The Windy City Open 2026 presented by the Walter Family continued this afternoon at the historic University Club of Chicago with the top-half second round matches taking place in the sixth major event of the 25/26 PSA Squash Tour season.
The final match of the day saw England’s Jonah Bryant claim an epic comeback victory over World No.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 World No. 5 taking a two-game lead after 53 minutes of play.
However, this proved to be only the start of the drama with Bryant securing a signature victory over the British No.1 – winning the third game in 21 minutes. After winning the third, Bryant led a determined performance to overcome Makin for the first time winning the following two games 11-7, 11-5 to secure 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 No.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 both recorded four-game victories over Youssef Soliman and Matias Knudsen, respectovely.
In the women’s event, Belgium’s World No.10 Tinne Gilis claimed revenge over India’s 17-year-old Anahat Singh in the match of the day on the second day of action in the Windy City. 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.
The Belgian No.1 struggled to get the best of Singh in the opening two games, losing 11-6, 11-9 within 20 minutes. However, momentum began to shift for the European No.2 in the third game, with Singh picking up an ankle injury that persisted for the rest of the tie.
With issues growing for the 17-year-old, Gilis was able to capitalise and take control of the contest, winning the third 11-4 in five minutes. Gilis then made light work of Singh in the following two games and stormed through to win 11-6, 11-4, securing her place in a secons successive quarter final at the Windy City Open.
“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 No.1 Hania El Hammamy on Sunday afternoon after she 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 next round after the two top eight seeds defeated Egyptian duo Hana Ramadan and Kenzy Ayman in confident fashion.
The second round bottom-half matches of the Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family get underway tomorrow (Saturday, February 7th), with the action getting underway from 12:00 (GMT-6) in Chicago. Watch all the action live on SQUASHTV.
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Results – Women’s Round Two (Top-half): Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-2 (29m)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Anahat Singh (IND) 3-2: 6-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (49m)
[6] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6 (36m)
[3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (25m)
Results – Men’s Round Two (Top-half): Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Abhay Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (43m)
Jonah Bryant (ENG) bt [5] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2: 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (101m)
[6] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 (52m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [WC] Matias Knudsen (COL) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4 (51m)
Draw – Women’s Round Two (Bottom-Half, to be played 7th February): Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) v Aira Azman (MAS)
Salma Hany (EGY) v [8] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY)
[5] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Amanda Sobhy (USA)
Marina Stefanoni (USA) v [2] Amina Orfi (EGY)
Draw – Men’s Round Two (Bottom-Half, to be played 7th February): Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[4] Karim Gawad (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
Kareem El Torkey (EGY) v [7] Victor Crouin (FRA)
[8] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)