World No.1s Hania El Hammamy and Mostafa Asal top the respective draws and will arrive in Chicago full of confidence after the pair claimed title wins at the Tournament of Champions just last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For both, this week presents the opportunity to win a first Windy City Open title and to add to their ever-growing list of silverware on the PSA Squash Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asal\u2019s dominance on tour in recent months has been staggering, with \u2018The Raging Bull\u2019 not dropping a single game from his last 15 matches \u2013 a run which dates back to his loss at the Silicon Valley Open to Victor Crouin in October. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Egyptian, though, will have to be on his mettle right from the outset this week, having drawn World No.13 Aly Abou Eleinen in round one, before a potential quarter-final bout with the returning World No.5 Joel Makin, who has been sidelined with injury of late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Egyptian were to win the Windy City Open over the coming week, it would be his fifth major title of the season and the 27th of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El Hammamy, meanwhile, displayed exactly why she is the current World No.1 with a memorable comeback against Olivia Weaver in the women\u2019s final. Despite being 9-3 down in the deciding game, El Hammamy rallied to capture her fourth title of the season and extend her record this season to 25 wins from 27 matches on tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Egyptian can once again be found in the same half of the draw as eight-time World Champions Nour ElSherbini and faces a tricky opening match against Sabrina Sobhy \u2013 a bogey player of El Hammamy\u2019s who has previously claimed wins over her at the U.S. Open and Paris Squash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Olivia Weaver, the Tournament of Champions proved an agonising near-miss, with the U.S. No.1 coming within just two points of her first-ever Platinum title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the World No.3 also recently moving coaches from Rod Martin to Haitham Effat, Weaver will be looking to claim that elusive victory over one of the \u2018Big Three\u2019, with her current record standing at 0-35 from PSA Tour matches in her career to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 30-year-old will have to reset quickly after the disappointment of New York and will begin her campaign against Egypt\u2019s Nada Abbas before a potential quarter-final against No.8 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir and semi-final against No.2 seed Amina Orfi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will the defeat at the Tournament of Champions spur Weaver to a first major title on the PSA Squash Tour?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The season has been the year of emerging stars on the PSA Squash Tour, with the likes of Amina Orfi, Fayrouz Aboelkheir, Anahat Singh and Jonah Bryant looking well-placed for strong runs in Chicago this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s Anahat recently picked up her maiden World Events title and will arrive at the Windy City Open full of confidence after becoming the youngest-ever Asian player to reach the top 20. The 17-year-old opens up her campaign against Egypt\u2019s Zeina Mickawy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Aboelkheir will hope to build upon her maiden Platinum semi-final at the Tournament of Champions and continue to make headway in the women\u2019s top ten. The young Egyptian sits in the same quarter of the draw as Olivia Weaver, the player who ended her impressive run in New York last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For England\u2019s rising star Jonah Bryant, a brutal second-round test against World No.5 Joel Makin could await, if he were to defeat another tricky opponent, Curtis Malik, in the first round. However, on the evidence of two Platinum semi-final appearances and two further major quarter-final finishes, Bryant is only moving from strength to strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
British No.1 Joel Makin, meanwhile, won\u2019t have it easy in his first event back since injury, with the Welshman seeded to play up-and-coming English star Jonah Bryant in the second round, before a potential quarter-final with World No.1 Mostafa Asal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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