“Looking at her from a junior career and how she has fared versus the other players, she’s capable of being the best in the world,” said Tommy Berden, the acting chief executive of the Women’s Squash Association, which runs the professional tour.

Image Amanda Sobhy, a Harvard student, is the first American-born squash player in the world’s top 10. Credit... Richard Perry/The New York Times

In the small world of professional squash, Sobhy’s triple duty as a student, collegiate athlete and professional player is unusual. Internationally, top-ranked junior players often pass up college to join the pro tour. That was the route taken by another American, Olivia Blatchford.

“I did consider college a little bit, but I wanted to play and give it my best,” Blatchford said after beating Sabrina Sobhy at the Weymuller tournament. “By the time I was about 16, I decided that I would always have my brain but I might not always have my body.”

Now 21, Blatchford is ranked in the world’s top 50. Still, playing college squash as a route to an elite university degree seems to be a better option than the insecure financial life of a professional player. In 2013, Nicol David of Malaysia, the world No. 1 since 2006, won just over $73,000. Blatchford made $2,470 for her career highlight, a tournament title in Mexico.

“If I wanted to play for the money,” Sobhy said, “I would have stuck with tennis when I was younger.”

Blatchford felt so much financial pressure that she quit the sport for four months when she was 19 to coach full time. She returned last September after U.S. Squash began an elite athlete program that subsidizes professionals based on their age and ranking. Blatchford receives a base salary of $12,000 per year, health insurance and reimbursement for expenses.