Laura Massaro

Laura Massaro
(née Lengthorn)

MBE

File:Laura Massaro.jpg
Personal information
Born	(1983-11-02) 2 November 1983 Great Yarmouth, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Country	England
Handedness	Right Handed
Turned pro	2000
Coached by	David Pearson, Daniel Massaro
Retired	2019
Racquet used	Head
Women's singles and doubles
Highest ranking	No. 1 (January, 2016)
Title	21
Tour final	41
World Open	W (2013)
Medal record Women's squash Representing England World Championships Gold medal – first place 2013 Penang Singles Silver medal – second place 2012 Grand Cayman Singles Silver medal – second place 2015 Kuala Lumpur Singles World Team Championships Gold medal – first place 2014 Niagara-on-the-Lake Team Silver medal – second place 2008 Cairo Team Silver medal – second place 2010 Palmerston North Team Silver medal – second place 2012 Nîmes Team Silver medal – second place 2016 Issy-les-Moulineaux Team Silver medal – second place 2018 Dalian Team Commonwealth Games Silver medal – second place 2010 Delhi Doubles Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow Singles Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow Doubles European Team Championships Gold medal – first place 2007 Riccione Team Gold medal – first place 2008 Amsterdam Team Gold medal – first place 2009 Malmö Team Gold medal – first place 2012 Nuremberg Team Gold medal – first place 2013 Amsterdam Team Gold medal – first place 2014 Riccione Team Gold medal – first place 2016 Warsaw Team Gold medal – first place 2018 Wrocław Team Silver medal – second place 2019 Birmingham Team

Laura Jane Massaro MBE (née Lengthorn; born 2 November 1983) is an English retired professional squash player. She was ranked number 1 in the world.

Biography

She was born in Great Yarmouth and attended Albany High School, Chorley, which is now called Albany Academy. In July 2007, she married Danny Massaro and became Laura Lengthorn-Massaro. She subsequently dropped 'Lengthorn' from her name and is now known professionally as Laura Massaro.

She won her first top-level title at the German Open in 2004 and went on to become British Open champion in 2013 and the World Champion also in 2013, so becoming the first Englishwoman to hold both titles at once. She is also a three-time silver medallist for England in Commonwealth Games.

Massaro was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year awards. She won the WISPA Player of the Year award in 2011. She won the US Open and the Cleveland Classic in 2011, the Sharm El Sheikh Open in 2010, and the Monte Carlo Classic in 2008. In 2010, she was part of the English team that won the silver medal at the 2010 Women's World Team Squash Championships.

Massaro also won the British National Squash Championships in 2011, defeating Jenny Duncalf in the final 7–11, 11–9, 7–11, 11–7, 11–2. She had previously finished runner-up at the championships in 2008 (losing in the final to Alison Waters 11–6, 7–11, 8–11, 9–11).

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Massaro won a silver medal in the women's doubles (partnering Jenny Duncalf). She followed up four years later at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with two silver medals: silver in singles after finishing runner-up to Nicol David and another silver in doubles with Duncalf.

In 2012, she was part of the England team that won the silver medal at the 2012 Women's World Team Squash Championships. Massaro won the British Open in 2013. She was the first English woman to do so in 22 years.

After starting 2014 brightly by winning the WSA World Tour title in Chicago, Massaro won the biggest title of her career to date at the 2013 World Open in Penang upon beating Nour El Sherbini in the final. Her achievement, alongside that of reigning men's world champion Nick Matthew, meant that England had two reigning world squash champions for the first time.

Massaro's exceptional 2014 season continued when she was runner-up to David at the British Open in Hull in May. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, Massaro went unbeaten through the women's singles – including a semi-final against compatriot Alison Waters – before falling to David in the gold medal match. She and Duncalf then joined forces in the doubles and won through to the final, where they lost to Indians Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa in straight games.

October saw Massaro reach the quarter-finals of the US Open, where she lost to Nour El-Sherbini. In December, she was part of the team that helped England reclaim the world team title by winning the gold medal at the 2014 Women's World Team Squash Championships; she had previously won silver on three occasions.

In 2015, she progressed to her third British Open final in succession before losing out to eventual victor Camille Serme in the 2015 Women's British Open Squash Championship.

Massaro started her 2015/16 season in strong fashion as she achieved victory at the US Open and Qatar Classic. Upon beating world No. 1 Raneem El Weleily (who herself ended David's 9-year unbroken streak as world No. 1 several months prior) in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open, she became the third Englishwoman (and first since 2004) to ascend to the top of the world rankings.

In 2016, she was part of the English team that won the silver medal at the 2016 Women's World Team Squash Championships. In 2018, she was part of the English team that won the silver medal at the 2018 Women's World Team Squash Championships.

Massaro won eight gold medals for the England women's national squash team at the European Squash Team Championships from her first in 2007 (under the name Lengthorn) to her last in 2019.

Massaro retired at the end of the 2018/19 season and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to squash.

Sponsors

Laura's sponsors included 305SQUASH for clothing, Head for rackets, Asics for shoes, Technifibre for strings, UK Fast, Proto-Col and CourtCare and Corkhills Volkswagen in Wigan. Laura also partnered with HFE (Health and Fitness Education) in relation to yoga.

Major results

World Open

Outcome	Year	Location	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2012	Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands	Nicol David	11–6, 11–8, 11–6
Winner	2013	Penang, Malaysia	Nour El Sherbini	11–7, 6–11, 11–9, 5–11, 11–9
Runner-up	2015	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Nour El Sherbini	6–11, 4–11, 11–3, 11–5, 11–8

Major WSA World Series finals

British Open

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2013	Nicol David	11–4, 3–11, 12–10, 11–8
Runner-up	2014	Nicol David	8–11, 11–5, 11–7, 11–8
Runner-up	2015	Camille Serme	11–3, 11–5, 8–11, 11–8
Winner	2017	Sarah-Jane Perry	11–8, 11–8, 6–11, 11–6

Hong Kong Open

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2015	Nicol David	15–13, 11–9, 11–3

Qatar Classic

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2015	Nour El Sherbini	11–8, 12–14, 11–9, 8–11, 11–9

U.S. Open

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2011	Kasey Brown	5–11, 11–5, 11–3, 11–5
Runner-up	2013	Nicol David	13–11, 11–13, 7–11, 11–8, 11–5
Winner	2015	Nour El Tayeb	11–6, 9–11, 6–11, 11–8, 11–7

Kuala Lumpur Open

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2013	Alison Waters	11–9, 11–7, 11–6

Tournament of Champions

Outcome	Year	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2017	Camille Serme	13–11, 8–11, 4–11, 11–3, 11–7

See also

• Official Women's Squash World Ranking
• WISPA Awards

External links

• Laura Massaro official website
• Laura Massaro at the Professional Squash Association (archive)
• Laura Massaro at WISPA (archived)
• Laura Massaro at Squash Info
• Laura-Jane Massaro at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)