The Windy City Open 2026 presented by the Walter Family continued this afternoon with four bottom-half round two matches taking place from the University Club of Chicago.
The opening match of the day saw a pumped-up Amanda Sobhy produce an incredible performance to defeat World No.7 Satomi Watanabe to move into her sixth consecutive Windy City Open quarter final. Sobhy, spurred on by the home support, came flying out of the blocks in the opening game, taking time away from the No.6 seed to win 11-6.
Despite Watanabe battling back to win the second game, Sobhy couldn’t be stopped. Her hard-hitting accuracy to the back corners continued to push Watanabe back, and volleying opportunities were gobbled up by the USA No.2 After securing the third game 11-6, Sobhy pushed on again and claimed the fourth game 11-8 to maintain her 100% quarter final record at the Windy City Open.
Two-time champion Mohamed Elshorbagy claimed an 11th straight win over Baptiste Masotti in the first men’s match of the day. Elshorbagy has been in great form of late. He recently won his 52nd PSA Tour title at the Squash on Fire Open after reaching another quarter final at the Tournament of Champions. The Englishman continued his fine form to storm through the opening two games, winning them both 11-5, giving Masotti a mountain to climb if he was to reach the last eight.
Masotti changed his tactics in game three and started to stretch Elshorbagy into all four corners and find winners at the front corners. Elshorbagy reached match ball at 10-9 and after being on the end of a lung busting rally, benefited from a video referee decision to deal the win and reach a seventh career quarter-final in Chicago.
“Me and Baptiste and I go way back, I thought it was a really high quality match and obviously really good for me to get off in three heading into the quarters. He really tested me but I’m very happy to be through.
“I’m not sure about putting the retirement chat to rest, it’s coming soon but I’m just happy to be playing better squash. It’s nice to be back competing and playing with enjoyment. I first came here in 2009 at 18 years old, I’ve come back every year. The Chicago crowd is so knowledgable and I come back every year because you all make us feel like home. The members of the club make you feel so welcome. Every time I’ve won or lost here its always been a pleasure to play here.”
No.2 seed Amina Orfi didn’t have things all her own way in her round two clash with USA’s Marina Stefanoni as she needed four games to overcome the American to reach the last eight.
Stefanoni fired out the blocks in the opening game, squeezing Orfi on the side walls and frustrating the World No.2. She ran through to 10-6 and sealed the game at the first time of asking, sending shockwaves through the University Club of Chicago.
Orfi returned to the court for the second, clearly irked by the opening game’s performance, and made no mistake as she pushed Stefanoni around the court at a serious pace. Orfi earned five game balls and after a mini comeback from Stefanoni, she equalised. From then on, Orfi dominated the contest and gave teh World No.22 no opportunity to work her way back into the contest. 11-3, 11-8 were the scores in the final two games as Orfi advanced.
The final of the afternoon session saw New Zealand’s Paul Coll take his place in the last eight of the sixth major event of the season. The 2022 champion was up against Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng, a player who Coll has only lost to once in 10 meetings.
Yow Ng has slipped down the rankings over the last year but is still capable of producing quality squash on his day. Coll’s got to work on his metrenomic style of play and tried to keep Yow behind him before taking a quality ball in short. Yow Ng was still maanging to test Coll and looked to try and volley as much as possible to rush the No.2 seed. Despite the posisitve play of the Malaysian, Coll took the opening two games 11-8, 11-4 to place one foot in the next round.
More of the same followed from the former World No.1, Coll, in game three. The accuracy of Coll’s drops were proving to be too much for Yow Ng, who was now struggling to defend with any accuracy. An 11-7 game three victory for Coll sealed the win as he advanced to the last eight once again in Chicago.
Results: Women’s RD2 (bottom-half)
Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [5] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 (42m)
[2] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-8 (58m)
Results: Men’s RD2 (bottom-half)
[8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 (39m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (49m)