Germany’s Simon Rösner denied world No. 2 Ali Farag the opportunity to defend his FS Investments U.S. Open title, while the U.S. Open is guaranteed a first-time women’s champion in the form of the world’s top two ranked women—Nour El Sherbini or Raneem El Welily—following Friday’s semifinals in Philadelphia.

The first match of the day staged a rematch of the 2016 women’s final between 2016 champion Camille Serme and world No. 1 El Sherbini. Serme, the French world No. 4, got the best of her Egyptian counterpart in both 2016 and in their most recent meeting—two weeks ago at the China Open.

Serme continued her superb form from her quarterfinal victory over Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy straight into the first game, pushing and forcing errors from the world No. 1 as she clawed back from 9-5 down to take the first game 12-10.

El Sherbini regained control after the first game, leveling in the second 11-6, fighting off game balls to take the third 12-10 and eventually pulling away from 5-all in the fourth to clinch her third career U.S. Open final berth 11-8 after sixty-two minutes.

“It’s always tough to play against Camille,” El Sherbini said. “She’s a very fair player and it’s always hard to beat her. She is back to No. 4 in the world and that shows how good and how tough she is. I’m really glad I won today. It was long rallies and all the games were close, so I’m really happy to be through to the final.”

The U.S. Open is one of the only major PSA World Platinum titles that eludes the Alexandria, Egypt-native, who has topped the world’s rankings for more than two and a half years. El Sherbini previously lost out against Nicol David in the 2014 final and Serme in the 2016 final.

“It would mean a lot to win here,” El Sherbini. “The U.S. Open is one of the biggest tournaments and I would really love to put my name on the trophy. It’s the third final for me and hopefully it is going to be the one. Raneem is the most consistent player on Tour right now and I’m sure it will be a good match.”

El Welily prevailed from a tight encounter with the first Welsh semifinalist in U.S. Open history—world No. 12 Tesni Evans. The tenacious Welshwoman forced the best out of Welily, fighting off stretches of game balls in each game, and even surmounting a sizeable lead to take the second game, but ultimately fell short in four games and sixty-four minutes.

“Tesni played really well and all credit to her for pushing me all the way and fighting,” El Welily said. “She has had an impressive week and is going to fight all this season.”

El Welily and El Sherbini’s last six match ups all collided in finals, with El Welily claiming the 2017 World Championship and 2018 El Gouna International, and El Sherbini claiming the 2017 Hong Kong Open, 2018 PSA Saudi Masters, 2018 British Open and 2018 World Series Finals.

“I will try to think of positive for tomorrow,” El Welily said. “It’s definitely more difficult playing against Nour, she is a very good friend and we play against each other a lot. Playing any Egyptian girl is usually more difficult mentally.”

Like El Sherbini, the U.S. Open title has escaped El Welily’s trophy cabinet having fallen short in the final last year against Nour El Tayeb and in 2012 against Nicol David.

“Winning the U.S. Open title is definitely something I would love to do, but it’s not going to be easy.” El Welily said. “No match is easy, so definitely playing the world No. 1 is not going to be any easier.”

The men’s final will pit two-time champion and world No. 1 Mohamed ElShorbagy against Rösner, who stopped defending champion and world No. 2 Ali Farag in his tracks.

After an impressive five-game quarterfinal victory against Gregory Gaultier, Farag appeared to be en route to setting up a 2017 final rematch by winning the first game against the German 11-4. To the surprise of Farag and the crowd, Rösner turned the match on its head, outplaying the Harvard graduate to reach his first career U.S. Open final 4-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 in fifty-four minutes.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Rösner said. “We are good friends. As always it was a very fair and clean match, and it’s always a pleasure to play him. I’m not sure what happened after the first, I think I got my tactics right and got the ball into the corners. I was able to play my attacking squash and I’m very pleased and relieved with my performance. To beat Ali when he is playing such fantastic squash is something very special.”

2018 has proved to be a banner year for the German who surged to the biggest title of his career at the 2018 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in January, which propelled him to a career high-ranking of No. 5 this summer. Off the court, the thirty-year-old got married this summer and is expecting his first child in December.

“It seems like the U.S. is good for me,” Rösner said. “It has a lot to do with how comfortable you are and how the place is treating you. After not making the semis before and now reaching the final it is huge for me. Life is treating me well at the moment, so I just want to continue on that wave and play my best squash in the final tomorrow.”

