PHILADELPHIA (USA): Diego Elias became the first Peruvian to reach the US Open final after overcoming three-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, winning 12-10, 11-7, 11-6.
“I’m just very happy with my performance,” said Elias. “We’re now 5-5 in head to heads and it’s always very tough. He became a very good friend of mine and it’s always tough playing with him. I’m feeling great, I won yesterday and today 3-0 so I’m fresh. It’s a bit late but I think I can still recover pretty well and be ready for tomorrow.”
Elias will line up against two-time champion Ali Farag in the final after the Egyptian, who will go back to World No.1 on Monday, overcame ElShorbagy’s younger brother Marwan in four games.
“He’s got all the weapons in his repertoire to hurt you with, so I’m really happy that I didn’t panic after the third and I kept my focus,” said Farag. “Usually I hit more aggressive length in the back corners, I hit it with more bite, but today because I knew I don’t want to tire myself out, it was a little bit more calculated. And that made the difference and that’s why I didn’t feel necessarily as tired at the end.”
The women’s title decider will be a familiar fixture, with top seeds Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini locking horns for the 23rd time on the PSA World Tour, the 11th time they will meet in a PSA final.
Gohar will appear in her third U.S. Open final in a row following triumphs in 2019 and 2021. The 25-year-old overcame Nour El Tayeb in a repeat of the 2019 title decider in four games
“The commentators made me a bit angry predicting Nour would win,” said Gohar. “If I’m World No.1 and you’re not going to predict I’ll win, when will you? Just kidding, but obviously it kind of relieved a bit of the pressure. I felt that if everybody thinks that I’m not good enough to win today, it’s fine, I’m just going to prove them wrong. And I’m the kind of character who likes to challenge myself before challenging others.”
