The Windy City Open 2026 presented by the Walter Family continued onto the evening at the University Club of Chicago with 16 matches taking place across four courts.
Following on from the afternoon session that saw No.3 Diego Elias exit the tournament after a five-game-thriller against France’s Gregoire Marche, and a near exit for the No.4 seed Karim Gawad, who had battled hard over five against Switzerland’s Yannick Wilhelmi – the evening session was in favour of the top seeds who all prevailed into the second round.
The Chicago crowd also saw home-hero Amanda Sobhy advance into the next round after securing a 3-0 victory against Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim.
Despite the distance in the winning margin, the victory didn’t come easy for the former World No.3 who had to show great character in a difficult opening game to overturn a 7-9 deficit to win 12-10.
Moving into the second game, Sobhy was able to shake off the early threats from Ibrahim, as she was able to power her way through the second game, winning 11-4 within six minutes.
Rallied by the support of the home crowd at the University Club of Chicago, the World No.10 was able to fully take control of the contest, winning the third 11-3.
Following her opening round victory, Sobhy said: “It feels good to get a 3-0 victory.”
She continued: “I think that the first game was crucial, we played last in Hong Kong Football Club Squash Open and she almost had me, so I am just glad I won the first game, and it sort of settled after that.
“It is always nice playing in front of a home crowd, I always love coming back here to Chicago. I just wanted to enjoy it and get stuck in, compete and enjoy the battle out there and I am exciting to be through to the next round.”
In the other three matches on the glass court, Tournament of Champions runners-up Olivia Weaver and Paul Coll booked their place into the second round following straight game victories over Grace Gear and Leonel Cardenas, respectively. Whilst Mohamed Abouelghar, was able to progress to the last 16 after a 3-1 win against former University of Chicago Club member, Nathan Lake.
Elsewhere, up at the traditional courts, 12 matches took place across three courts. Former World No.1 and two-time champion Nour ElSherbini began her Windy City Open 2026 campaign by toppling Canada’s Hollie Naughton 3-1.
ElSherbini will be joined in the second round by the new World No.2 Amina Orfi, who progressed following her straight game victory over Lucy Turmel, respectively.
Whilst Egypt’s Salma Hany showed incredible determination to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Ka Yi Lee to advance to the second round, winning 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9.
Meanwhile, the two-time Windy City Open champion, Mohamed ElShorbagy was able to progress to the second round following a 3-1 victory over France’s Auguste Dussourd, whilst Eain Yow Ng secured a place into the next round after winning in straight games against Nicolas Mueller.
Round two of the Windy City Open 2026 presented by The Walter Family gets underway tomorrow (Friday 5th February), with the action getting underway from 12:00 (GMT-6) in Chicago. All the action will be streamed live on SQUASHTV.
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Results: Men’s RD1
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt. Leonel Cardenas (MEX)3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (61m)
[8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. Auguste Dussourd (FRA)3-1: 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, 11-7 (47m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt. Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (35m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt. Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (37m)
[7] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt. Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 (33m)
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)
Results: Women’s RD1
[2] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (32m)
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt. Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (30m)
[3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt. Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-1: 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3 (34m)
Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt. Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-1: 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (36m)
[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)
Salma Hany (EGY) bt. Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-2: 5-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9 (43m)
Aira Azman (MAS) bt. Torrie Malik (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 14-12 (45m)
[8] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt. Nardine Garas (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (26m)