Rösner has never defeated ElShorbagy in fourteen career matches on the PSA Tour, but will have a fifteenth opportunity on Saturday after ElShorbagy tamed New Zealand’s Paul Coll. Coll, who had powered his way into his first career PSA World Platinum semifinal with an upset over world No. 4 Tarek Momen, started the match on the front foot. Poised with three game balls up 10-7, Coll took a blow to the face that caused a blood injury time out for nearly ten minutes. Coll returned to court and quickly fired off a point to earn the first game 11-7, but that would be the last time the Kiwi would experience positive momentum in the match. The Egyptian returned to court with renewed focus and precision, manipulating Coll around the court on his way to a four-game victory in seventy-eight minutes.

“I’ve reached my fourth U.S. Open final in the last five years,” ElShorbagy said. “I have great memories here, this is the tournament that got me to world No. 1 four years ago and I come back here every year having those great memories. I’m really happy to be back in the final, I lost it here last year and I was disappointed but I lost because my opponent was the better player. I hope I give another good performance tomorrow.”

Saturday’s finals start at 5pm local time. For tickets visit usopensquash.com/tickets.

The 2018 FS Investments U.S Open Squash Championships has featured a number of exciting ways for fans to engage with all the action.

The Dunlop Meet & Greet Experience allowed John Cranmer to have the rare opportunity to spend time with a PSA professional. They were thrilled to talk with Nour El Tayeb, the world No.3 from Egypt. They talked about her training regimen, her hopes for this season and life on the PSA World Tour. Cranmer first picked up squash in the early 1990s at Rutgers School of Law—Camden, playing on new hardball courts. He now plays at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. He received a Dunlop Prize Pack, including a racquet bag, racquet and other gear.

The Hit With a Pro contest occurred on semifinal night. Saurav Ghosal, the world No.11 from India, hit with Pedro Ferreira. A native of Lisbon, Ferreira has lived in the U.S. since 1999. He and his wife live in Pittsburgh; he is a professor of social media and data at Carnegie Mellon. He is an active player at CMU’s courts. a Philadelphia who is an avid fan of the U.S. Open. They played on the ASB GlassCourt for a half hour. Afterwards, also Ferreira received a Dunlop Price Pack.

In addition, each night at the U.S. Open has featured other fan engagement with prizes and Dunlop gear: tee-shirt, hats, sweatbands and white balls autographed by top players as giveaways in between games; lucky row giveaways; and guess the game score and the match time contests.

Perhaps the most exciting new initiative was the Dunlop Racquet Spin. Randomly selected spectators and participants from SquashSmarts, the Philadelphia youth enrichment program, came on court to determine who serves in all the semifinal matches.

Dunlop is an official ball and eyeguard sponsor of US Squash and a U.S. Open sponsor and the official ball of the PSA.

Moreover, twenty-five different groups—middle, high school and college programs and East Coast clubs—each enjoyed a bespoke U.S. Open evening. They met players, received giveaways and shared a special experience at the Open.

The FS Investments U.S. Open has historically led the PSA World Tour as an innovator in event presentation and parity in prize money, and is now on the forefront of sports-science data collection.

The U.S. Open was the first pro event to have live action photography from the front of the court (at the 1954 Open in New York). It was the first tournament to ever broadcast on television (at the 1959 Open in Pittsburgh). It was the first pro event to use point-per-rally scoring and a seventeen-inch tin (at the 1985 Open in San Francisco). At the 2013 Open in Philadelphia, the event gave equal prize money to men and women, becoming the first major squash tournament to have prize-money parity. All these innovations are now standard for squash.

This year’s revolution is data. Sports Data Lab is at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel providing real-time data on players’ heart rates. “We are excited to be at the U.S. Open,” said Stan Mimoto, the co-founder and president of Sports Data Labs. “It’s a fantastic venue with the 360 viewing and various seating options that keep it intimate and exciting for all.”

Sports Data Labs provides the technology infrastructure to enable in-game capture, analysis and distribution of real-time human data for athlete and team consumption, as well as other business and consumer applications. During last season Sports Data Labs had provided over eighty hours of real-time human data content captured across fifty matches on three continents for the PSA; they were at the Tournament of Champions in New York, the Windy City Open in Chicago, the British Open in Yorkshire and the World Series Finals in Dubai.

Players strap a sensor to their chest, and their heart rate data is captured by Sports Data Labs real-time transmission platform. The ever-changing number is put up on the Jumbotron above the ASB GlassCourt and onto SquashTV’s broadcast. Spectators can now understand the intensity of world-class squash, especially towards the ends of games when heart rates climb to over 200 beats per minute.

The PSA’s partnership with Sports Data Labs—making in-game physiological data available in real-time—is a first for a professional sport. Moreover, the PSA announced this week at the FS Investments U.S. Open that they have created a prize pool of $100,000 for players who have worn the heart monitors and consented for the PSA to commercialize the in-match data. The revenue-sharing system is launching at the Open and will continue for the rest of the year. Sports Data Labs will be capturing physiological data at Channel VAS at St. George’s Hill, Qatar Classic, Hong Kong and Black Ball Squash Open in Cairo.

