Congrats to your winners on the weekend:

– Singles: Daniel De La Rosa

– Doubles: Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya

PRS Singles match report: https://rball.pro/c5l

PRS Doubles match report: https://rball.pro/klr

De La Rosa wins his 9th career tier 1 title, putting him 13th all time. Mar/Montoya win their 4th pro doubles title together, first since Chicago in March.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=39931

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Lets review the notable matches in the Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database:

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In the qualifying:

– Solid win for @Rodrigo Rodrigues , taking out Sam Bredenbeck in a breaker. A setback for Sam, who looked really strong at Worlds.

– @Christian Longoria got a very solid win over Alan Natera to move into the main draw.

—————-

In the 32s:

– #17 Erick Trujillo impressed against the classy Javier Mar but fell in a breaker.

– #20 @Jaime Martell played well and downed #13 @SSebastian Fran in two straight forward games, perhaps not really an upset by true talent levels.

– Solid win by #14 Thomas Carter over the upstart Longoria.

—————-

In the 16s, some upsets for sure

– #1 Daniel de la Rosa had to deal with Mar, a matchup that is more of a semis-quality match. 15-2 in the first made it seem like it’d be a laugher, but Mar ground out game 2 to force DLR to win the breaker.

– #8 @Jake Bredenbeck got a quality win over the red-hot #9 Mario Mercado .

– #12 Andres Acuña blew out a rusty #5 @Alejandro Landa 5,7. Landa reportedly had not played since the US Open and showed it on the court against the always-consistent Acuna.

– #4 @Eduardo Portilla outlasted the dangerous Martell in two tight games.

– #3 Andrés Parrilla was pressed by #14 Carter but moved on 11,8

– #11 Rodrigo Montoya is fast becoming the non-top 8 player nobody wants to see, again claiming a top-8 scalp in dominating #6 Samuel Murray 11,6. Are we finally going to see the uber-talented Montoya take his rightful place at the top of the IRT tour, after years of partial touring costing him the points he needed to stay there?

– #7 @Rocky Carson held off fellow American #10 @Adam Manilla, has he has done for a few tournaments now at this juncture.

– #2 Conrrado Moscoso surprisingly dropped game one to fellow hard-hitter @Eduardo Gara , but bounced back to move on.

—————-

In the Quarters

– #1 DLR continues to bedevil #8 Jake in the quarters when they generally meet (three times in the last year), but Jake did force him to a breaker this time. Being “stuck” at #8 can be a tough place to get out of without the “flip seeding” that the tour seems to have done away with.

– #12 Acuna got a walkover win against #4 Portillo, who was under the weather and was advised not to play. Acuna makes a semi for the first time in his pro career.

– #11 Montoya topped #3 Parrilla once again; it has been more than a year since Parrilla has beaten his cohort-mate in Rodrigo.

– #2 Moscoso cruised past #7 Carson 11,5.

—————

In the Semis,

– DLR was pressed by the upstart Costa Rican Acuna, but moved into the final 10,13

– In the other semi, what was shaping up to be a fantastic match on paper was cut short quickly when #2 Conrrado tripped over #11 Montoya’s feet while back-pedalling to retrieve a ceiling ball, and banged his head on the back wall. He was judged not to have been concussed, but was advised to retire unfortunately.

In the Finals, DLR absolutely destroyed the player who put him out of the US Open, beating Montoya 5,3 to claim the title.

—————-

Points Implications of results;

This tourney expires the 2021 World Singles & Doubles championship, which was DLR over Moscoso in the final. So, DLR defends his winner points, and with just one tier 1 remaining in 2022 has an insurmountable lead at the top of the IRT tour. Congratulations to DLR for securing his second straight #1 year end ranking.

Other expected points machinations:

– Parrilla and Moscoso should switch places at 2/3, but its super close and if one or the other has some random tier 2/3 points that aren’t in my model they may stay the same 2/3 order.

– Despite both losing early, Murray should move ahead of Landa at the 5/6 by virtue of having fewer points to defend from Denver.

– Manilla continues to climb the ranks; he’s nearly in the top 10 now.

– Keller’s absenses are catching up to him; he’s nearly out of the top 16 now.

– Kane won’t drop too much for the time being: he’s entering a period where he missed most of the 2021 slate of events, so he’ll have no expiring points. Meanwhil,e Beltran will continue to fall as he recovers from his injury; he’ll likely be out of the top 20 soon.

