Texas Open 2025 : It’s Ali and Nouran !

World Number Ones Ali Farag and Nouran Gohar claimed glory on finals day in Houston, winning the Cotidie Texas Open 2025 titles with victories over Mostafa Asal and Hania El Hammamy.

There were storylines beyond just the trophies at stake going into the two finals, with Asal knowing he would regain the #1 ranking with a win, while Gohar was seeking revenge for her defeat to El Hammamy at last month’s Tournament of Champions.

Gohar dealt with everything that came her way, completing the four game win in just over the hour mark.

“I’ve been pleased with the way things have ended,” she said. “To be honest, I had zero expectations before coming to this event, knowing the situation I was in. But I think no one knows their body more than the athlete themselves and I was hoping for the best a bit from my body and I’m very proud of it. That was the main win for this week, to just play and not be injured even more.”

That was followed by an anti-climatic ending to the men’s final, as Farag beat Asal in a match that only lasted two games.

Farag won this event in both 2022 and 2024 – not playing in 2023 – and has been the World #1 since June 2023, but came into this final knowing that defeat to ‘The Raging Bull’ would see the 23-year-old overtake him at the top of the rankings.

Farag took the first two games, but before the third could begin Asal headed back on to court clutching his lower leg before turning to Farag and shaking hands, retiring from the match and handing Farag the title.

“I love Houston,” said Farag. “Especially this year, I’ve been here for three weeks and hopefully Nour is going to deliver her baby in a couple of days’ time. Everyone has been so welcoming to us, I couldn’t have asked for a better ‘home for us for the past three weeks.

“I was telling Nour yesterday that I think this is my first ever tournament that I’ve had to play every match from the younger generation. I can’t think of another tournament where I didn’t have to play Elshorbagy or Gawad or Marwan or any of those guys. It feels different, there is a changing of the guard here. It feels exciting, they bring a different element to the game and the fact that I was able to win is even more satisfying.”

Semis : Hammamy downs Sherbini to join Gohar, Farag and Asal in finals

Hania El Hammamy put in an outstanding display to record her first ever straight-games win over Nour ElSherbini, setting up a clash with top seed Nouran Gohar on finals day , where Mostafa Asal and Ali Farag will battle it out for the men’s title and World #1 ranking.

“It’s huge,” said Hammamy after her  11-8, 11-8, 11-8 win. “I was just in the UK last week with my coach Laura Massaro, and I’ve had loads of conversations with her, talking about how I would like to back myself and have win after win against those top two players in the world.”

Gohar had earned her spot in the final with a comfortable 3-0 win over Tinne Gilis in the day’s first match, while men’s World #1 Farag followed that with a 3-1 victory against France’s Victor Crouin.

Farag – champion here in 2022 and 2024 – must now defend both his title and his World #1 ranking against Asal, who cruised past Marwan Elshorbagy in the final match of the day.

Asal played down the upcoming final : “Tomorrow’s a big match, another final. I don’t think about the numbers, I just take it match by match. You can’t predict anything. Hopefully it will be a good match for our sport and hopefully the better play will win.”

Quarters : Marwan comeback stuns Makin in Houston

Marwan Elshorbagy staged a stunning fightback to beat Joel Makin on quarter-finals day at the Cotidie Texas Open, while Tinne Gilis also came from behind to win in five earlier in the day.

Elshorbagy and Makin were bringing the curtain down on the day’s play at Houston Squash Club, with Mostafa Asal awaiting the winner in the semi-finals having beaten Aly Abou Eleinen in his own five-game duel earlier in the day.

Makin came into this event having won the Pittsburgh Open just a few days ago and looked to be heading for the final four after two games of this one, only for Elshorbagy to turn the match on its head.

“I don’t feel I did much wrong in the first two games,” Elshorbagy said. “It was pretty close and he played the big points pretty well and he was pretty positive as well, so when I was 2-0 down I had the belief that I could come back.”

In the day’s first match Gilis had come back from 2-1 down to beat Egypt’s Nada Abbas, her second five-game win this week after going the distance with Hana Moataz in round two.

