShorbagy.

“There is a difference in age, but we lived together for five years in Bristol, we went to the same Uni and we trained together every day. He’s seen all my faces, I’ve seen all his faces, so my team and I studied his game very well and to get off in three any day now is a bonus.

“He’s going to get me at some point, but hopefully I’m going to be 40 or 50 years old by that time. He was a runner-up at the World Juniors and he had a lot of potential to be a top five player at some point. He won in Washington last week, and I wanted him to win it, actually, knowing his character.

“Some players you would want them to lose, if they lose the week before they come back more dangerous the week after. If he had lost last week, I think he would have been even tougher to play today. He has been playing really well, to win [the Squash on Fire Open] is unbelievable and I wish him the best for the rest of the season.”

World No.16 Fares Dessouky emerged victorious from a tricky match against fellow Egyptian Aly Abou Eleinen, while No.5 seed Karim Abdel Gawad came back from a game down to avoid an upset against local favourite Nathan Lake.

The evening session gets under way at 17:00 (GMT-6). Action from the glass court and all three traditional courts will be broadcast on SQUASHTV.

For updates on the Windy City Open, follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

Results – Men’s Second Round (Afternoon Session): 2024 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (25m)

Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Iker Pajares (ESP) 3-1: 11-9, 10-12, 11-2, 11-7 (70m)

Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bt Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-1: 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (67m)

[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)

[7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 (27m)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 3-2: 2-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-7, 11-9 (64m)

Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 15-13, 11-4 (53m)

[4] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 (34m)

Results – Women’s Second Round (Afternoon Session): 2024 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 12-10 (31m)

Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 4-11, 11-5, 11-4 (31m)

Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (26m)

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 15-13 (45m)

[5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 3-2: 9-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (38m)

Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-2: 11-2, 11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 14-12 (66m)

Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-1: 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4 (34m)

[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4 (55m)