Crouin & ElSherbini Take Texas Open Titles

France's world No.7 Victor Crouin and Egypt's world No.2 Nour ElSherbini captured the 2026 Texas Open titles after claiming respective wins over Diego Elias and Olivia Weaver on an epic finals night of the PSA Squash Tour Gold event at the Houston Squash Club.

No.4 seed Crouin claimed the biggest title of his career to date following a sublime four-game victory over world No.4 Elias, while ElSherbini clinched her second title in as many weeks after a thrilling comeback win over US No.1 Weaver.

Although coming into the men's final on a four-match losing run against 2024 World Champion Elias, Crouin produced a superb display of precise, clinical squash to negate the world-class threats of Elias.

Despite spurning a 9-4 lead in the opening game with a flurry of late errors, 26-year-old Crouin responded in emphatic fashion, repeatedly exploiting the front two corners to trouble Elias throughout their 76 minutes on court.

After claiming the second and third games against an increasingly agitated Elias, Crouin appeared poised to seal the match in style, surging to a dominant 10-5 lead in the fourth. However, a late comeback from Elias injected fresh tension into the contest, with the Peruvian reeling off four straight points to sit at just 10-9 down.

Ultimately, Crouin had just enough to get over the line, with the No.4 seed clinching his 21st career title after being awarded a stroke by the match referee.

"I'm so glad I got over the line in the end," Crouin said after the match. "I was thinking of the Grasshopper Cup match last year when I lost against Diego from 10-5 up, so I was relieved to win 11-9 in the end. Obviously, it's my first Gold event win, and I've been chasing wins over top-five players for a while.

"I've been feeling strong on court and I'm trying to chase the top five for sure. I've been fairly consistent this season and I feel it's been one of my strengths."

Meanwhile, ElSherbini won her 47th PSA Tour title after fighting back from 2/1 down to defeat No.2 seed Weaver by a 13-15, 13-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-8 scoreline and stretch her winning run over the American to 17 matches.

As was the case in her recent title win at the Windy City Open, the eight-time World Champion produced a nerveless performance when the pressure reached its highest, pulling away in the latter stages of both the fourth and fifth games with some quality, error-free squash.

Weaver, who had earlier taken a 2/1 lead after three gripping tie-breaks, looked in contention to claim the elusive first victory over the 'Warrior Princess' when level-pegging at 6-6 in the fifth game.

However, a costly error from Weaver, compounded by two tight line calls that went against the 30-year-old, saw ElSherbini bring up three championship balls. The Egyptian made no mistake on the second opportunity, securing her second Texas Open crown - 12 years on after first claiming the title as a qualifier.

"I'm so glad to get through the match today. It was very tough mentally as well as physically," ElSherbini said after the match. "Olivia played absolutely amazingly and I'm happy I won in the end.

"It was in the same mood and the same rhythm as last week in Chicago. To go in and play another tournament back-to-back, it was hard. I'm so proud of how I handled it and the end result I wanted."

The next stop on the PSA Squash Tour is the Silver-level Cincinnati Gaynor Cup 2026, which gets underway on Wednesday, 18th February and will be available to watch live on SQUASHTV.