ToC Day One: Player Reaction

The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions returns to the PSA World Tour calendar for the first time since 2020 – and we'll have all the player reaction from New York’s Grand Central Terminal right here.

Play begins at 12:00 (GMT-4) live on *SQUASHTV* and you can also stay up-to-date with all the live scores from the tournament *here.*

There will be four USA players in action, with Sabrina Sobhy, Haley Mendez, Todd Harrity and Timothy Brownell all in action throughout the evening.

Order Of Play
All times are local (GMT-4)

Sobhy Opens Up with Win Over Tomlinson

World No.24 Sabrina Sobhy earned her place in the second round of this year’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions after a commanding 3-0 victory over England’s Millie Tomlinson.

Sobhy, 25, had lost both of her previous PSA matches against Tomlinson, but the most recent of those encounters was back in 2015 when Sobhy was ranked outside of the top 50.

Since then, the American has flown up the rankings – enjoying seven months ranked inside the top 20 last year – and she showcased the improvement in her game as she recorded an 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 victory over her opponent.

It was an emphatic victory that saw Sobhy step up the court and attack with aplomb, and she is rewarded with a last 16 fixture against Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby.

“It’s incredible to be back here,” said Sobhy.

“I always love this tournament for many reasons. Having the crowd behind me always boosts my confidence and gives me that support. I have a lot of friends and family here, which is awesome.

“I was a little nervous because it was the first round and the first match of the tournament, but I was really pleased to get through that. I kept it simple as much as possible and tried not to focus on the fact that I hadn’t seen a lot of my friends here for two or three years, so I’ll get to catch up with them afterwards, which is nice.

“Millie is super lethal when she finds her rhythm, so I was trying to utilise the fact that the lights are quite bright. I think that lobs not only gave me time on the ball, but also an advantage in terms of the distraction from the brightness.”

Result
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (25m)

El Sirty Comes From Behind to Vanquish Harrity

Egypt’s Moustafa El Sirty came back from a game down on two occasions to get the better of World No.36 Todd Harrity in a five-game seesaw match.

The first two games were polar opposites of each other as Harrity stormed out of the traps to take a one-game advantage, only to see the momentum shift in El Sirty’s favour in the second as the World No.32 dropped just two points to level.

Harrity was back in charge in the third as he made a strong start once again to restore his advantage. A crucial fourth game went the way of El Sirty though. Harrity fought back from two games ball down to force a tie-break but a loose serve was punished by his opponent, who then made no mistake on his third game ball to draw level.

El Sirty required treatment after a collision with the side wall at the beginning of the fifth, but he was able to pull away from 5-5, winning six straight points to secure his place in the second round of a PSA World Tour Gold event for the first time.

“It’s such a prestigious venue to play at,” said El Sirty.

“The crowd is amazing, and I’m happy to reach the second round of a Gold event for the first time.

“Todd is an amazing player, he is one of the most underrated players on the tour. In the last tournament he was close to beating Marwan [ElShorbagy] and you saw how he was playing today. In the last game I had to be braver and go for more shots.

“I knew he wasn’t going to be ready for it, so I went for it and I won the match. Diego [Elias] is my next match, so I hope I can be ready for this one.”

Result
Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Todd Harrity (USA) 3-2: 4-11, 11-2, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 (63m)

Mohamed Eases Past Mendez

World No.19 Farida Mohamed moved through to the second round after a comfortable win over local favourite Haley Mendez in straight games.

Mendez, who recently tied the knot with men’s World No.34 Nathan Lake, was making her first appearance since the Allam British Open at the end of March, while Mohamed was looking to follow up on a semi final finish at the Carol Weymuller Open last week.

And it was the latter who had the better of today’s match as she kept Mendez behind her and struck a number of winners at the front of the court to dominate proceedings in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall.

“I’m injured so I was a bit nervous,” said Mohamed.

“I have a day off tomorrow, so that’s going to help a lot. I’m excited to play again here, it’s an amazing venue. Haley is based in Brooklyn, so everyone was against me, I think, but the crowd is amazing.”

Next up for Mohamed is a second round fixture with No.2 seed and USA No.1 Amanda Sobhy.