“We are delighted to make this announcement during the U.S. Open,” said Lee Beachill, the COO of the PSA, “which is such a prestigious event on the PSA World Tour. Capturing this kind of data and making it available during live matches to squash fans around the world is obviously very new and we are thrilled with the reaction of both fans and players.”

“The vision that the PSA has for using physiological data for both player performance and fan engagement use cases is at the forefront of professional sports,” said Mimoto. “The PSA and the players have been exemplary partners for us, and we are looking forward to continued success at many more upcoming events. The recent announcement of revenue going to the players is also a first in professional sports and something that will surely be looked at closely by other sport leagues. Over the course of the season we will be working closely with the PSA and the players to relay how physical the sport is and continue to expand the metrics that are captured, displayed during games and provided back to the players. These are exciting times.”

The Arlen Specter US Squash Center, which is scheduled to open for the 2020 U.S. Open, was highlighted on Thursday evening at the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open.

Located just two blocks from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station in the historic Armory building, the Specter Center will feature eighteen singles courts—including two all-glass exhibition courts—and two doubles courts, serve as US Squash’s national headquarters, the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame, house a Learning & Innovation Center and offer elite athletes state-of-the-art development resources including a Coaching Excellence Center and coordination with Drexel University’s robust capabilities as a major Division I athletic program. The Specter Center will serve as a model for community engagement and access, operating in partnership with SquashSmarts, Philadelphia’s award-winning out-of-school squash and education program.

Between U.S. Open quarterfinal matches on Thursday evening, a ceremony celebrating the planned Specter Center was held on the ASB Glasscourt with representatives from US Squash, Drexel and SquashSmarts. John Fry, president of Drexel University, remarked on the journey that has led to this point: “This was a vision of many over a long period of time with a couple of guiding principles that did stay true. We want to build—and we will build—the finest squash facility in the world, hands down. The Specter Center is guided by three principles: the first is access—squash for all, the second principle is opportunity—cultivating the next generation of squash players through a program like SquashSmarts, and the third is excellence—elite athletes will train here and reach the next level because of the Specter Center.”

Coupled with the seven courts of the Kline & Specter Squash Center at Drexel, as well as twelve new courts at the University of Pennsylvania, the Specter Center will create a hub of thirty-seven courts within a three-block radius in University City. The Specter Center will deliver an unparalleled event experience to players and fans from around the country—and the world—as they visit Philadelphia.

The Specter Center has been made possible by the generosity of a visionary group of donors, led by Shanin and Tracey Specter. Specter reflected on the importance of squash to his late father Arlen Specter, the longest-serving senator from Pennsylvania and long-time squash devotee: “It is so important to Tracy and me and our entire family to be able to support squash in this manner. My father was a great inspiration for us to play squash and be physically fit. He was pretty busy as a member of the U.S. Senate and yet he would play squash just about every day. He would say ‘I used to say that squash is the most important thing I do every day, but now I say that squash is the only important thing I do every day.’ He also said ‘you’re never too far behind to win, and you’re never too far ahead to lose.’ That’s of course a great lesson both on the court and in life. It just comes to us so naturally to be able to support this fantastic sport—this sport for a lifetime.”

The potential of the Specter Center was represented on court by current U.S. champion Amanda Sobhy, and SquashSmarts middle school squash director Tempest Bowden. Through grassroots engagement and elite athlete development, the Specter Center will be a home for the entire U.S. squash community.

The fifth-annual Women in Sport Day took place Wednesday during the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open at Drexel. The program featured a panel discussion, a clinic run by U.S. Open professionals for SquashSmarts students, and a reception and on-court ceremonies honoring leaders empowering girls and women in sport. A portion of the proceeds from Women in Sports Day benefit the US Squash’s Women’s Fund, helping build women’s squash programming in emerging and new markets across the country.

The day began with a mid-afternoon panel discussion at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Like last year, it was moderated by Katline Couwels. A former world no. 42, Couwels is co-director of the new innovative six-court club, MSquash Accelerator, along with her husband Shaun Moxham.

Joining her were Betsy Pulick, a treating physician at Ridgefield Sports Medicine in Connecticut; Caroline Glain, a fasciatherapist and sports mental coach from Brittany, France; Nyree Dardarian, an assistant clinical professor at Drexel and the director of Drexel’s Center for Integrated Nutrition & Performance; and Olivia Blatchford, the Team USA star and world No. 16.

