World No. 1’s to Face World Champions in U.S. Open Finals

L-R: Nour El Sherbini Nouran Gohar, Diego Elias, Ali Farag

World No. 1’s Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag will take on reigning world champions Nouran Gohar and Diego Elias in the 2024 Comcast Business U.S. Open Squash Championships finals after progressing through the semifinals Friday, October 25, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadephia.

All four finalists will be adding to their U.S. Open title legacies with Gohar having won three titles, Farag two titles, and El Sherbini and Elias one title.

The first semifinal saw Team USA’s Olivia Weaver exit the tournament at the hands of El Sherbini–her second loss against the Egyptian this season. The American acquitted herself well against the world No. 1, however, pushing El Sherbini to five games and earning a standing ovation from the home crowd as a result of her efforts.

El Sherbini, who arrived into the match with a perfect 10-0 head-to-head record against Weaver, prevailed 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-4 in fifty-four minutes.
“I feel the crowds [supporting Olivia] are a good thing, to be honest,” El Sherbini said. “I never take it as a negative thing. I try to say [in my head] that they are supporting me and not her. I think it [my lapses in concentration] is something that I still need to work on, to be honest. I’m not always like this in tournaments, but this week I am. That is definitely something I can work on.”
Meanwhile, Gohar stretched her winning run over long-term rival El Hammamy to five matches following an 11-3, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9 victory.  Gohar, a three-time U.S. Open champion, will have the opportunity to become the first player to engrave her name on the women’s trophy four times on Saturday.
In the men’s draw, top seed Farag delivered a masterful performance to negate the dangerous attacking play of World No.5 Mazen Hesham and progress in straight games.
Farag, a two-time champion at the U.S. Open, ultimately proved too strong for Hesham throughout the 38-minute encounter.  After coming from 6-2 down to take the opener and holding off a comeback from Hesham in the second game, Farag moved through to take a dominant win by an 11-7, 11-9, 11-1 scoreline.
“You’re going to have to accept that you’re going to be outplayed by Mazen for certain patches of the match,” Farag said after the match. “You’ve got to remember that it’s a marathon. I knew that if I kept my stamina and my mental resilience for long periods of the match, I would stand a good chance of winning today. I had to pick my punches. I didn’t want to be passive but at the same time I had to be very careful of when I went short. It’s a weird mix of not being passive but also stretching the rallies out.”
The men’s final will be a rematch of the 2022 U.S. Open final that saw Farag concede the match after three points due to injury.
World No. 4 Diego Elias was the last winner on semifinals night, continuing his faultless progression through the men’s draw by ending the superb run of unseeded Penn graduate Aly Abou Eleinen in three games. 
The U.S. Open finals begin at 6pm ET on Saturday, October 26. Limited tickets are available on usopensquash.com/tickets. Watch live coverage on squash.tv.