WHAT

A $118,000, 24-draw men’s and a $88,000, 24-draw women’s PSA world ranking single elimination tournament. One of the top 10 professional tournaments on the global PSA World Tour as determined by prize money. The Men’s winner in the 9th annual iteration of the tournament will earn $17,600. The Women’s division is in its 4th year and the winner will earn $12,100.

WHO

(as of June 25, 2018)

A field of top international male players including four current or former World No. 1 players; current No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY), three-time Oracle NetSuite Open champion Gregory Gaultier (FRA), two-time Oracle NetSuite Open champion Ramy Ashour and James Willstrop (ENG). Local Bay Club professional and world No. 240 Charlie Johnson (ENG) is the Wildcard entry into the main draw.

The women’s entries to date feature World No. 5 Camille Serme (FRA), World No. 8 Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG), who is also the defending champion, World. No. 9 Nicol David (MAS), winner of eight World Open titles and nine-year World no. 1, and USA star Amanda Sobhy. The Women’s Wildcard is Squash Zone professional and World no. 124 Aisling Blake (IRL).

WHERE

The round of 32 matches for both men and women will be played September 27^th at Squash Zone (10 matches) in Redwood City and Bay Club Redwood Shores (6 matches). The winners of these matches will compete in the round of 16 together with the top 8 seeds of each draw at the Bay Club San Francisco (8 matches), Olympic Club (4) and University Club (4) in San Francisco on September 28^th.

Three women’s Quarterfinal matches will be played Saturday afternoon September 29^th at the Bay Club San Francisco.

Play then moves to the evenings of Sept. 30-Oct. 2 on the state-of-the-art Oracle NetSuite Court, an all-glass portable squash court with embedded video and LED displays, on the South Lawn of Embarcadero Plaza by the San Francisco waterfront for the remaining men’s and women’s Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. Seating capacity at the temporary outdoor arena is 500 per session.

WHEN

September 27-29 – Main Draw club-based matches

September 29-October 2 – Main Draw competition on the portable, all-glass Oracle NetSuite Challenge Court on the South Lawn of Embarcadero Plaza.

The Men’s draw has a split Quarterfinal format, while the Women’s draw has a split Semi-final. There is no Qualifying tournament.

HOW

Reserved seat tickets are available through www.oraclenetsuiteopen.com and range from $20-$350.

SCORING

Squash games are scored to 11 points. A point can be won regardless of who is serving. A player must earn two consecutive points clear of his opponent’s score to win any game tied at 10-10. A match is played best-of-five-games. The average match lasts 45 to 60 minutes.

MANAGEMENT

The Oracle NetSuite Open is produced by Squash Engine based in Boston, MA. Squash Engine also produces the squash tour’s iconic annual Tournament of Champions in Grand Central Terminal, NYC, as well as long running past events including the Canadian Classic in Toronto and Showdown at Symphony Hall in Boston. The company is owned and managed by US Squash Hall of Fame member John Nimick, a former WPSA no. 2 professional and US Intercollegiate and US National Champion.

Rules Of The Game

• PSA World Tour tournaments use a referee-marker system for club matches and a center referee/video review referee system for glass court matches. The center calls the score and adjudicates the match. His or hers is the voice you hear throughout the match. The video referee views multi-angle match video replays and makes final decisions on appeals.
• A Stroke may be awarded to a player who had a winning opportunity but was prevented (usually by obstruction) from playing the shot.
• When a player requests a Let the Referees may award a Let or Yes, Let (usually because one player was in the other’s way in a routine point). It means the point will be played over again.
• The Referees will rule No Let if they think the player could not have gotten to the ball before it bounced twice. A player may, from time to time, appeal a ruling but the Referee’s decision is final.
• The squash racquet is the same length as the average tennis racquet, but weighs just a little more than a badminton racquet.
• The squash ball is soft and it bounces far less than a tennis ball.
• The matches are best of five games (ie. First player to win three games). Each game is played `first to eleven points` unless tied at 10-all — in which case, they play on until one of the players earns a two point lead – which then gives him the game. The game score is recorded as 11-10 with the extra points total in brackets following.
• A player serves until he loses a point. The receiver then becomes the server and has the choice of from which side to begin serving– then alternates sides for each subsequent serve until he loses a point. A player gets only one serve on each point — a service fault is a lost point.
• After hitting the ball, the player MUST make his best effort to get out of the opponent’s way.
• On each shot the ball can hit any number of walls, but MUST hit the front wall once, MUST stay within the court boundaries (marked near the top of the walls) and MUST NOT hit the tin. The ball can bounce ONLY ONCE on the floor.
• In squash, as the level of play improves, so does the average length of each rally in matches between players of equal or near equal ability.

The Squash Primer

Front Wall

Hitting the line is “out” in squash — and the “ceiling” is not in play.

Service Line

Serves must be above this line — hitting it is “out.”

The Tin

19″ high for amateur and 17″ for professionals — all shots must be above the tin.

Back Wall

The “out” line is 7 feet high.

Service Lines

Defining the two “service areas” — when serving, the ball must go into the opposite service area.

Service Box

The player must have at least one foot in the Service Box when serving.

Attacking Shots

are usually hit to the front corners of the court.

Keeping The Ball Tight To The Side Wall

allows your opponent limited shot selection, usually precludes attack and may produce a “loose” ball which facilitates your attack.

Control The “T”

to be in the best position to “get” balls on either side and to hit attacking shots on balls hit away from the side walls.

Keep The Ball Deep

tends to keep opponents on the defense and produces opportunities for you to attack the front court.