The Windy City Open 2026 presented by the Walter Family got underway this afternoon at the historic University Club of Chicago with 64 players looking to secure their places in round two of the sixth major event of the 25/26 PSA Squash Tour season.
35-year-old Gregoire Marche scored a headline win on day one in Chicago. The Frenchman downed former World Champion and No.3 seed Diego Elias in a five-game thriller to advance to the second round at the Windy City Open for the third time in his career. With Elias still not looking back to full fitness after returning from injury, Marche stormed out of the blocks to take full advantage.
The Frenchman took a commanding 2-0 lead, but the skill of Elias kept him in the contest. The Peruvian clawed his way back to 2-2 but couldn’t match the intensity of Marche in the closing stages of the decider. Marche ran through to 10-6 and took the match at the first time of asking. Only a second ever win for Marche over Elias in 14 meetings and a first in over a decade.
“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 continued thier fine form as they confidently booked their spots in the second round. The Egyptian duo are both bidding to claim their first Windy City Open titles and will take some stopping yet again in another major event.
24 matches took place on the traditional courts with No.4 seed and former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad narrowly avoiding a shock early exit, as he saved two match balls to defeat last-minute entrant Yannick Wilhelmi 3-2. The Swiss produced incredible squash and even better retrievals to trouble the World No.3 throughout. Gawad’s experience shone through in the business end of the fifth as he won four points in a row to advance.
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 to advance to the second round of a Platinum event for the first time in his career. The Chicago crowd were also treated to three home victories as Olivia Weaver, Amanda Sobhy and Marina Stefanoni all claimed comprehensive wins to move into the second round.
The second round top-half matches of the Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family get underway tomorrow (Friday, February 6th), 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 One: Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 11-3, 13-11, 11-9 (40m)
Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Caroline Fouts (USA) 3-1: 11-5, 11-2, 5-11, 11-3 (38m)
Anahat Singh (IND) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-1: 11-13, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (33m)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 16-14, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
[6] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (41m)
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (23m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 12-10 (38m)
[3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt. Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-1: 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3 (34m)
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt. Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (30m)
Aira Azman (MAS) bt Torrie Malik (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 14-12 (45m)
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-2: 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9 (43m)
[8] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Nardine Garas (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (26m)
[5] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt.Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4 (36m)
Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-4, 11-3 (31m)
Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt. Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-1: 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (36m)
[2] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (32m)
Results – Men’s Round One: Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt. Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-4 (33m)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt. Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-2 (43m)
Jonah Bryant (ENG) bt. Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-2: 12-10, 3-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 (25m)
[5] Joel Makin (WAL) bt. Declan James (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 7-11, 11-3, 11-4 (61m)
[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (36m)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt. Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-2: 11-1, 3-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-4 (62m)
[WC] Matias Knudsen (COL) bt. Juan Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-9 (40m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt. [3] Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 11-7, 11-1, 11-13, 9-11, 11-6 (73m)
[4] Karim Gawad (EGY) bt. Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 3-2: 5-11, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 12-10 (68m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt. Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 11-8, 12-14, 13-11 (53m)
Kareem El Torkey (EGY) bt. Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-2: 11-6, 11-6, 3-11, 9-11, 11-9 (76m)
[7] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt. Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 (33m)
[8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-1: 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7 (47m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt. Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (37m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt. Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (35m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt. Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (61m)
Draw – Women’s Round Two (Top-Half, to be played 6th February): Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Lucy Beecroft (ENG)
Anahat Singh (IND) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[6] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Kenzy Ayman (EGY)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) v [3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY)
Draw – Men’s Round Two (Top-Half, to be played 6th February): Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Abhay Singh (IND)
Jonah Bryant (ENG) v [5] Joel Makin (WAL)
[6] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) v Youssef Soliman (EGY)
[WC] Matias Knudsen (COL) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
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)