Serme Overcomes El Hammamy in Revenge Windy City Thriller

The stunning Cathedral Hall at the University Club of Chicago played host to one of the matches of the season so far when world No.3 Camille Serme overcame Egypt's Hania El Hammamy in a dramatic 81-minute encounter to reach the quarter-finals of the Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family.

El Hammamy pulled off an incredible comeback from two games down when the pair last met in November in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza in the quarter-finals of the CIB PSA Women's World Championship, leaving Serme devastated. But in Chicago, the French star avenged that loss to take a nail-biting 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 14-12, 11-9 victory.

"I knew it was going to be a battle," said Serme.

"She is top 10 now, but she can beat anyone in the top 10, so I knew it was going to be hard. I was focused on what to do on court, what the right tactics were and trying to play the best that I could. At the end it could have gone either way.

"I tried to forget about the Pyramids, but I tried to remember what I did wrong and what she did well, to try and avoid her playing her best. It has always been amazing, the standard of women's squash, but now it is the best it has ever been. The top 20, top 30, everyone is so good."

Serme comes into this tournament off the back of beating World Champion Nour El Sherbini to win the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions last month, and will now go head-to-head with Egyptian once again after El Sherbini defeated Australia's Donna Lobban in straight games.

El Sherbini is appearing at only her third tournament of the season due to a persistent knee injury and she struggled with her movement early, cutting a frustrated figure as Lobban took early control. The world No.4 showcased her immaculate racket skills though in the next three games to close out a 5-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 triumph.

"I am happy to be through, and maybe I was not like I am usually, but I am very happy to be through to the quarters," four-time World Champion El Sherbini said.

"Having my coach and Raneem [El Welily] there, their support helped me a lot, and having them there tonight helped me through to win. They [Serme and El Hammamy] had a very tough match, a long one. I am sure she is going to be ready tomorrow as if it was the first match of the tournament."

World No.21 Rowan Elaraby is into her first ever Windy City Open quarter-final after she defeated England's Lucy Turmel, and her last eight opponent will be world No.7 Sarah-Jane Perry, who ground out a 3/2 win after a scrappy match against Egypt's Yathreb Adel.

Only three matches took place in the men's event today, with world No.14 Mazen Hesham pulling out of his fixture with world No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy due to a hip flexor injury.

Elshorbagy receives a walkover and a bye into the last eight, where he will come up against New Zealand's world No.5 Paul Coll, who got the better of world No.24 Declan James by an 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6 margin.

"The first couple of games the ball was really flying around and I was struggling to find my range to the front. I was a bit late on the ball and I was a bit passive," Coll said.

"He has that big forehand that he winds off and that was pinging off the front wall so it made it very tough for me. I am very happy to get off there in four and I felt very good in those last two games.

World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad and world No.7 Simon Rösner also booked their quarter-final berths courtesy of wins over France's Mathieu Castagnet and England's Adrian Waller, respectively.

Gawad beat Castagnet 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, while Rösner got the better of Waller by an 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 scoreline. The pair met at the same stage of the Tournament of Champions last month, with Gawad winning in five.

"I've been on tour for 12 years and never played him [Castagnet]," said Gawad afterwards.

"All credit to him, he's got great spirit on court and off court too. Castagnet makes you run the whole match, he moves you around the court and it's difficult to find winners. Without seeing it, I was expecting it [his heart rate] to be close to 200bpm, if not above, but I'm really happy to get through in three."