Third seed Massaro ended the run of qualifier Alison Waters in straight games, her first WSA victory over her fellow Englishwoman in 2012. Waters defeated top seed Nicol David in the quarter-finals, but was unable to reproduce the performance that extended her tournament campaign.
Massaro will face last week’s CIMB Malaysian Open champion Raneem El Weleily in the final, who overcame teenager Nour El Sherbini in a close four-game clash. Weleily lost out to Sherbini when the pair faced each other in the British Open semi’s back in May, but the world No.2 made no mistake on this occasion, dropping only the third game on the way to her second successive WSA World Tour final.
Weleily last played Massaro in round one of this event in 2011, when the Egyptian needed a fifth game tiebreak to overcome her opponent. Earlier in the year, Massaro got the better of Weleily in the Cleveland Classic. Massaro currently leads the head-to-head against the world No.2, with seven wins to Weleily’s four.
WSA $50k Carol Weymuller Open, New York, UsaSemi-finals:[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Alison Waters (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4
[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9
Quarter-finals:[Q] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [1] Nicol David (MAS) 11-9, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [6] Annie Au (HKG) 9-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [3] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 11-6[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Joelle King (NZL) 3-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-9, 13-111st round:[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Kasey Brown (AUS) 11-9, 11-5, 11-6[Q] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [5] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Low Wee Wern (MAS) 7-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-8[6] Annie Au (HKG) bt [Q] Donna Urquhart (AUS) 3-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Camille Serme (FRA) 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-4, 14-12[3] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6Joelle King (NZL) bt [8] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7[2] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 11-9, 11-9, 11-3