Nick Matthew will face fellow Englishman James Willstrop in the second round of the PSA Tournament of Champions in New York City ©Getty Images

English duo Nick Matthew and James Willstrop have set up a clash between each other at the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tournament of Champions (TOC) after winning their first round matches in New York City.

Both players have won the competition previously, with Matthew’s success coming five years ago and Willstrop’s in 2010, and the veteran pair set up a rematch of the 2012 final.

Matthew, seeded fourth for the tournament being held in the Grand Central Terminal, lost the first set of his match before moving through the gears to defeat Scottish qualifier Alan Clyne 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 in 58 minutes.

Willstrop then saw off Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez in straight sets 12-10, 11-8, 12-10 in 53 minutes.

The last 19 clashes between Willstrop and Matthew have been won by the latter, but he knows getting a 20th consecutive win will not be easy.

“We played in the final of the British Grand Prix before Christmas and we’re used to playing in semis and finals of big tournaments, so to meet in a second round match will be something new,” Matthew said.

“There won’t be four or five matches in our legs and we both have a day off tomorrow, so we will be fresh.

“He’s playing well and he’s hungry for that win, so it’s going to be tough.”

In the day’s other games in the men’s draw, none of the seeded players were knocked out.

Germany's Simon Rösner had to play five sets in order to beat Malaysia’s Nafiizwan Adnan ©Getty Images
Germany's Simon Rösner had to play five sets in order to beat Malaysia’s Nafiizwan Adnan ©Getty Images

Karim Abdel Gawad, the second seed, beat fellow Egyptian Zahed Mohamed 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

Another player from the North African nation, Ali Farag, also progressed but was taken to five sets by Hong Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip before the sixth seed eventually winning 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6.

Eighth seed Simon Rösner of Germany was also taken all the way by Malaysia’s Nafiizwan Adnan as he came back from two sets down to win 2-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 in a match which went on for 76 minutes.

Qualification finals were held in the women’s competition ahead of the first round, which starts tomorrow.

There were a couple of shocks in the finals as the top two seeds, Australia’s Rachael Grinham and Line Hansen of Denmark, were knocked out.

Grinham lost 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 to Belgium’s Nele Gilis and Hansen was defeated 4-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 by Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy.

Hollie Naughton of Canada also provided a shock as she beat Hong Kong’s fourth seed Liu Tsz-Ling 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7.

Third seed Coline Aumard of France also came close to losing, but battled to a five-set win over Japan’s Misaki Kobayashi 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9.

The final of the women’s tournament will take place on Wednesday (January 18), a day before the men’s final is held.