Windy City Open 2026 : It’s Nour and Mostafa !!

World Champions Mostafa Asal and Nour ElSherbini claimed the Windy City Open titles in Chicago, beating Amina Orfi and Paul Coll in contrasting finals to win the sixth major event of the 25/26 season.

The women’s final opened the show on day seven of the Platinum level event as ElSherbini and Orfi squared off for the fifth time. Orfi started the stronger, taking the lead and then holding off a recovery from Sherbini in the second to take a two game lead.

The third went point for point, and at 9-9, it was Orfi who earned a chance to seal the championship and claim her first major title. Sherbini saved that, and one more, before taking the game 13-11 to extend the contest.

The momentum was firmly with the two-time Windy City Champion Sherbini for the rest of the match as she closed out the win in 86 minutes.

“I felt I was losing, and I felt that it was over, but when I was out and maybe after I sat down for a minute, I just felt relaxed,” said ElSherbini. “I felt tense in the beginning, but I was relaxed by the end.

“In the first two games, it wasn’t that simple. Maybe, I need time to find my game, especially against an opponent like this. I think, maybe when I am freer or not thinking as much, the shots become better so maybe that’s the reason.”

The conclusion to the tournament saw Asal and Coll  meet for the 23rd time in their careers, with their last three meetings coming in a final.

Asal, who had got the better of Coll 15 times, took the final seven points of the opening game, 11-5 after 21 minutes. Coll rallied to take an 8-5 lead in the second, but following a 15-minute brreak after a collision Asal returnedwith renewed vigour and stormed through to win 12-10 and double his lead.

An early lead for Coll in the thrird was soon overtaken as the World #1 rattled off the points to reach 10-7, and sealed the win at the first time of asking – a 20th consecutive straight games victory for the Egyptian and fifth title of the season.

“There was pressure on me in this match, especially, to be World No.1 and dominating the way that I am is really difficult and it’s really hard,” Asal admitted. “Credit to Paul, he played a good game and it is tough to play against him.

“I am really pleased with the performance today, and the key was the mentality. It is coming into the players’ minds that they want to win a game, so I am really pleased with that. I am sure I am going to lose at some point, which was really close to happening today.”

Day SIX : Orfi, Sherbini, Asal and Coll through to finals in Chicago

The finalists of the Windy City Open were decided at the historic University Club of Chicago, with Nour ElSherbini, Amina Orfi, Mostafa Asal and Paul Coll set to contest the finals.

18-year-old Orfi came through a brutal 95-minute clash with Olivia Weaver to end home hopes. After second seed Orfi took the 25-minute opening game Weaver stormed back to take the next two, the momentum swung again with Orfi taking levelling before edging home 15-13 in the decider, saving a match ball along the way.

“It feels great to be in the final. It was such a tough match,” Orfi said. “I think I had to play against Olivia, the crowd, myself and some decisions too. But I feel like I dealt with it very well and it goes both ways, so I’m really happy with the win and to be in the final.

Orfi’s opponent in the final will be eight-time World Champion ElSherbini after she won her 27th consecutive match in Chicago, beating top seed Hania El Hammamy in five games. ElSherbini took a 2-0 lead in just over 20 minutes but was pegged back to 2-2 with Hammamy looking the likely winner, but ElSherbini regained momentum in the decider, maintaining a lead throughout to win in 69 minutes.

The men’s title decider will see another major event final contested by Asal and Coll, after the top two seeds recorded comprehensive 3-0 victories over Gregoire Marche and Karim Abdel Gawad.

Day FIVE :  Coll and Weaver advance as semi-final linups are confirmed

The Windy City Open continued this evening at the University Club of Chicago with the bottom-half quarter-final matches.

The first men’s match of the day saw Paul Coll and two-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy battle it out over five-games, with the World #2 claiming the victory after an hour to earn a spot in his fourth consecutive Windy City Open semi-final.

“I am very happy, I have never felt so uncoordinated as the start of the second and the fourth,” said Coll after the tie, “He used the angles amazingly and his racket speed was on top form today and I just felt so off balance. I wasn’t seeing the ball today and he made it very awkward for me today. It was a pleasure to have another battle with him like that, and I am happy to make it through.”