Result
Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Haley Mendez (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (19m)

Abbas Halts Mackevica

Egypt’s Nada Abbas earned her spot in the last 16 after she overcame Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica in straight games.

Abbas had the better of the match as she kept Mackevica stranded deep in the back corners before taking the ball short, and she duly ran out an 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 winner in just 29 minutes.

For her part, Mackevica did threaten at times as her variety of shots troubled Abbas in the third game in particular, however the Latvian was unable to capitalise on her game ball opportunity.

Abbas will now go up against No.7 seed Nadine Shahin in round two.

“I couldn’t find my targets today, I was struggling a lot,” said Abbas.

“I was trying to take it easy and not think about the match. I’m trying to stay positive and hopefully I can find my targets in the next match.

“I think I only played one rally well today, but I’m very happy to get the win today and I’m looking forward to my next match.”

Result
Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 (29m)

Wildcard Brownwell Upsets El Hammamy

Wildcard Timothy Brownell claimed arguably the biggest win of his career to date as he upset World No.29 Karim El Hammamy to reach the second round of the Tournament of Champions for the first time.

Brownell, 24, was making only his second appearance at the Tournament of Champions and his first since 2019 after he secured his wildcard spot following his win at last night’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger 10 event, where he beat Egypt’s Aly Abou Eleinen.

And the World No.69 made it an Egyptian double as he got the better of El Hammamy courtesy of an impressive 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 victory after 89 minutes of enthralling action.

Brownell was cheered on by partizan home support inside Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall and he made a superb start to take an 8-3 lead in the first game, but El Hammamy held his nerve to reel his opponent in, setting up a tie-break. The Egyptian saved his best for the tie-break, hitting a superb cross court nick to go a game up.

However, Brownell drew on the strength of the crowd’s support to draw level, pulling away from the midpoint of the second game, and he recovered from a third game defeat to bring the match ball to all square for a second time against a tired-looking El Hammamy.

El Hammamy looked to have the edge after building up a 9-7 lead in the decider but then required treatment after tripping when aiming to retrieve the ball into the backhand corner. A superb winner gave him two match balls, but Brownell was able to turn the match on its head and fought back to force a tie-break, where he held his nerve to complete a huge win.

The crowd are properly getting into this one!!

Home favourite Timothy Brownell is right back in his first round clash at the @ToCSquash

Watch it live on @SquashTV herehttps://t.co/6XKY14Dzan pic.twitter.com/obiHEhnj7m

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) May 1, 2022

“My mum is one of the brightest squash minds on the planet and she doesn’t get the credit she deserves, so for me to come out here and do this is just one small thing to show what an incredible woman, coach, player, and everything she is,” Brownell said.

“This is what I love to do. I look out and see a lot of people I love in the crowd. Who wouldn’t want to do this?

“We’re doing a lot of good work at US Squash over at the National Centre. I’m a testament to it, I showed up nine months ago and I think [Ong] Beng Hee [US Squash Head National Coach] just had to laugh at me. To come out and get a win on the glass court is a dream, but we’re just getting started.”

Result
[WC] Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 (89m)

Chan Closes Out Win Against Mickawy

The final match of day one saw wildcard Chan Sin Yuk get the better of Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy to set up a second round fixture with No.3 Salma Hany.

Chan won the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger event to qualify for the PSA Gold tournament and took a surprise lead in a first game that saw both players trade errors and winners.

World No.36 Mickawy surrendered a game ball opportunity in that opening game and found herself 6-3 down in the second and 5-1 down in the third, but recovered to win both games courtesy of some good attacking squash at the front of the court.

Chan’s ability to hit winners from unorthodox positions continued to trouble Mickawy in the fourth, and the Egyptian was unable to convert any of her seven match balls as the player from Hong Kong took a mammoth 21-19 win on the tie-break to send the match to a decider.

With the momentum in her favour, Chan stormed into an early lead in the fifth and closed it out to keep her impressive run going in New York.

“I was just thinking about getting this game [the fourth] and all the cheering was making me want to fight more,” said Chan.

“I’m going to have a light squash session [tomorrow] and recover well.”

Result
[WC] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-2: 13-11, 6-11, 10-12, 21-19, 11-5 (61m)