Hollie Naughton, Samantha Cornett and Danielle Letourneau all won
their first round matches, meaning there are three Canadians in to
the last 16 in Cleveland.
Letourneau came through the longest match in the first round, as she
had to go to five to beat Haley Mendez in 51 minutes.
Danielle Letourneau (r) was one of three Canadians to
reach the second round
Hollie Naughton took 36 minutes to win her first round match,
beating Latvia’s World No.64 Ineta Mackevica in four games.
Samantha Cornett, the highest ranked Canadian in the tournament,
overcome Tinne Gilis in just 22 minutes, winning in straight games,
11-6, 11-6, 11-4.
There was some success for the Gilis family, as older sister Nele
got the better of World No.134 Marina De Juan Gallach inside half an
hour.
There were two surprises in the first round in Cleveland, with good
wins for Lisa Aitken and Rachel Arnold.
Lisa Aitken (fore) in action against Rowan Elaraby
Aitken continued her great run of form, which has seen the Scot win
three of her last four tournaments, by beating Egypt’s Rowan
Elaraby.
Milou van Der Heijden, who appeared on the glass court at last
month’s Tournament of Champions, was knocked out by Arnold. The
World No.51 from Malaysia has reached the last 16 of a PSA Bronze
event for the first time.
Elsewhere, Amanda Landers-Murphy and Coline Aumard made it through
to the second round, both winning in straight games.
The second round will see several of the World’s top 20 being their
campaigns, including Nour El Tayeb, Tesni Evans and Alison Waters.
Egypt’s
World No.3 Nour El Tayeb and Wales’ World No.10 Tesni Evans are seeded
to meet in the final of this month’s Cleveland Classic PSA Bronze
tournament after the main draw was released today.
The tournament will take place at the Cleveland Racquet Club from
January 31 – February 4, 2019 and will feature a strong female line-up
battling for the PSA Bronze title.
El Tayeb is the top seed and has a strong record on American soil, with
all three of her last title victories coming in the United States,
including PSA Platinum title wins at the 2017 U.S. Open and 2018 Windy
City Open.
El Tayeb, along with the other top eight seeds, receives a bye into the
second round where she will face either Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold or
Netherlands’ Milou van der Heijden.
The World No.3 is seeded on the same side of the draw as the likes of
2017 tournament finalist Alison Waters, England’s World No.21 Emily
Whitlock and fellow Egyptian Nadine Shahin.
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the draw is World No.10 Evans, who is
seeded on the same side of the draw as England’s World No.15 Victoria
Lust and Egyptians Mariam Metwally and Mayar Hany.
The Welshwoman, who finished runner-up at the Monte Carlo Classic last
month, will face either Canada’s Danielle LeTourneau or United States’
Haley Mendez in the second round depending on who comes out on top in
their round one clash.
The wildcard spot is occupied by Spain’s World No.132 Marina De Juan
Gallach, who resides in Cleveland, and she will face Belgium’s World
No.30 Nele Gilis in the opening round of action.
Egypt’s
World No.3 Nour El Tayeb will headline the 2019 Cleveland Classic draw
when the PSA Bronze tournament takes place at the Cleveland Racquet Club
from January 31 – February 4, 2019.
Previous winners at the tournament include the likes of New Zealand’s
Joelle King, eight-time World Champion Nicol David and France’s Camille
Serme and this year will feature another high-quality draw with World
No.3 El Tayeb leading the line-up.
The Egyptian will be looking to continue her rich vein of form in
America after she claimed two titles there last season at the U.S. Open
and Windy City Open, held in Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively.
She will be joined by a number of the best female players in the world,
including Wales’ World No.9 Tesni Evans, England’s former World No.3 and
2017 champion Alison Waters and Egyptian talents Mariam Metwally, Mayar
Hany and World Junior Champion Rowan Elaraby.
They will face tough competition from the likes of English pair Victoria
Lust and Emily Whitlock and Belgium’s Nele Gilis – who won the biggest
title of her career at this season’s Open International de Squash de
Nantes.
Home interest comes in the form of United States’ World No.43 Haley
Mendez, while the wildcard spot is occupied by Spain’s World No.135
Marina De Juan Gallach, who resides in Cleveland.
You can find out more about the Cleveland Classic by heading to the
tournament website..
