World No. 5 Amanda Sobhy earned her sixth U.S. Women’s Championship title without dropping a game, while Andrew Douglas lifted the S.L. Green U.S. Men’s Championship trophy for the first time in his third final appearance Friday, April 28, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia.
The men’s final opened proceedings with five seed Douglas taking on seven seed Spencer Lovejoy, who marked his first final appearance after upsetting three-time champion Todd Harrity in the quarterfinals and defending champion Timmy Brownell in the semifinals.
The match began at a high pace with both players earning a game, but Douglas harnessed the momentum in the third game to win 11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 11-2 in forty-five minutes.
“I was really struggling, Spencer was playing really well,” Douglas said. “I figured I had to do something to make it quicker honestly because the long rallies were killing me. So I tried to opt for intensity over duration and it worked out.”
Douglas, who lives and trains with Lovejoy, previously reached the finals in 2017 and 2018 as a junior and student at Penn, and now adds a new name to the S.L. Green U.S. Men’s Championship trophy.
“Credit to Spencer, I know how hard he works and I think he deserves so much,” Douglas said. “I’m so happy he was able to produce the level of squash that he did this week. It means a lot to me to win this title and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me.”
The ensuing women’s final featured the first two American women ever ranked together in the world’s top eight in Sobhy and world No. 7 Olivia Fiechter–a first-time finalist. Sobhy asserted her higher ranking by controlling the first two games 11-5, 11-6. Fiechter regained her composure in the third game, however, and earned a two game balls, but Sobhy twice came back to win 13-11 in thirty-four minutes.
“I was telling myself you don’t want to go to a fourth game so you better finish it,” Sobhy said. “Liv’s been playing well, we’re five and seven in the world and have two American women in the top eight and four in the top sixteen for the first time. I couldn’t take this easy. This was a really tough match mentally because we’re really good friends. I wanted to go out there from the beginning and pump up the pace to get through in three. I’m so happy I did because that was a neck and neck at the end so I just ran and smashed the ball as hard as I could and sometimes that works.”
In lifting the Desai Family Cup for the second year in a row, Sobhy matches Natalie Grainger’s record of six women’s national titles.
“It’s awesome to win number six,” Sobhy said. “I’m very competitive and want to break records, there are a few other U.S. players who have won eight or nine and while that could be a stretch I think I can get there. It’s a big deal for us to be crowned U.S. national champion so I’m just pleased that I made it through without dropping a game.”
The evening concluded with the ‘Evening with Team USA’ celebration where the Desai Family Cup and S.L. Green Trophy were presented to Sobhy and Douglas.
