QFs: Top Seeds Progress as Draw Narrows in Costa Rica

Quarter-final day at the SACC Costa Rica Open brought clarity to both draws, with a series of confident performances from the top names.

In the men’s draw, the top seed Tom Walsh (ENG) continued to set the pace of the tournament. He stayed composed from start to finish against Malaysia’s Nathan Kueh, completing a straight-games win in 28 minutes. Former champion Josue Enriquez (GUA) also advanced comfortably, overcoming Paraguay’s Francesco Marcantonio in 48 minutes with a composed performance.

The meeting between Ronald Palomino (COL) [2] and Alejandro Enriquez (GUA) [6] offered a change of tempo. Enriquez battled hard, taking the third game to extend the contest, but Palomino — the defending champion — remained physically strong and accurate in the key moments. He secured the 3–1 result (4–11, 5–11, 11–3, 5–11) after 57 minutes, booking his place in the final four.

Finally, Sebastián Salazar (MEX) [8] and Mohamed Sharaf (EGY) [4] produced a five-game contest that kept the crowd fully involved. Salazar began with purpose, winning the opening game and unsettling his opponent with varied pace and movement. Sharaf found his rhythm in the middle of the match, taking the next two games with a stronger hitting line. Salazar responded again, winning the fourth and earning match ball in the deciding game, yet Sharaf held on in the final rallies to complete a 3–2 win (11–3, 9–11, 6–11, 11–5, 12–10) after 72 minutes.

In the women’s draw, the pattern was more straightforward. Laura Tovar was the only unseeded player to reach the quarter-finals, but she could not continue her run. Habiba Hani (EGY), the No.2 seed and 2023 champion, produced a clean and decisive performance to win 3–0 (11–4, 11–2, 11–8) in just 20 minutes. The remaining matches followed the same trend, with Marie Stephan [1], Alina Bushma [4], and Amina El Rihany [3] nearly all progressing in straight 3-0 games, setting up a female semi-final round made entirely of top seeded players.