El Hammamy & Asal Shine on Semi-Finals Day At Texas Open

Hania El Hammamy put in an outstanding display to record her first ever straight games win over Nour ElSherbini, reaching finals day at the Cotidie Texas Open 2025, where Mostafa Asal and Ali Farag will battle it out for the men's world No.1 ranking.

World No.3 El Hammamy reached at least the semi-finals of all six events she played in the first half of the season, but failed to get her hands on any silverware.

That all changed at the Tournament of Champions, though, where she beat ElSherbini and then Nouran Gohar to take home the trophy, and she's now just one win away from repeating that feat here in Houston.

Just as she'd done in their semi-final in New York, El Hammamy took the opening game from ElSherbini, reeling off three points on the bounce to move from 8-8 to 11-8, clinching the game with a well-disguised backhand volley drop that sent her opponent the wrong way.

Game two then proceeded to be eerily similar to game one, with El Hammamy racing from 8-8 to 11-8 to win another 14-minute game, ending it on another backhand volley, this time a high overhand winner that gave ElSherbini no chance.

The 24-year-old had a spring in her step as she returned to court for game three, cutting a confident figure as she won the first two points, and playing with a smile on her face throughout, even when falling 4-2 behind.

She had actually trailed in each of the first two games - 8-7 in the first and 7-4 in the fourth - and soon erased the deficit once more in the third, moving 5-4 in front.

A cross-court backhand drop into the nick brought ElSherbini level again and even drew applause from El Hammamy, with the players trading further points en-route to another 8-8 scoreline.

But once again, that was as close as ElSherbini got to winning the game, as El Hammamy scored another three points on the bounce to secure her first ever 3/0 win over 'The Warrior Princess', letting out a huge roar of emotion after sealing her place in the final, where Gohar once again awaits.

"It's huge," said the No.3 seed after her win.

"I was just in the UK last week with my coach Laura Massaro, and I've had loads of conversations with her, talking about how I would like to back myself and have win after win against those top two players in the world.

"I've never had back-to-back wins against either of them so it's definitely huge. It's been a bit tough for me to try and forget about this thought throughout the day and play the match without having any heavy thoughts in my mind.

"I'm really looking forward to that match [against Gohar]. Playing against the world No.1 and world No.2 is definitely a tough ask. For me to get the title I have to get through both of them which is tough and makes it extra meaningful when you get to win the title."

Gohar had earned her spot in the final with a comfortable 3/0 win over Tinne Gilis in the day's first match, while men's world No.1 Farag followed that with a 3/1 success against France's Victor Crouin.

Farag - champion here in 2022 and 2024 - must now defend both his title and his world No.1 ranking against Asal, who cruised past Marwan ElShorbagy in the final match of the day.

Asal will go to world No.1 - albeit not until the first week of March - should be beat Farag in tomorrow's final, and he laid down a marker with a sensational performance against ElShorbagy.

The meeting between Asal and Elshorbagy also had the added spice of being a rematch of the hugely controversial semi-final between the two players here in 2023, when Asal was awarded the match due to an injury to Elshorbagy, and subsequently went to world No.1 for the very first time.

This time around, though, there was no controversy and instead, an utterly dominant display from the current world No.2, who controlled proceedings from start to finish, dominating almost every rally at both the front and the back of the court.

The only exception was the first six points, five of which were won by Elshorbagy, but from there it was almost entirely one-way traffic, with Asal winning 32 of the next 35 points to secure a 3/0 win in little more than half an hour.

"I'm very happy, my performance today was solid," Asal said after his win.

"Marwan is a friend. We were joking inside the court as well and it was a lovely match today.

"To be honest, the timing of his match yesterday was a little bit late, and I had the advantage. He produced an amazing comeback against Joel, it was super physical as well, so I'm glad it worked in my way."

On tomorrow's match against Farag, though, he refused to be draw on the chance to reascend to world No.1.

"Tomorrow's a big match, another final. I don't think about the numbers, I just take it match by match.

"You can't predict anything. Hopefully it will be a good match for our sport and hopefully the better play will win."