Men's United States number one Todd Harrity and local Chris Hanson were backed to the hilt, but both fell in five games to Hong Kong's Leo Au and Mexico's Cesar Salazar, respectively, in the opening round of the first Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour event of 2020.

France's former world number one Gregory Gaultier will make his highly anticipated return to PSA action tomorrow after 15 months out due to a knee injury, with a second round match against Egypt's Omar Masaad.

The second round sees the seeded players enter the competition, with top seed Al Farag of Egypt, the 2019 world champion, playing compatriot Mazen Hesham, with second seed and current world champion Tarek Momen, seeded fourth, playing fellow Egyptian Marwen ElShorbagy.

Marwen's brother Mohamed, the 2017 world champion and second seed, will meet Australia's Ryan Cuskelly in tomorrow's scheduled second-round matches.

Cuskelly beat a third US player, Christopher Gordon, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.

Harrity, the current world number 59, twice pulled back a one-game deficit against the world number 22, but lost 11-8 in the deciding game, with Au booking a last-32 spot against England's Tom Richards.

Hanson, world-ranked 67, put himself on the verge of a surprise victory against world number 23 Salazar, leading 2-1 after some well-constructed rallies.

But Salazar held firm to take a crucial fourth game, before dropping just a handful of points in the fifth to earn a second-round match against India's Saurav Ghosal.

"It's always hard when you play against a local player," Salazar said.

"Chris has improved a lot in the last few months and years."

Hanson put himself on the verge of a surprise victory against world number 23 Salazar, leading 2-1 after some well-constructed rallies and consistent line hitting saw the world number 67 impress in front of his home fans.

But 32-year-old Salazar held firm to take a crucial fourth game, before dropping just a handful of points in the fifth to seal his last-32 berth, where he will play India's Saurav Ghosal.

"It's always hard when you play against a local player," Salazar said.

"Chris has improved a lot in the last few months and years."

One of the day's standout matches featured Qatar's Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi against France's Lucas Serme, with the former coming back from two games behind to claim his first ever win at the historic tournament.

Al Tamimi squandered two game balls in the second game, but overcame that disappointment to seal a 4-11, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 victory.

He now plays New Zealand’s World Championship runner-up Paul Coll for a place in the last 16.

There were also wins for Egyptian teenager Mostafa Asal, Mathieu Castagnet, Campbell Grayson and Youssef Soliman at Grand Central, while at the Harvard Club of New York, French world number 42 Baptiste Masotti beat England's Adrian Waller, the world number 19, winning 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 to set up a second-round fixture with Soliman.

The New York Athletic Club also hosted a selection of first-round matches, with Spain's Iker Pajares Bernabeu beating Malaysia's Ivan Yuen 3-1 in 69 minutes.

The women's event also starts tomorrow, with five US players in action.