Top-ten-ranked Belgian sisters Tinne Gilis and Nele Coll will appear in the Comcast Business U.S. Open Squash Championships quarterfinals alongside each other for the first time, while former Penn star Aly Abou Eleinen is set for his first appearance in the last eight after upsetting veteran and 2022 U.S. Open finalist Tarek Momen Tuesday, October 22, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia.
Tuesday night’s matches saw the completion of the quarterfinal lineup with eight second round matches held across both glass courts. Seven of the eight seeded players advanced to the quarterfinals with the exception of seven seed Momen.
Four past champions kept their title hopes alive as they progressed, including Nouran Gohar, Mohamed ElShorbagy, Mostafa Asal and Diego Elias.
The Belgian sisters became the third set of sisters to appear in the U.S. Open quarterfinals together following the Sobhy sisters in 2022 and the Grinham sisters in 2003.
Coll, world No. 5, came back from a game down against Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim to advance in four games. Coll will face world No. 2 Nouran Gohar for a spot in the semifinals on Thursday night.
“I think it was just all the tension and frustration coming out at the end,” Coll said. “She’s such a dangerous opponent and especially with a court like this where it’s so dead, she just shoots, and it just made me quite edgy today. I didn’t watch the last match back. I wanted to forget about that match as quickly as possible, but I knew exactly what I did wrong there. I wouldn’t say I got it right today but it was better.”
Gilis will make her debut in the U.S. Open quarterfinal against Egypt’s world No. 3 Hania El Hammamy following a decisive 3-0 victory over Egypt’s Malak Khafagy.
Eleinen, world No. 13, defeated world No. 7 Momen for the second time in as many weeks following a recent win at the Silicon Valley Open. Eleinen came back from dropping the first game to win 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 in fifty-five minutes.
The quarterfinal rounds will take place across Wednesday and Thursday night with match play moving the H. Chase Lenfest West Glass Court.
Tickets are available on usopensquash.com/tickets. Watch live coverage on squash.tv.