Egypt's Mohamed Elshorbagy made a winning start to the defence of his Oracle NetSuite title in San Francisco ©Getty Images

Mohamed Elshorbagy and Sarah-Jane Perry successfully opened up their title defences at squash's Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco on a day when the top eight seeds in the men's and women's competitions all prevailed.

Elshorbagy's opening match, on the second day of play in the west coast American city, was far from easy as he beat France's Gregoire Marche 11-3, 10-12, 11-3, 13-11.

"I knew the danger of playing against him in the first game of season, I had to be sharp and I had to play well to beat him today," said Elshorbagy, the world number one and top seed, who will now face Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez in the last eight.

"I know what it feels to lose the number one spot and I want to make sure that I only lose it again when someone raises the bar over me, not because of me losing hunger or motivation like before."

The men's competition in this Professional Squash Association World Tour event produced the two closest matches of the day as third seed Tarek Momen of Egypt was at full stretch - literally at one point as he made a spectacular dive to reach the ball - to see off the challenge of India's Saurav Ghosal 9-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-5, 11-7.

Momen now faces Egyptian team-mate Karim Abdel Gawad.

Tarek Momen at full stretch during his victory today at the PSA Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco against Saurav Ghosal of India ©PSA
Tarek Momen at full stretch during his victory today at the PSA Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco against Saurav Ghosal of India ©PSA

The other five-game match of the day involved Peru's Diego Elias and France's Mathieu Castagnet, with the Peruvian earning his third straight quarter final appearance in this competition after coming back from 2-1 down to win in 85 minutes, 11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7.

"It was a long and tough match," said Elias.

"He's a warrior, and tough to beat."

Elias will face world number two and second seed Ali Farag on the Oracle NetSuite SuiteSuccess Court after Farag's 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 win over Britain's 2016 finalist and former world number one James Willstrop.

Perry dispatched Salma Hany of Egypt in three games, winning 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

The women's match of the day was arguably the 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9 victory by Camille Serme over home player Amanda Sobhy.

The French player, making her debut in this competition, came back from 9-7 down in the fourth game to end any hopes the American had of winning this title for a second time.

"When I saw the draw I thought 'that's a tough one,'" Serme said.

"She beat me a few weeks ago in the team championship, and I learned from that match, but I knew it was going to be a battle - both physically and mentally.

"I told myself just to enjoy it, and it was a great battle."

The 2016 champion, Laura Massaro, needed 35 minutes to earn a 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 win over Australia's Donna Lobban.