"I stuck to my game plan and was pleased with how I played in the first two games," said Gaultier, whose defeat of Darwish ends a four-year Egyptian stranglehold on the title (photo: U.S. Open Squash). The 1st US Open semi-final between Egyptian Karim Darwish and Frenchman Greg Gaultier was a repeat of last year’s quarter-final. This time Gaultier needed 46 minutes to take the 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 victory and making his 4th PSA Tour final in a row.
Gaultier will meet Nick Matthew who was dispatching English compatriot James Willstrop again in straight games 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 in 42 minutes which gives Matthew a 39-10 overall head-to-head lead .
The climax will be the pair’s 25th Tour meeting since September 2002 – and third this year, with 2013 honours shared. Their career head-to-head record to date is 14/10 – in Gaultier’s favour!
Final:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Semi-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [4] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 (46m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [2] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 (42m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 13-11, 11-8, 11-6 (47m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (42m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-5, 11-4, 12-14, 11-6 (76m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-5, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9 (59m)
2nd round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-1, 11-4, 11-7 (29m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [7] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 (105m)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (37m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-5, 11-2, 12-10 (44m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (36m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 8-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-4 (66m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-7, 10-12, 11-2, 11-9 (62m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 (35m)
1st round:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [WC] Christopher Gordon (USA) 12-10, 15-13, 11-1 (47m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 (41m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [Q] Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6 (68m)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-3, 8-10 ret. (31m)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-2, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10 (58m)
Alan Clyne (SCO) bt [Q] Steven Finitsis (AUS) 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (88m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [Q] Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (39m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (72m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) 11-0, 12-10, 14-12 (52m)
[Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 13-11, 11-7, 13-11 (52m)
Joe Lee (ENG) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 11-0, 11-5, 11-4 (36m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-9, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5 (54m)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) 6-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (51m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (42m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [Q] Eddie Charlton (ENG) 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (57m)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 (42m)