Coll will face Karim Abdel Gawad in the last four. The former World No.1 was able to beat French # Victor Crouin in a 63-minute four game battle.

In the women’s event USA #1 Olivia Weaver booked her spot in the fourth major semi-final of the season, after easing past eighth seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir in straight games.

“I am very happy with that performance,” Weaver admitted. “I played Fayrouz last week in New York, so I knew she would be coming out here looking for revenge, and I was ready for it and up for it. I was feeling good, I enjoyed my day off yesterday, I got some good work in and I was able to sharpen up.”

Weaver is now set to face second seed Amina Orfi, following the Egyptian’s impressive victory over US #2 Amanda Sobhy.

Day FOUR : Marche beats Marwan as quarter-finals begin

The Windy City Open continued this afternoon at the University Club of Chicago with the top-half quarter final matches.

The first men’s match of the day saw Gregoire Marche and Marwan Elshorbagy produce an absolute thriller as the 35-year-old Frenchman claimed the 82-minute contest to earn a spot in his first-ever major event semi-final.

“I had to wait almost 36 years to make my first semi-final in a Platinum, I just have to take some time to realise this,” said Marche.

Marche’s opponent in the semi-finals will be World #1 Mostafa Asal after he made light work of up-and-coming Englishman Jonah Bryant in three games.

In the women’s event, Nour ElSherbini booked her spot in a sixth Windy City Open semi-final after coming through a five game battle with Malaysia’s Siva Subramaniam to keep her title defence alive.

“It’s never easy playing Siva,” she said. “She’s playing amazingly this week, and we train together, so we know each other’s game very well and the same style of play. It wasn’t comfortable on court, but I just tried to push every point and a win is a win, so I’m just happy to be through. It’s a huge boost for me.

ElSherbini’s win has sets up a clash with top seed Hania El Hammamy,  who downed Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in straight games to maintain her 100% appearance record in major event semi-finals since 2023.

Day THREE : Sobhy stops Satomi to reach sixth Windy City QF

The Windy City Open continued at the historic University Club of Chicago with the bottom half second round matches of the sixth major event of the PSAr season.

USA’s Amanda Sobhy produced a scintillating display as she defeated World #7 Satomi Watanabe to maintain her 100% quarter final appearance record at the Windy City Open.

Sobhy won the first game 11-6, looking sharp and focused on the task at hand. Despite Watanabe battling back to win the second game, Sobhy couldn’t be stopped as she took the next two games to storm into the last eight.

“I think I’ve been really close to beating some top 8 players this season, but it hasn’t quite clicked,” said Sobhy. “But today it was all about staying loose and free and playing the squash that I’m capable of. It’s been tricky in the first half of the season, but I’m so glad I could get over the finish line today.”

Sobhy will take on the Amina Orfiy after the second seed recovered from a game down to beat Marina Stefanoni. The Chicago crowd were treated to another home victory as USA #1 Olivia Weaver confidently booked her spot in the quarters, beating Aira Azman in three games. Her quarter final opponent Fayrouz Aboelkheir also won comfortably as she downed Salma Hany in just 27 minutes.

The men’s matches opened with two-time Windy City Open champion Mohamed Elshorbagy earning his spot in a seventh quarter final at one of his favourite events. The Englishman defeated France’s Baptiste Masotti in straight games to join compatriots Marwan Elshorbagy and Jonah Bryant in the last eight. The first time since 2015 that three Englishmen have featured in a major event quarter final.

Elshorbagy’s opponent in the last eight will be second seed Paul Coll after he beat Eain Yow Ng in a testing three-game affair. Fourth seed Karim Abdel Gawad avoided a potential banana-skin as he navigated past Mohamed Abouelghar in four games. Gawad will now face France’s Victor Crouin in the last eight after he eased past Kareem El Torkey in exactly 30 minutes.

Day TWO : Bryant downs Makin in marathon comeback to reach quarters

The Windy City Open continued with the top-half second round matches at the University Club of Chicago.

