El Halaby crashes pro party

Imagine if this year's French Open were won not by Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, the No. 1 and 2 tennis players in the world, but by Werner Eschauer. Eschauer, in case you didn't know, sits 108th in the ATP rankings.

The scenario may seem impossible, but such a titanic upset hit the world of professional squash this past weekend in the person of Yasser El Halaby '06.

A four-time collegiate national champion at Princeton, El Halaby entered the Worldgate Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tournament in Washington, D.C., as a qualifier, ranked 108th in the world. Rather than bowing out in the early rounds like the typical unseeded opponent, though, El Halaby stunned the field and ran off with the title, the first of his PSA career.

Since finishing his Tiger career as one of the best collegiate squash players of all time, El Halaby has been intensifying his training in preparation for a professional career. After graduation, he spent some time at home in Cairo, Egypt, and played in the World Squash Federation's World Open.

"The serious part of the [PSA] tour has just started for me," El Halaby said. "[I've been] doing a combination of things — two-a-day [workouts] — which was not the case at college. [I'm doing] more fitness work, more matchplay, more squash in general."

The Worldgate tournament was one of El Halaby's first since returning to the United States.

To qualify for competition, El Halaby defeated American Ryan Donegan in straight sets, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8. A fitting reward awaited El Halaby in the tournament's first round — a matchup with No. 1 seed Omar Mosaad, a fellow Egyptian native.

Mosaad turns 19 in March and represents an interesting contrast to his countryman. El Halaby, who won three British Junior Opens as an adolescent, was expected to become a professional player after high school. Instead of following that path like Mosaad, El Halaby chose to come to Princeton.

Mosaad presented a formidable challenge as an opening-round foe.

"The first issue was that Mosaad and I were unlucky to play each other," El Halaby said. "We should have played each other in the final."

Early in the match, El Halaby struggled — reminding spectators of the fact that he had made the leap from the collegiate to professional ranks less than a year ago. Mosaad took the first two sets, 11-9 and 11-7.

"I made too many unforced errors," El Halaby said.

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El Halaby, however, fought back from the deficit to take the next three sets 11-10 (4-2), 11-7 and 11-3.

"I was determined not to lose in the first round and just tried to play safe and be conservative," El Halaby said. "After that third game, it was pretty much uphill for me. I got my confidence back."

Steve Finitsis, the No. 5 seed, was El Halaby's opponent in the quarterfinals. Finitsis, who enjoyed a five-inch height advantage on El Halaby, brought a physically imposing presence to the court. When asked about Finitsis' height advantage, El Halaby noted that each strength comes with a corresponding weakness.

"If you're taller," El Halaby said, "it takes you a longer time to go down and get the low shots and then go up and get the high shots."

El Halaby defeated Finitsis in four sets, 11-8, 2-11, 11-3 and 11-6. At that point in the tournament, physical fatigue was becoming an obstacle.

"My body definitely started wearing down," El Halaby said, "especially the lower back. But everyone faces that in the later rounds."

El Halaby certainly didn't look fatigued in his semifinal match against Ben Garner, as he took the first two games by a score of 11-9. Garner fought back and won the third set, 11-8, but El Halaby wouldn't break, taking the final set, 11-3.

To close the weekend, El Halaby defeated No. 7 seed Jan Koukal in four sets, 11-9, 11-4, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6.

The third set of the match was a learning experience for El Halaby. Up 8-3, Koukal roared back to take the game in a tiebreaker.

"I made the amateur mistake of thinking the match was over, making unforced errors off the serves," El Halaby said.

He did not make a similar mistake in the last set, which was characterized by long, spectacular rallies before El Halaby emerged as champion.

As for El Halaby's ranking? His current place in the No. 108 slot seems not long for this world.

It seems certain that squash fans will get to know Yasser El Halaby long before their counterparts in the tennis world learn the name Werner Eschauer.