Team USA’s Olivia Fiechter lifted the first PSA title of her career–the inaugural Women’s Rhode Island Open–Sunday, November 18, at the Nicol Squash Club in Providence, Rhode Island.
The twenty-three-year-old from Philadelphia entered the draw as the three seed, following her ascendancy to a career high world ranking in November. The Princeton graduate’s ranking was boosted by a wild card appearance at the FS Investments U.S. Open, which propelled Fiechter from world No. 115 to 79.
Fiechter fulfilled her seeding by recording two victories en route to the semifinals where she met fellow Princeton graduate and top seed Nicole Bunyan. The match up between the two Tigers was the closest match of the tournament extending to five games with Fiechter edging her old teammate 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 12-10.
“It’s never easy playing a friend and especially a former teammate whom you’ve always looked up to, but it was also fun to know that a Princeton tiger would definitely be advancing to the final on Sunday,” Fiechter said. “Nicole and I train together occasionally so I knew she is playing at a really high level and that it was going to be a really tough match up. She’s one of the toughest competitors I know so I knew she was going to push me mentally and physically. It couldn’t have been much closer and it’s a shame there had to be a loser, but I was of course thrilled to sneak out the win in the end and was proud of myself for hanging in there in the tough moments.”
Egypt’s world No. 112 Menna Nasser reached the final with an upset over two seed Kace Bartley in the semifinals to reach her third career PSA final. In her PSA final debut, Fiechter edged the Egyptian 11-6, 11-9, 13-11 to clinch the title.
“I’m beyond excited to have captured my first PSA title in Rhode Island,” Fiechter said. “I was lucky enough to have my coach, Peter Nicol, and parents there to support me throughout the week and to be able to share this win with them made it all the more special. I knew there were some really strong and experienced players in the draw but I went in feeling confident that If I played my best squash, I’d have a good shot at making it to the end.”
The Rhode Island Open was Fiechter’s third tournament of the fall, having reached the Nash Cup quarterfinals in September and the U.S. Open last month.
“Given that this was my first tournament since the U.S. Open in October, I was able to put in a lot of hard work in the 4-5 weeks leading up to this event and so it’s an amazing feeling to know that that hard work paid off,” Fiechter said. “While I of course aim to win any tournament I enter and set high expectations for myself, I also know that time and experience go a long way on tour and that results don’t happen overnight; for this reason, capturing my first title in the first six months of my career is an incredible feeling and I hope to use the momentum from this win as a confidence booster for my upcoming tournaments.”
