Alex Robertson reports
If you’ve been keeping up with the PSA Squash Tour, you might have noticed that Olivia Weaver seems to be on an absolute hot streak at the moment.
She’s been performing incredibly well and has really started making progress to the later rounds of bigger tournaments while pushing the few players higher ranked than herself more consistently.
She’s certainly set to make some more waves in my opinion so I thought she’d be a great pro to write up a bit of a profile about.
This week, I’ll talk a bit about Olivia Weaver, who she is, where she’s from, her career so far, her performance this season, her style of play, and my predictions for her in the future…
Enjoy!
Stats’ Time… (Thanks SquashInfo)
Age: 29
Birthplace & Residence: Philadelphia
Height: 171cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight: 60kg (9 st 6 lb)
Joined PSA: 2010
Coaches: Rodney Martin, Graeme Williams, Danny Massaro
University: Princeton
Highest WR: 4 (20 May 2024)
Racket: Head
Formerly known as Olivia Fiechter, Olivia married her longtime boyfriend Bobby Weaver in October 2023. They both attended Princeton University.
Junior Years
As a teenager, she represented the USA at the 2012, 2013, and 2014 Junior World Championships. To be noted, she was part of the Team US in 2013 that ended up runner up!
Following her junior solid performance, Olivia played at Princeton University from 2014 to 2018, occupying primarily the prestigious number 1 position throughout her career with the Tigers.
Pro Years
Weaver came in around WR168 at the start of the 2018 season, by the end of that season she was up to World No.69. That year, Weaver won the 2018 Rhode Island Open professional tournament, beating Egyptian Menna Nasser in the final, and was off to a great start.
In 2018, Weaver officially turned pro, although she has been a PSA member since 2010.
Olivia first reached World No.4 in May this year, dropping to 5 again in July and August, then jumping back up in September.
Of course, it gets harder to push up the rankings the higher you get, with individual spot jumps being huge wins once you’re in the top 20 or 30, so, to go from 7 to 4 in the first half of a season and then hold your ground is a massive achievement.
Question is: can she go further and be the one to break into the big three?
For those of you who are unaware, the big three in women’s squash are , three Egyptians who have dominated the top three ranking spots for a good while now.
Weaver has certainly had a great career so far, however, this season Weaver has stepped things up yet another level and I think we’re on the cusp of seeing some great things from the American.
The Big Three (Nour El Sherbini, Nouran Gohar, and Hania El Hammamy) have been somewhat untouchable for a while, but, change could be on the horizon…
Weaver’s Style of Play
The first thing I want to mention when it comes to Weaver’s style of play is who she’s got in her corner to help mold this…
She’s coached by none other than Rodney Martin, who is best known for winning the 1991 World Open and becoming the first player to defeat the legendary Khan brothers (Jahangir and Jansher) in the same event.
After retiring as a player due to injury, Martin became a squash coach, working in Australia and the United States, and, needless to say, he’s thoroughly excelled in the role, boosting the games of players like Weaver to the next level.
Given his own professional experience, he’s an absolute expert in the game and, from what I’ve heard, his coaching philosophy revolves around fundamental technique being the key to producing your best squash.
Although I couldn’t tell you all of the small tweaks and changes he’s made to Weaver’s fundamental game during their time together, it’s clear that it’s working: she’s incredibly good at the basics of squash.
Hitting her targets again and again, applying pressure by hitting into open space, taking the ball early at the right time, she can do it all very very well.
Olivia is an expert at holding the T by volleying and punching the ball to the back of the court again and again. She’s certainly not one to do anything too risky or flashy too early in the rally, but, by no means is she not exciting to watch either.
Her fast-paced, proactive style of play makes her matches incredibly action-packed and is also what’s putting her on par with the likes of El Sherbini and Gohar.
But, something that really sets her apart is her athleticism. Olivia Weaver’s fitness, explosivity, strength, and agility are all impeccable.
Of course, all full-time professional athletes are incredibly impressive physically, however, Weaver just seems to stand out that little bit more among the rest. She’s been a part of some monstrous five setters and big matches so far this season. Plus, she’s a ruthless fighter. She’s calm, focused, and still full of fire.
Weaver’s Performance This Season
Being in the top 5 in the world is a very big status to reach, but getting to 4 is another massive step. Up until recently that 4 and 5 spot has been contested again between Nele Coll (formerly known as Nele Gilis) and Olivia Weaver.
I’m not sure if I’d call it a rivalry or not, from what I’ve seen the pair get on well, however, when they historically came up against each other, it was always going to be a huge match.
There was so much at stake in every single tournament that they play, with both players fighting to prove that they deserved that World No.4 position. I believe that Coll reached World No.4 for the first time back in 2023 before Weaver had quite caught up with her.
I think 2023 was Coll’s major breakthrough season, and now Weaver is experiencing a similar thing.
They haven’t actually faced each other that many times, it’s often a case of who can get further in tournaments to win the most points and boost their ranking.
Looking at their head-to-head results, Coll has the edge at 8 wins to 3 against Weaver, however, Weaver took the most recent win in a 3-2 monster against Nele in this season’s QTerminals Qatar Classic quarter-finals, it was easily one of the best matches so far in 2024.
Outstanding Performances
More broadly speaking, Weaver has definitely stood out to me the most in comparison to any other player this season so far. She’s had some absolutely awesome results and performances, the most recent of which being at the US Open Championships platinum event: she became the first American to reach three Comcast Business US Open semifinals in the PSA Platinum era.
Another notable result for Weaver was her win at the 2024 Silicon Valley Open, and also her run at the Qatar Open – losing only to Nouran Gohar in the semis, after her mammoth match with Coll.
She’s making the latter stages of the biggest PSA events and consistently beating players lower down the rankings than herself too. The season is still young and it’s difficult to say what’s to come, but I always like to look ahead and try to predict what’s going to happen in the future…
Future Predictions
Olivia Weaver’s next big milestone will be beating one of the top three players—Nour El Sherbini, Nouran Gohar, or Hania El Hammamy. She’s come close, like her recent five-set match against El Sherbini, and achieving this could be the mental breakthrough she needs to elevate her game further.
With upcoming tournaments like the Singapore Open, Hong Kong Open, and Tournament of Champions, Olivia should have opportunities to take this step. Moving up to World No.3 is a big challenge, but the season is far from over, and momentum is key in squash.
We also can’t overlook rising threats from players like Tinni Gilis, Gina Kennedy, and Amina Orfi, but Olivia’s focus and form make her a strong contender for more gold titles. While platinum and diamond events are tougher, reaching a platinum final this season feels like a realistic bet—and one I’ll be cheering for.
If you haven’t watched Olivia play yet, now’s the time. She’s definitely one to watch!