“Nada is such a fighter, she fights for every point,” Gilis said. “She’s been playing her best squash so far and it was up and down from both of us. I think the fifth game was just a case of who could keep their focus the longest. When I was 2-1 down I was just trying to say some positive things to myself, to fire myself up.”

Gilis’ reward is a semi-final showdown with top seed Nouran Gohar, who joined Nour ElSherbini and Hania El Hammamy in recording 3-0 wins.

The other semi-final in the men’s draw will see Harvard alumni Ali Farag and Victor Crouin face off after wins over Eain Yow Ng and Gregoire Marche.

Round Two (bottom) : Makin the sole non-Egyptian winner on Day Three

Nour ElSherbini and Hania El Hammamy both survived a scare to reach the Cotidie Texas Open 2025 quarter-finals, as round two drew to a close at the Houston Squash Club.

Kicking off their quests for glory against Sana Ibrahim and Lucy Turmel both needed four games to progress, and bot will meet fellow Egyptians in the quarter-finals after wins for Rowan Elaraby and Farida Mohamed – making it seven out of eight quarter-finalists from Egypt.

The men’s matches were hampered by injury and illness as Aly Abou Eleinen beat Youssef Soliman after the fifth seed suffered an injury early on in their encounter, while Marwan Elshorbagy was awarded a walkover due to Nicolas Mueller’s withdrawal through illness. Straight-game wins for Makin and second seed Mostafa Asal completed the quarter-final lneups.

Round Two (top) : Farag survives as Marche downs ElShorbagy

Gregoire Marche put in a stunning display to upset former World #1 Mohamed Elshorbagy while top seed Ali Farag needed all five games to see off the challenge of compatriot Youssef Ibrahim.

Frenchman Marche has enjoyed a successful start to 2025, and having lost his nine previous meetings with Elshorbagy was delighted to finally get the win.

“He’s been one of the best players ever in the game,” Marche said. “I’m not sure that I truly believed that I would beat him one day, and it was so tough even just to finish it off at the end there. To be able to get the win today was great. We’re both 34 years old and we’re both playing at this level, I’m really proud of this. I’ve never beaten him on tour before, but I need to relax now and think about doing it again in two days time.”

Later in the day Farag and Ibrahim produced a thrilling encounter which lasted 94 minutes, ending with the World #1 and defending champion coming out on top.  Farag now meets Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng while Marche meets compatriot Victor Crouin.

In the women’s draw, fourth seed Tine Gilis also needed all five games to get past Egypt’s Hana Moataz in a match that swung back and forth several times, setting up a quarter-final with another Egyptian in Nada Abbas, the eighth seed.

Top seed Nouran Gohar and sixth seed Salma Hany also progressed, both in straight games.

Round One : Malik and Murphy post opening day five game wins

Curtis Malik and Tesni Murphy both recorded five-game wins as action got underway at the Cotidie Texas Open , while Youssef Ibrahim avoided a major upset to set up a second-round clash with top seed Ali Farag.

This year’s event is the first edition of the Gold-level tournament at Houston Squash Club to feature both a men’s and women’s draw simultaneously, with two glass courts being used for the first round matches.

The all-glass show court – built for last year’s WSF World Juniors – hosted eight matches, including Ibrahim’s encounter with wildcard Muhammad Ashab Irfan, but it was the permanent glass court that played host to the two most dramatic encounters of the day, starting with Murphy’s win over Grace Gear.

“Grace played really well today,” Murphy admitted after her win. “I know she’s been based out here in the USA for a few weeks, and beforehand, so she’s improved a lot, and she played really well.”

That result was followed by another five-game duel between Malik and Ramit Tandon, which saw the Englishman come from behind to reach round two.

Over on the show court Ibrahim was given a stern test by wildcard Irfan, who threatened an upset by taking game one 14-12 and, despite losing the next two games, had a game ball to force a decider at 10-9 in the fourth.

But he was unable to convert, as Ibrahim reeled off three points on the bounce to secure his spot in round two.