Oracle NetSuite Open Draws Released as Squash Returns to San Francisco
August 21, 2019 By Chris McClintick no Comments
The draws for September’s Oracle NetSuite Open, PSA World Tour Gold tournament have been released today, with United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy and World Championship runner-up Nour El Tayeb predicted to re-ignite their burgeoning rivalry at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza.
Held on the glass Squash Engine Court in the shadow of San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building, the Oracle NetSuite Open will be staged between September 24-30, and 2015 champion Sobhy will be the highest ranked U.S. player in action throughout the week.
The 26-year-old from Boston is fresh off the back of a triple gold medal winning campaign at the Pan American Games in Lima and receives a bye in round one, meaning she opens up her tournament against either Egypt’s Mariam Metwally or Milou van der Heijden of the Netherlands in the second round.
A win there could see her face world No. 5 Nour El Tayeb in the quarterfinals in what would be their first meeting of the 2019/20 campaign. They played out a trio of enthralling five-game battles last season—with Sobhy winning two of them—and they are seeded to square off in an enthralling last eight encounter.
The winner of that match is seeded to play World Champion Nour El Sherbini—who makes her Oracle NetSuite Open debut—in the semifinals, while world No. 1 Raneem El Welily is predicted to play defending champion Sarah-Jane Perry in the quarterfinals on the opposite side of the draw.
Meanwhile, wildcard Haley Mendez of the USA takes on Belgium’s Nele Gilis in round one, with the victor set to play El Sherbini.
In the men’s draw, 2017 winner Mohamed ElShorbagy is seeded to play Germany’s Simon Rösner in the semifinals, with World Championship runner-up Tarek Momen and world No. 9 Miguel Angel Rodriguez seeded to play in the semifinal fixture on the bottom side of the draw.
Team USA’s world No. 46 Todd Harrity begins his tournament against Egypt’s world junior champion Mostafa Asal and will look to keep up the form that saw him win two gold medals in Lima.
Stamford, CT-based world No. 121 Faraz Khan is the men’s wildcard and he will play Mexico’s Cesar Salazar in round one, with a last sixteen berth against Momen up for grabs for the winner.
This year’s Oracle NetSuite Open boasts record prize money, with $242,000 split equally between the men’s and women’s events, while a best-of-three games scoring format will be used up to and including the semifinals. The final will revert to the traditional best of five scoring used elsewhere on the PSA Tour.
All round one and two matches will be split between the Bay Club San Francisco, SquashZone, the Olympic Club and The University Club. All matches from the quarterfinals onward will be held on the Squash Engine Court at Embarcadero Plaza.
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