Last year’s panel discussed the mental side of squash; this year it was about how to build and maintain a strong physical body. The discussion ranged from what to eat during a match—Dardarian introduced a new product, the Dragon Gel, a sports snack—to resistance training and the protection joints to the prevalence of low vitamin D levels in squash players.

“You want to be strong, balanced and flexible,” Glain said. “You need to work on your weaknesses. Don’t work on your dominant muscles, work on the weaker ones so you can be balanced.” Both Pulick and Dardarian spoke about the need for players to be wet sponges not dry sponges—to warm up properly so that the body was elastic and flexible.

The discussion ended with a question-and-answer session. Watch a replay of the panel discussion on the U.S. Open Facebook page.

On the Kline & Specter Squash Courts at Drexel, in addition to the panel, Women in Sports Day also included squash practice session with girls from SquashSmarts. A cohort of PSA players—2017 U.S. Open Champion Nour El Tayeb, Alison Waters, and Nele Gilis—led the clinic, giving the students a first-hand look at life on the professional tour.

SquashSmarts, now in its eighteenth season, is the central community partner of the recently announced $40 million Arlen Specter US Squash Center. Founded in 2001, SquashSmarts is a free, intensive out-of-school academic and athletic mentoring non-profit changing the lives of Philadelphia’s public school students. It operates daily out of two facilities—the Lenfest Center in North Philadelphia and Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center.

The Women in Sports Day Reception was held beginning at 5:00pm in a dramatic setting adjacent to the ASB Glasscourt. At the beginning of the speaking program, Kevin Klipstein, the president and CEO of US Squash, welcomed the many guests to the reception and introduced Mia Fioravanti, the manager of corporate communications at FS Investments and executive director of the FS Foundation. Fioravanti spoke about FS Investments synergy with US Squash, as both seek to develop access, community and excellence.

At the reception, Julieanne Harris of the Philadelphia Cricket Club was presented with the US Squash Achievement Bowl–the organization’s oldest award–and Alexandra (AK) Frazier was presented with the Women in Sports Day Special Recognition Award.

Quarterfinal play commenced following the reception with two women’s and two men’s matches, with world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini and 2016 U.S. Open Champion Camille Serme advancing to the women’s semifinal, and world No. 1 Mohamed ElShorbagy and first-time semifinalist Paul Coll doing so on the men’s side.

Alexandra (AK) Frazier was presented with the Women in Sports Day Special Recognition Award during a reception at the FS Investments U.S. Open on Wednesday evening.

The award was presented by Karen Dougherty Buchholz, the Senior Vice President for Comcast. Buchholz led the development of Comcast’s Technology Center, which opened earlier this year and is the tallest building in the U.S. not in Chicago or New York. Buchholz is also a squash mother, as her daughter Julia plays for the team at Penn.

A fifth-generation competitive golfer, Frazier launched Women Golfers Give Back in 2003 and is the president of its board of directors.  A Philadelphia-based non-profit, Women Golfers Give Back has raised more than $1 million for fifteen local golf programs that promote girls’ golf. Frazier also serves as the Executive Director of the Valentine Foundation, which supports programs building socially equitable outcomes for women and girls. In speaking about Frazier receiving the Special Recognition Award, Buchholz noted how her life has been enriched, enhanced and shaped by sports and how she works to enable other women to have that same experience.

Kevin Klipstein, the president and CEO of US Squash, then spoke about the progress that has been made in women’s squash, but that it was not the time to be complacent; instead, efforts towards creating equity in the squash community–and improving the lifelong experiences of women and girls in the sport–must be constantly supported and reinforced. Klipstein reminded the audience about the famous line by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a 2013 dissent, to being weary about “throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm when you are not getting wet.”

Olivia Blatchford Clyne was honored at the FS Investments U.S. Open with the 2017 United States Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year Award nomination. Rich Wade, the Senior Director of National Teams and Certifications, introduced Blatchford Clyne to a rousing ovation on the ASB GlassCourt.

Blatchford Clyne, a twenty-five year-old Wilton, Connecticut-native, had a remarkable 2017.  She jumped from world No. 27 in January to world No. 12 in December and won her first National Singles title to go with her four U.S. junior age-group titles.

Blatchford Clyne has been supported by the US Squash Elite Athlete Program since returning to the pro tour full-time in 2013 when she was ranked outside of the world’s top fifty.

Blatchford Clyne first represented senior Team USA at fifteen years old during the 2015 Women’s World Team Championship.

Since 1991, the USOC Athlete of the Year has been US Squash’s highest award for outstanding achievement in international competition. Previous winners include Mark Talbott, Demer Holleran, Louisa Hall, Ivy Pochoda, Michelle Quibell, Gilly Lane, Timmy Brownell, Amanda Sobhy and last year’s honoree Reeham Sedky.