Round One : Wildcards Stefanoni and Spizzirri score opening day upsets in Philadelphia
The opening day of the 2026 US Open saw wildcards Lucie Stefanoni and Nicholas Spizzirri cause upsets at Philadelphia’s Arlen Specter US Squash Center as four Americans booked their spots in the last 16.
World #67 Stefanoni reached round two at the sixth attempt after she got the better of Zeina Mickawy, while Spizzirri was the lone American to reach round two of the men’s event after the World #87 defeated Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi in straight games.
Stefanoni after her match with Mariam Metwally was cut short due to an injury sustained by the latter.
“I’m over the moon, I didn’t really go in with any expectations”, said Stefanoni, who plays reigning champion Hania El Hammamy in the next round. “I think it’s always a great opportunity to come to the US Open. I’ve been here before for a few years as the wildcard, and I just treat it as a great opportunity to play the top pros. It’s a huge deal, I’ve never played a top three player before, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Stefanoni’s older sister Marina – came close to causing an upset against four-time US Open champion Nouran Gohar, ultimately going down in five games. The top two ranked US women – Olivia Weaver and Amanda Sobhy – did progress following wins over Britain’s Lucy Turmel and Georgia Adderley.
Spizzirri said: “I had a big home crowd advantage. I went to Penn, so a lot of the current squash players there, former teammates of mine, were here to support me. My brother Eliot being there was a really great treat, he’s a professional tennis player and he usually has to travel when I have to travel.”
US #1 Timmy Brownell saw his tournament come to an end against Victor Crouin, while defending men’s champion Mostafa Asal got off to a winning start against Abhay Singh.
