The first round of qualifying for the 2017 U.S. Open presented by Macquarie Investment Management saw thirty-one matches take place throughout Philadelphia Thursday, October 5, at Drexel University, Merion Cricket Club, Racquet Club of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Cricket Club.
There was only one home winner on the day as Todd Harrity won his all-USA match against Timothy Brownell in a men’s draw that saw a big upset as England’s Nathan Lake took out top seed Tsz Fung Yip in straight games. More on the Merion Report below
Dylan Cunningham came close to joining Harrity in the finals, losing out 11-9 in the fifth to second seeded Swiss Nicolas Mueller. The other seed to fall was Tom Richards, the Englishman taken out by Mexico’s Arturo Salazar in four games.
There were upsets In the women’s matches too, Egypt’s Menna Hamed beating former U.S. Open champion Rachael Grinham, Canada’s Nikki Todd overcoming third seed Nadine Shahin in five games, and Kiwi Amanda Landers-Murphy beating eighth seed Liu Tsz Ling.
Top seed Jenny Duncalf—also a former U.S. Open champion—came from a game down to beat world junior champion Rowan Elaraby, and pre-qualifier Madeline Perry advanced to the finals with a tough four game win over Ho Tze-Lok.
Follow Friday’s qualifying finals on www.usopensquash.com/live from 5pm local time.
For tickets and more tournament coverage, visit www.usopensquash.com.
