Team USA’s Caroline Fouts and Andrew Douglas made history at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions by becoming the first ToC wild cards to wn first round matches alongside each other Wednesday, January 17, in New York City.
The opening day of ToC matches saw the first round play out at local clubs throughout New York City and three Americans advance to the second round.
At eighteen years old, Fouts marked the first PSA Platinum win of her young career with an impressive five-game comeback against France’s world No. 20 Melissa Alves 10-12, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3 in fifty-seven minutes.
“It’s such a great experience,” Fouts said. “Last year I had a similar opportunity but I was really grateful to get through in a solid five game match today. I think this year I’ve had more opportunities in bigger events and I’ve learned a lot from the Challenger Tour events that I’ve played. I think I’ve really grown as a player.”
The U.S. Junior Champion will take on Belgium’s seven seed Tinne Gilis Friday afternoon at 5pm ET.
Douglas, world No. 53 and a Brooklyn native, won his first ToC match in his fourth tournament appearance against France’s world No. 33 Sebastian Bonmalais 11-5, 12-10, 11-5.
“I had the chance to play in a home World Championships in Chicago last year and I’m just so hungry to be in these bigger events,” Douglas said. “I’m working hard to be in them on merit and more consistently too.”
Douglas will face Peru’s defending champion Diego Elias on the Glass Court in Grand Central Friday afternoon at 2:45pm ET. Watch the match live on squash.tv.
World No. 57 Faraz Khan joined Fouts and Douglas in the second round with his first career ToC win in his eighth tournament appearance. Khan notched a top twenty upset over Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tammimi 11-9, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6. Khan moves on to the glass court Thursday afternoon at 12:45pm ET against Egypt’s Tarek Momen.
Team USA’s eight seed Olivia Weaver and Sabrina Sobhy both join in the second round action. Weaver opens her tournament in Grand Central Thursday afternoon at 2pm against Egypt’s Farida Mohamed. Sobhy enters the fold Friday night against Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam.
Elsewhere in the first round, Team USA’s Timmy Brownell and Charlotte Pastel both lost out to higher-ranked opponents.
Tickets, draws and and more information are available on tocsquash.com.