Egyptian Duo Aboelkheir & Ibrahim Shock Seeds In US Openers

Unseeded Egyptian duo Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Youssef Ibrahim delivered the first major shocks of the 2024 Comcast Business US Open after fighting from behind to defeat sixth seeds Georgina Kennedy and Karim Abdel Gawad, respectively, in five games in Philadelphia.

Aboelkheir, who recently defeated Kennedy in five at Paris Squash, replicated those heroics at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center as she came from 2/1 down, saving three match balls in the fourth game, to advance to the second round of the Platinum-level event.

In a back-and-forth encounter that saw several swings in momentum, it was Aboelkheir who delivered her best squash in the pressure moments, eventually taking victory by an 11-7, 4-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-5 scoreline.

After the match, the 18-year-old said: "I'm really happy to be through today. Gina is such a hard player to come up against; she's so quick around the court and had match balls in the fourth game.

"I just think about it [being match ball down] in a very easy way. You're already losing, so you have nothing else to lose. You can just go for your shots a lot more in those moments."

Meanwhile, in the men's event, world No.17 Ibrahim battled back from 2/0 down to defeat former World Champion Gawad in an entertaining five-game duel on one of the two side courts in use in Philadelphia.

Ibrahim, 25, won the 89-minute contest by an 8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 scoreline, saving a match ball in the fourth game, to record his second victory over Gawad from three meetings on the PSA Tour.

Elsewhere, world No.1s Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag both safely booked their spots in the second round, while defending champion Paul Coll got his men's title defence underway with victory over Nicolas Mueller.