Enthralling but contrasting victories by Nick Matthew and Amr Shabana in the Delaware Investments US Open take the former champions from England and Egypt, respectively, into the final of the fifth PSA World Series squash event of the year at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

In the 27th Tour clash between the top two Englishmen since June 2001, 2007 champion Matthew powered to his 12th win in a row over James Willstrop, beating the third seed 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 in 86 minutes.

Later, 2009 champion Shabana extended his career head-to-head record over sixth seed Thierry Lincou to 13-9 - but earned his first win over the Frenchman for three years with his 11-1, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 victory in 48 minutes.

Fellow Yorkshiremen Matthew and Willstrop have had numerous classic battles, and the opening semi-final - a gruelling and at times brutal four-game encounter - was up there with the best of them.

As Matthew said at the end, it's been a good few months since they played, so it was like starting afresh, and Willstrop certainly didn't come into the match with any sort of inferiority complex.

"The first game was as tough and as close as they come, never more than a point or two between them, never an easy rally," said event spokesman Steve Cubbins. "It took 26 minutes for Matthew to take the lead, although the end came quickly as at nine-all - Willstrop snatched at, and tinned, a volley in the middle of the court, and Matthew followed up with an unexpected angle at the front to close it out."

From 5-6 down in the second, Matthew enjoyed a spell of relative dominance, going ahead 10-7 and extending his lead after a further 17 minutes.

World No4 Willstrop came out strongly in the third - from three-all moving ahead to 7-3, before taking advantage of a couple of rare mistakes by the top seed to reduce the deficit.

"The fourth was brutal," continued Cubbins. "22 minutes it took, and once again there was nothing to choose between them - four-all, five-all, six-all, seven-all. Then Matthew got two stokes, the type he gets a lot of against Willstrop in that front left corner, to go 9-7 ahead."

After a long rally which ended in a let, Matthew won the next two points to claim his place in the final.

"We haven't played since last January, so there was no carryover into this match, it was like starting afresh which is probably why it was so tough tonight," explained the 31-year-old from Sheffield to the official event website www.usopensquash.com after his victory.

"When I was 2/0 we were talking in the corner, about how James is renowned for his racket skills - but he's also one of the gutsiest players and fiercest competitors you can ever meet, so there was no question of easing up or thinking the job had been done," added Matthew, now in his 45th PSA World Tour final.

"He came out really well in the third, and it was all credit to him for winning it rather than anything I did wrong.

"James's racket skills are as good as they've ever been so I'm delighted to have managed to win that one, and looking forward to what should be a fantastic final."

Matthew and Shabana will be meeting for the second time in two weeks, but the first time in a Tour final since reaching the climax of the ATCO PSA World Series Finals in London in January - a match which was never played when the inflatable structure in which it was due to be staged became unsafe.

Distinguished Frenchman Thierry Lincou was celebrating his first semi-final appearance in a 2001 World Series event - and after winning his quarter-final had declared anything more would be a bonus.

But after winning just a single point in the opener, Lincou cut out the errors in the second, lengthening the rallies and stopping the flow of winners from the Egyptian's racket. The Frenchman took a 6-3 lead and although Shabana fought back he was unable to stop Lincou drawing level.

Fourth seed Shabana regained the upper hand in the next two games, however, hitting some sublime winners and pulling clear to 9-5 in the third and 10-4 in the fourth.

"It was a good match - Thierry is one of the best of all time at controlling the T, so I knew I had to work hard to try to get him to the back of the court if I was going to have any chance to win, even if it was going to hurt," said Shabana, the four-time world champion now in his 41st Tour final.

"Thankfully it all worked out right in the end, now I need to get myself prepared for Nick again. He's had a wonderful spell over the last two years and is playing great squash.

"I'll need to raise my level to really challenge him tomorrow."

RESULTS: PSA World Series Delaware Investments US Open, Philadelphia, USA

Semi-finals:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 (86m)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [6] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-1, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 (48m)

More details on the Official Website: www.usopensquash.com

For all the latest Tour news: www.psaworldtour.com