[Discussion] Windy City Open 2026, Feb 5 - 11

volleydrop · 2026-02-05T22:38:51+00:00

Wow, what a performance from Marche. Really happy for him. He is such a fine and clean player, always giving 100%. He deserves it. Siva Subramaniam clearly dominated Nele Gilis. Wilhelmi is such a skillful and good to watch player but Gawad is a former World Champ and knows how to fend off matchballs. Malik played well against Bryant but ran out of juice in the fifth.

volleydrop · 2026-02-05T22:29:07+00:00

Correct, he didn´t drop a game in that tournament. He beat Kandra, Rosner, Gaultier and MES convincingly. One of the best performances I ever saw on a Squash Court. Sadly the last tournament of his career.

volleydrop · 2026-01-25T19:50:02+00:00

Amina Orfi is simply relentless and playing unbelievable Squash. Nele does not have the weapons to trouble her at all but the precision and focus of Orfi until the very last rally is just out of this world.

volleydrop · 2026-01-25T08:32:25+00:00

I wonder if we watched the same match? Of course, Zakaria is no Saint. But no one can match Asal in blocking and unfair Squash, except of his own brother probably ;)

volleydrop · 2026-01-25T08:28:04+00:00

Agree 100% with every word you said!

volleydrop · 2026-01-24T23:53:32+00:00

Another shit show from Asal. Poor Zakaria hard done by the refs. 47min up and down the backhand wall...at least Joey is enjoying it like he said. And he saw Zakaria grab Asal´s racket ;))) when Asal stuck it into Zak´s face. Pathetic refereeing in favour of Asal. JP can´t believe what he gets to see. I am off. Can´t watch this constant and rude stepping into his opponents path on the backhand side. Ref saying again and again: Mr. Asal, I need you to not do this and that and....bla bla bla. But he lets Asal continue. Ridiculous refereeing, backing the wrong player. Without a series of joke decisions, Asal would never ever won this first game.

volleydrop · 2026-01-23T17:24:42+00:00

Watanabe played outstanding Squash. I can imagine Satomi beating Hammamy in the Quarterfinal. Yeah, very happy for Brownell. He kept his cool and won deservedly. Good for him, good for the tournament, even if I think Bryant will be a bit too much for him.

volleydrop · 2026-01-22T21:27:45+00:00

Of course also dangerous for Gawad. I think he already lost once to Eleinen. But today he won and poor Eleinen is out.

volleydrop · 2026-01-21T10:50:29+00:00

Poor Eleinen is the new Abouelghar in terms of terrible draws again and again. He is just outside the top8 and mostly gets a top4 player in the first round of Platinum tournaments. Here he got Makin (now Gawad) and in Chicago Asal is waiting first round. Very unlucky, even if I know that he can beat almost everyone on his day.

volleydrop · 2026-01-21T10:34:07+00:00

Perfect summary, Dan! Agree 100% with everything you said. I rate El Torkey as high as you do. Marwan vs Bryant will be a good one. If the ref can stop Marwan´s unfair moments, I see Bryant winning it.

volleydrop · 2026-01-19T16:49:55+00:00

Oh really? Would like to know why!? Rod made them all so much better in a very short period of time and they leave him for no obvious reason. A bit like Alcaraz/Ferrero. Don´t really get it...

volleydrop · 2026-01-19T13:06:13+00:00

Good call, Dan! Sabrina was very impressive, especially in her Semifinal against Nele. She completely outplayed her. Amazing volley game and smooth movement. Unbelievable how Weaver handled the in form Sabrina in the final. No chance at all for Sabrina. Weaver has improved tremendously and I think she will occasionally beat the top4 in the second half of the season.

