Men’s World No.1 Ali Farag and World No.10 Marwan ElShorbagy will meet in the second round of the Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family as the world’s best players descend upon Chicago for the 40th anniversary of the PSA World Tour Platinum tournament.
The event, which will be held at the University Club of Chicago, will take place between February 21-28 and be available to watch live on SQUASHTV.
Farag and ElShorbagy, who have won a combined 50 PSA Tour titles throughout their careers, will meet in the last 32 after receiving first-round byes, in what is a tricky start to the event for both players. Farag, the No.1 seed, will be looking to pick up his second Windy City Open title after coming away victorious from the 2020 edition.
Defending champion Paul Coll is seeded at No.3 and will play either Youssef Ibrahim or Yahya Elnawasany in the second round. The New Zealander, who has already captured Platinum titles at the U.S. Open and the Hong Kong Open this season, is then seeded to face Baptiste Masotti and Tarek Momen in round three and the quarter-finals, respectively.
No.2 seed Diego Elias and No.5 seed Mostafa Asal will both be searching for a first title at the Illinois-based event, with the pair scheduled to lock horns in the quarter-finals if the early rounds were to go to seeding. ‘The Peruvian Puma’ will open his account against Gregoire Marche or Ramit Tandon, while Asal will play either Rory Stewart or Mohamed ElSherbini.
Two-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy of England is the No.4 seed and faces a tough opening opponent in World No.12 Youssef Soliman, while compatriots Fares Dessouky and Aly Abou Eleinen will also square off against each other in Round 2.
Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, World No.1 Nour El Sherbini will be looking to continue her superb season and stretch her lead at the summit of the women’s rankings. ‘The Warrior Princess’, who recently captured the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions title, is predicted to face Rachel Arnold in the second round before potential matches against Olivia Weaver and Nour El Tayeb in Round 3 and the quarter-finals.
World No.3 Nouran Gohar arrives as the defending champion and will start her defence against either Farida Mohamed or Enora Villard. The 26-year-old defeated Hania El Hammamy in straight games in the 2022 final, and could potentially face her compatriot once again in the semi-finals, with both players in the bottom half of the draw.
El Hammamy, meanwhile, will open her account against one of Fayrouz Aboelkheir or Zeina Mickawy before being seeded to face recent J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions semi-finalist Rowan Elaraby in the third round.
Elsewhere, World No.9 Joelle King is set to mark her return from injury at the Windy City Open, having been sidelined ever since her quarter-final exit at the U.S. Open last October. The 35-year-old lost out to teenage star Amina Orfi on that day but could be offered the chance for revenge, with the pair scheduled to meet in the third round if they get through their opening matches.
Seven American players will be competing across the two draws, with Shahjahan Khan, Timothy Brownell and Wildcards Dillon Huang and Rustin Wiser taking part in the men’s event, and Olivia Weaver, Sabrina Sobhy and Wildcard Ava Lin, an outstanding junior who trains at the University Club of Chicago, named in the women’s draw. World No.15 Sobhy has been handed a tricky opening tie in particular, with 2018 Windy City Open champion El Tayeb standing in her way in the second round.
Windy City Open 2024: Men’s Draw
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) [bye]
[9/16] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) [bye]
[17/32] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v David Baillargeon (CAN)
Leandro Romiglio (ARG) v [17/32] Iker Pajares (ESP)
[17/32] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Timothy Brownell (USA)
[9/16] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) [bye]
[17/32] Nathan Lake (ENG) v [WC] Rustin Wiser (USA)
[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) [bye]
[7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) [bye]
Nick Wall (ENG) v [17/32] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[9/16] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
[9/16] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) [bye]
[9/16] Joel Makin (WAL) [bye]
Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) v [17/32] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[9/16] Youssef Soliman (EGY) [bye]
[4] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) [bye]
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) [bye]
Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v [17/32] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
[17/32] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA)
[9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) [bye]
[9/16] Victor Crouin (FRA) [bye]
Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v [17/32] Greg Lobban (SCO)
[17/32] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) v Shahjahan Khan (USA)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) [bye]
[5] Mostafa Asal (EGY) [bye]
Rory Stewart (SCO) v [17/32] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY)
[17/32] Patrick Rooney (ENG) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
Curtis Malik (ENG) v [17/32] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[17/32] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) v [WC] Dillon Huang (USA)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [17/32] Adrian Waller (ENG)
[17/32] Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Ramit Tandon (IND)
[2] Diego Elias (PER) [bye]
Windy City Open 2024: Women’s Draw
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) [bye]
Grace Gear (ENG) v [17/32] Rachel Arnold (MAS)
[17/32] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) v Nicole Bunyan (CAN)
[9/16] Olivia Weaver (USA) [bye]
[17/32] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY)
Marie Stephan (FRA) v [17/32] Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
[9/16] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) [bye]
[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) [bye]
[5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) [bye]
Aira Azman (MAS) v [17/32] Mariam Metwally (EGY)
[9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) [bye]
Jana Shiha (EGY) v [17/32] Tesni Murphy (WAL)
[17/32] Hana Ramadan (EGY) v Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v [17/32] Satomi Watanabe (JPN)
[17/32] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) v Georgia Adderley (SCO)
[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) [bye]
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) [bye]
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v [17/32] Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
[9/16] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) [bye]
Malak Khafagy (EGY) v [17/32] Aifa Azman (MAS)
[17/32] Melissa Alves (FRA) v Ka Yi Lee (HKG)
Hana Moataz (EGY) v [17/32] Hollie Naughton (CAN)
[17/32] Emily Whitlock (WAL) v Salma Eltayeb (EGY)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) [bye]
[8] Joelle King (NZL) [bye]
[WC] Ava Lin (USA) v [17/32] Tomato Ho (HKG)
[9/16] Nada Abbas (EGY) [bye]
[9/16] Amina Orfi (EGY) [bye]
[9/16] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) [bye]
[9/16] Salma Hany (EGY) [bye]
[17/32] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Enora Villard (FRA)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) [bye]
