Round Three: The big guns take over / End of the dream runs
The top eight seeds are through in both draws.
After two rounds full of upsets, qualifiers and dangerous youngsters, Round Three restored some order: all eight seeds in both the men’s and women’s draws booked their places in the quarter-finals at the Pyramids.
The dream runs finally came to an end – but not without making an impression. Qualifier Ruqayya Salem gave Nouran Gohar a tremendous battle, saving match balls and taking the third 16-14 before the former World No.1 finally closed it in four. Nouran paid tribute to the 18-year-old and admitted she is still rediscovering the match instincts that come only from competition after a long break.
For Yasshmita, it was simply one match too far.
The Lucky Loser’s extraordinary week ended against Satomi Watanabe, who had studied every one of her matches from qualifying onwards and refused to offer her even the smallest opening. Satomi’s approach was clear: forget the ranking, respect the player in front of you, and show no weakness.
Amanda reminded everybody just how dangerous she still is. Hania El Hammamy looked in complete control early on, but once Amanda Sobhy adjusted to the glass court, the whole match changed. Her shot mixing and ability to attack from anywhere disrupted Hania’s movement, and Amanda pushed the World No.1 all the way in a superb four-game battle. More importantly for Amanda, she finally felt that she was “in the arena” again.
Amina had to solve the Rowan puzzle.
The score says 3-0, but Rowan Elaraby’s intelligent, chess-like use of height, width and placement repeatedly disturbed Amina Orfi’s rhythm. It was physical, tense and full of decisions, but Amina managed the difficult moments and kept alive her ambition of winning one of the biggest titles on the calendar.
Nour El Sherbini is getting hungry again. Marina Stefanoni pushed her hard, but Nour once again produced her best squash when it mattered. After struggling with injury and regretting her decision to play Qatar, she says she is feeling much better physically — and, importantly, still very motivated to squeeze everything she can out of the next few years of her career. And no, apparently, babies are not on the immediate agenda…
Gina Kennedy made herself hard to beat… Sana Ibrahim’s quality put her under huge pressure early on, but Gina turned the match through movement, retrieval and sheer persistence. Even when her targets were not quite there, she made herself incredibly difficult to finish off — until Sana’s attacking game eventually started to break down.
Siva Subramaniam was clinical.
Nele Gilis struggled to find her length against Siva’s variations and attacking options in the opening two games. Nele finally found some rhythm in the third, but Siva remained in control in the end.
Fayrouz survived another serious challenge Jasmine Hutton imposed her trademark frantic pace and aggressive front-court game, forcing Fayrouz Aboelkheir into a five-game battle. But once the Egyptian settled early in the decider, she raced through 11-3 to book her place at the Pyramids.
Karim Abdel Gawad salutes Kareem’s movement. Kareem El Torkey controlled the early stages and led by a game and points in the second, but Gawad realised he needed to push him deeper rather than compete with his attacking rhythm. Once he made that tactical adjustment, the match swung his way decisively.
Marwan used every ounce of experience.
Leonel Cardenas led 2-1 after imposing his physical, patient game, but Marwan ElShorbagy changed pace, played straighter and slowed the match down. His reward: a quarter-final place on the day he celebrated his 600th PSA match.
Victor: from survival mode to complete control
Twenty-four hours after escaping Velavan in five, Victor Crouin dominated Yahya Elnawasany in straight games. Even a late wobble from 8-2 to 8-8 in the third became another useful mental lesson. Next comes Paul Coll — again — and Victor sees every one of those matches as valuable preparation in a rivalry that could become very significant on the road to LA 2028.
Joel Makin is exactly where he wants to be physically.
Three 11-8 games against Auguste Dussourd may look routine on paper, but it was a hard 57-minute workout. Joel feels his body and training continuity are finally back where they need to be — and he now gets the test he wanted against Diego Elias.
