Massaro & El Welily To Contest Chicago Climax

England's world No2 Laura Massaro survived her longest match for more than six years when she overcame French rival Camille Serme in a dramatic five-game Women's METROsquash Windy City Open semi-final marathon in Chicago, USA.

In a dream final of the Women's Squash Association (WSA) Gold 50 event at the University Club of Chicago, the top seed will face second seed Raneem El Welily after the world No3 from Egypt despatched New Zealander Joelle King in straight games - in the earlier semi which took one third of the time!

Serme, the No7 seed, secured her surprise place in the semis after upsetting England's world No4 Alison Waters. "Camille is not messing around these days, bringing her best to the world's best players, so everyone knew this match wouldn't be easy, no matter which way it went," reported event spokesman Jim Wellington. "It would be a tussle, with two conventional players at the highest level."

Serme saved two game balls in the opening game, but it was Massaro who took the early lead. The higher-ranked English player was forced to save game balls in the second but, after rescuing five, it was Serme who ultimately took the game to draw level.

And, from eight-all in the third, underdog Serme - ranked four places behind Massaro - forged ahead to open up a 2/1 lead.

Massaro regained the upper hand in the fourth, however, to force a fifth game decider.

"Laura continued in game five with her excellent placement in the back corners, as well as conservatively using the front at the right times to 5-1," continued Wellington. "Camille started to look fatigued as five went on, and was unable to apply the same pressure that she had used in the rest of the match. Play tightened up after this, but the lead would stick. Camille gave a big last push, but it was not going to be enough to beat the world number two today."

The 11-9, 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 victory in 90 minutes marks Massaro's third longest match of all-time - but the longest since the women's game went point-a-rally (PAR) in 2008. It also followed a confidence-boosting four-game win over Annie Au which ended a three-game losing streak to the Hong Kong number one.

"I was really pleased to come through the match," said Lancashire lass Massaro after her semi-final success. "Camille's playing really well and physically she always makes it hard.

"It was particularly tough given my win over Annie yesterday. I had been mentally preparing for that match and then when I won I remembered I actually have to re-group and focus on the semi-final now!

"I found that quite hard to do. It's also the reason I am proud of my performance and glad I was able to bounce back well and play a good semi-final," added Massaro, now in the 28th Tour final of her career and her second of the year.

By contrast, El Welily reached the 18th Tour final of her career - and her first of the year - in just 30 minutes, defeating No4 seed King 12-10, 11-8, 11-7.

The Cairo-based 25-year-old went into the match boasting a 5-0 career head-to-head record over the Kiwi.

But it was King who had the chance to take the first game at 10-9 in the opener. "But she tinned an easy drop from a winning position, and Raneem cruised on to take the game," said Wellington.

"After winning the second, Raneem turned it up a notch in game three, moving, striking, and reading Joelle extremely well. Raneem seemed to have an answer for everything, holding her shots so that Joelle was late to the ball when she got there at all."

The final will mark Massaro and El Welily's 17th Tour meeting. Massaro boasts a 10-6 lead, but it was the Egyptian who was victorious in their most recent clash, in a 78-minute Malaysian Open semi-final last September.

Windy City image courtesy of Marian Kraus Photography