Teenager Elaraby Takes Out Title-Holder El Tayeb In Windy City Whirlwind

In a day of shocks at the 2020 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family, 2018 finalists Nour El Tayeb and Joelle King fell to major upsets to lower-ranked Egyptians Rowan Elaraby and world No.19 Nadine Shahin, respectively, at the University Club of Chicago.

El Tayeb, the defending champion, had put together a superb run of form in Chicago, which saw her win the 2018 title while she also reached the final of the PSA Women's World Championship when it was held at Union Station last season.

However, the world No.5 cut an increasingly frustrated figure as she surrendered a one-game lead against Elaraby, ranked 15 places lower. The two-time World Junior Champion had never beaten El Tayeb on the PSA World Tour, but that all changed when the 19-year-old Chicago debutante cemented her credentials as a future challenger to the world's elite, winning 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 to send shockwaves through the draw of the PSA World Tour Platinum tournament.

"It feels amazing, this win means a lot to me," said Elaraby.

"It actually gave me confidence that I can beat top 10 players, and I'm really happy with this win. It's totally different than the Nationals, there is more of a vibe here.

"I've never been here playing at this venue, and I feel comfortable playing on this court. The crowd is amazing as well, so I'm very happy playing here."

In the next round, Elaraby will play England's Lucy Turmel, who is through to the third round of a PSA Platinum event for the first time courtesy of a surprise win over No.13 seed Victoria Lust.

Meanwhile, world No.19 Shahin will take on US No.2 Olivia Blatchford Clyne as both players aim to reach their first Platinum quarter-final. Shahin went up against King on the traditional plaster court rather than the glass, and that seemed to suit her game as she took an 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 victory in just 22 minutes.

Elsewhere, world No.1 Raneem El Welily kickstarted her attempts to win a fourth Windy City Open title after recovering from a slow start to beat England's Julianne Courtice by an 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 scoreline.

After beating Canada's Danielle Letourneau in the previous round, Courtice vowed to take the game to El Welily, and she certainly did that in the early stages, playing some well-constructed rallies to go 6-2 ahead. El Welily soon found her range though, taking eight of the next 10 points to go a game to the good and she followed that up with further wins in games two and three to reach the last 16.

"I didn't really know what to expect, but I'm definitely happy with the match today," said El Welily.

"I've seen her results, I know what she is capable off, but being on court with her is definitely something different. I'm very pleased to be through with a 3/0 win and I wish her all the best."

US No.1 Amanda Sobhy will join El Welily in the third round after dispatching Hong Kong's Liu Tsz-Ling, while there were also wins for world No.2 Nouran Gohar, world No.3 Camille Serme and world No.7 Sarah-Jane Perry.

In the men's event, world No.17 Omar Mosaad got his first ever win over French veteran Gregory Gaultier at the 12th attempt after coming through a brutal 71-minute battle. Gaultier marked his comeback from a 15-month spell on the sidelines with victory over Mosaad at the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions last month, while he also defeated the former world No.3 to win the 2015 PSA Men's World Championship.

However, Mosaad finally ended his hoodoo against the former world No.1, coming back from 2/1 down to win 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6 in 71 minutes.

"We played last month at the Tournament of Champions and it was 3/2 there, so I tried as much as I could to calm down and to start well [in the fifth], but he took the first three points," said Mosaad afterwards.

"I had to try and just keep going, to keep playing my game, and I did a good job to come back to win, especially against such an experienced player like Greg."

Mosaad will line up against No.1 seed Ali Farag for a place in the last eight after Farag survived a tough fixture against Hong Kong's Leo Au.

It wasn't a straightforward match for the world No.2, who won the PSA World Championship title in Chicago 12 months ago at Union Station. Farag saw a one-game lead wiped out as Au grew into the match and showcased his impressive retrieving abilities in the second, but he ultimately came through to win 11-6, 7-11, 11-3, 11-5.

"I'm very happy, Leo injects pace without injecting pace in a very weird way," said Farag, who was playing his first match since losing the world No.1 spot to Mohamed Elshorbagy on February 1.

"The subtleties he has with the height on the front wall and the attacks with a basic line are really deceptive. The court for some reason is a lot faster this year, and it's hard to adapt to. I was so scared to go short so he doesn't go and flatten it out, so I was a little too passive."

Elshorbagy made a winning start to life at world No.1 after axing England's Daryl Selby in straight games, while his younger brother Marwan fell to a surprise defeat against world No.37 Youssef Soliman.

France's Mathieu Castagnet also upset the seedings as the world No.22 downed India's world No.13 Saurav Ghosal after 100 minutes of action, while world No.3 Tarek Momen is also through after defeating Germany's Raphael Kandra in straight games.