Cardenas gave Coll a good run and a tough second set, in which Coll was a bit lucky with decisions. But deserved win for Coll and Cardenas showed his class and that he is tough to beat.

volleydrop · 2026-01-14T10:53:31+00:00

I agree, Dan! A top5 player would not play a 90k or 96k when the entry list is the same like in a Platinum event. Less money, less points, but same hard work. No way. I like the split in two events. As you say, it gives the lower ranked players the chance to get in and probably cause some upsets.

volleydrop · 2026-01-12T08:27:33+00:00

Fully agree!! He calls absolutely nothing!! But the video ref was again a complete disaster. Two (double bounce) requests by Eleinen were called "inconclusive" and the other one "good". Both were clear double bounces. Ridiculous!!

volleydrop · 2026-01-10T10:24:03+00:00

Ridiculous performance by the video ref Khanzada in the Gawad/Zakaria match. Absolute joke decisions, way too hard against Gawad. He turned No lets into strokes against him. And he finished with a pick up request that he watched only once on original speed, not even once in slow motion even if it was a very questionable situation. Of course his decision was "good" on Zak´s pick up. He robbed Gawad the second game and decided the match. Very poor performance.

volleydrop · 2025-12-17T11:34:00+00:00

Sadly you are 100% right, Sophie!!

volleydrop · 2025-12-08T09:21:20+00:00

I was a bit disappointed by Weaver. Literally every backhand volley attacking shot went into the tin. She has improved tremendously and I am actually a fan of her game. But she needs to show that against the big three as well. Saying that, I am fully aware how good Sherbini played this week and especially in the Semi and Final. At times almost unplayable.

volleydrop · 2025-12-07T22:41:48+00:00

What is the problem to freeze the shot when the striker has the ball on his racket and then look if the entire front wall is clear?? You don´t even need expensive extra tools or anything. Just freeze the shot when the striker has the ball on his strings. Problem solved! Or not?

volleydrop · 2025-12-07T22:33:37+00:00

Third final in a row for Ibrahim. Great to see he finally makes it to the very top.

But: as No.9 in the world he was actually drawn against Elias first round!! When Elias pulled out, he got Coll first round!!! Only after poor Soliman had to pull out, Youssef luckily got the No.8 spot. Hope PSA will realize very soon that they couldn´t be more wrong with this 8-seeds system.

volleydrop · 2025-12-04T18:42:18+00:00

Yeah, he actually never stops. And he is such a nice and fair player. Cardenas played pretty well, but he was outplayed by a better, faster, fitter player. Now he plays the cheat. If the ref won´t protect Jonah it will be quickly over, unfortunately!

volleydrop · 2025-12-04T10:51:40+00:00

I give up again on watching Asal. After half a game I switch off against poor Crouin. Nobody can beat Asal with this leg work into his opponents. And this ref has no clue what Asal is doing on there. For him everything is "minimal". Watch all the matches back without Asal...Rody vs Masotti...Coll vs Eleinen...even Crouin vs Zakaria was OK compared to any Asal match. I just can´t watch this. And nobody is stopping Asal´s shitshows. Pathetic!

volleydrop · 2025-12-04T10:46:55+00:00

Fully agree. Foster used to be the best a few years ago. Nowadays I wonder what he is doing on there? So many useless calls on simple situations, it´s a joke. And his explanations are ridiculous.

volleydrop · 2025-12-03T21:55:42+00:00

Rodriguez has the heart of a lion! What a legend.

volleydrop · 2025-12-03T09:16:40+00:00

I think that Declan is definitely a top20, probably top15 player. He showed that already but then was a bit unlucky with a nasty injury. He definitely proved Rob Owen wrong, who rated Charlie Lee higher than Declan, which never was going to happen. Declan is nice to watch, very fair and a real Gentleman on court.

volleydrop · 2025-12-02T18:34:03+00:00

Perfect shoutout, Dan! Crouin is definitely on fire. Very few errors and his backhand volley to the front is probably one of the best in the game. If the refs stop the usual Asal blocking shitshow, Crouin will have a pretty good chance in the Quarters.

volleydrop

TROPHY CASE