The final match of the day saw England’s Jonah Bryant claim an epic comeback victory over World #5 Joel Makin after 101 minutes of scintillating play. In the all-British second-round tie, which proved to be a battle of stamina and endurance, multiple three-minute rallies became a regular occurrence, with the British #1 taking a two-game lead after 53 minutes of play.

However, this proved to be only the start of the drama with Bryant recovering to secure a signature victory over the Makin – winning the third game in 21 minutes, then winning the following two games 11-7, 11-5 to book a third major event quarter final of the season.

“I’m very happy to get through,” said Bryant after his comeback. “I think we played a high-quality match. Joel’s had a really bad injury recently. His first tournament back. He’s clearly struggling so I won’t take it as a full-merit win but I’m pleased to get the result.

Bryant will now take on World #1 Mostafa Asal, who made light work of India’s Abhay Singh to progress. The other top-half men’s quarter final will be an England versus France clash as Marwan Elshorbagy and Gregoire Marche  recorded four-game victories over Youssef Soliman and Matias Knudsen.

In the women’s event,Belgium’s World #10 Tinne Gilis claimed revenge over India’s 17-year-old Anahat Singh. Gilis suffered a shock loss to Singh earlier this season at the Canadian Women’s Open and found herself 2-0 down once again in the penultimate match of the night before recovering to securing her place in a second successive Windy City quarter final.

“I had nothing to lose anyway, I was down and out for the first two games, she was dominating me she was playing really well, I just didn’t really know what to do, and in that third all I wanted to do was fight back and don’t give her the match too easy. I changed my tactic, and I changed my mindset and just went for it and I am just really happy that I found the fire to comeback from 2-0 down and that is what I am most proud of today.

Gilis will take on World# 1 Hania El Hammamy on Sunday after the top seed needed less than half an hour to take down England’s Lucy Beecroft. Eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini will take on Sivasangari Subramaniam in the quarters after they defeated Egyptian duo Hana Ramadan and Kenzy Ayman in confident fashion.

Day One : Marche downs Elias as action gets under way in Chicago

The Windy City Open  got underway at  University Club of Chicago with 64 players looking to secure their places in round two of the sixth major event of the PSA season.

35-year-old Gregoire Marche scored a headline win as the Frenchman downed former World Champion and third seed Diego Elias in a five-game thriller, claiming only his third win over the Peruvian in 14 meetings.

“I know Diego is not 100%, but he’s been killing me all my career. I think this is only the second time that I’ve beaten him so I had to believe it could happen again. I just want to enjoy my squash, I’m nearly 36 now, so I just want to enjoy myself. I’ve played this tournament so many times and I love being here but for some reason, I just haven’t done too well on court so I’m very happy to have this win.”

Top seeds Hania El Hammamy and Mostafa Asal – both bidding to claim their first Windy City titles – continued their fine form as they confidently booked their second round spots with wins over Sabrina Sobhy and Aly Abou Eleinen.

On the traditional courts with fourth seed Karim Abdel Gawad narrowly avoided a shock early exit, as he saved two match balls to defeat last-minute entrant Yannick Wilhelmi in five games.  One of two men’s wildcards Matias Knudsen took full advantage of his opportunity in the draw as he defeated fellow Colombian Juan Vargas in three games. The Chicago crowd were also treated to three home victories as Olivia Weaver, Amanda Sobhy and Marina Stefanoni all won.

Preview :

The second PSA Platinum event of the year sees action at the University Club of Chicago from 5th to 11th Feb.

Top seeds Mostafa Asal and Hania El Hammamy, fresh from their ToC success in New York, are firm favourites, with Asal already with four titles this season and not dropping a game in his last fifteen matches, while El Hammamy has won 25 of 27 matches this season.

Home hopes will be shouldered by Olivia Weaver, who came so close in NY, and Timmy Brownell, with Sabrina Sobhy looking for a third win over El Hammamy in the first round.

Much attention will be on rising stars Amina Orfi, Fayrouz Aboelkheir, Anahat Singh and Jonah Bryant.