—————-

Doubles review

– The #1 seeds Parrilla/Murray were upset in the quarters by Natera/Acuna.

– The Bredenbecks had to work far harder than they should have to top Cuevas/Ramirez

– Landa & Moscoso teamed up for the first time and looked solid together

– DLR picked up a last minute partner in Carrasco, topped Carson/Portillo, and took Mar/Montoya to a breaker. Not bad.

The final was a walkover unfortunately, when Moscoso got hurt. Would have been a solid match to see Landa/Moscoso vs Mar/Montoya.

—————-

Other notable draws from the event

– Erick Cuevas took the IRT U21 event with a solid win over Trujillo in the final.

– Diego Gastellum took the Men’s open with the help of a couple of walkovers from the top two seeds along the way.

– Florida pair @Bradley Knudsen and Matt Fontana took the Men’s Open doubles draw.

– Hollie Scott took the Women’s Open draw, which featured 7 regular LPRT players, topping Veronica Sotomayor 11-9 in the final.

– Scott teamed up with Maria Renee Rodriguez to win the 5-team Women’s Open Doubles over solid competition. Sotomayor and Costa Rican top junior Maricruz Ortiz finished 2nd.

– Finally, two Californians who made the trip won the Mixed Open title when Will Reynolds and @EsEstefania Perez Piña took out the all-florida pair of @Assuan Castaneda and @Graci Wargo in the final.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend, especially from broadcasters Favio Soto and Karen Grisz who worked the mike all weekend.

Thanks to the Tourney Director Mike Kinkin and @Team Dovetail for putting this event on!

Reminder to Players! Please like and follow this page so that when I tag you, you see it. Facebook will only retain tags of people that like/follow a page, which means lots of you are not getting the notoriety of getting tagged and noticed on Facebook. If your name is here and it isn’t tagged … it probably means I attempted to tag you but Facebook stripped it.

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar …

https://docs.google.com/…/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMb…/

– @Racquetball Canada has a selection event next weekend.

– The weekend after the LPRT is back in action in Chicago

– Then there’s a lower-tier IRT event in Monterrey, NL Mexico the same weekend.

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tags

@inteInternational Racquetball Tour

Just a couple days after we all got back from Vegas for @3w3Wall Ball , the IRT returns for the 2022 Team Dovetail open, being held in Sarasota, FL (home town of Mike Kinkin and the Dovetail enterprise).

R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=39931

Draw size, observations; 38 players are here, a solid draw for a back to back.

top20 players missing; the two known injured veterans Kane Waselenchuk and Alvaro Beltran , both of whom are out for a bit. The rest of the top 10 is here, even those who just burned it up in Vegas. No #17 @Sebastian Fernandez , a west coaster who didn’t want to make the west-to-east trip after a busy Vegas. No #11 @Carlos Keller, opting to skip the long Bolivan trip this time.

Other draw observations: we have a few of the Florida open regulars (@aleAlejandro Herrera , @Alex Zamudio ), a couple of notable juniors (@cCole Send , looking for some challenging matches ahead of Junior Worlds), and a few new names making their pro tour debuts (David Sosa Lopez and Lincoln Andres-beck ). Should be a solid tourney.

——————————

Lets preview the singles draw. Here’s some notable qualifying matches that i’m looking forward to:

128s:

– Vargas vs Sendry: Vargas rarely plays the IRT, and is more of a Fronton player back home in Bolivia, but he can ball. Sendry has his hands full.

– Herrera vs @Christian Longoria : tough draw for both. Herrera still has the power, but Longoria is a tough out.

64s.

– @Sam Bredenbeck vs Rodrigo Rodriguez : great qualifier, R vs L, power versus touch. Hard to predict; Sam has been playing well, but Rodriguez has some scalps.

– Vargas/Sendry winner vs @ErErick Fernanado Cuevas : the 128 winner will like their chances over the young Mexican in the 64s to qualify.

– Jaime Martell vs Floridian Alex Zamudio ; Zamudio is tough, Martel is tougher and will look to build on his run to the quarters in Pleasanton.

– @Alan Natera versus the Herrera/Longoria winner: no easy match for Natera, especially for someone who just played Vegas.

– Kadim Carrasco vs Esteban Requez : two Bolivians battle it out; Reque just impressed highly in Vegas, winning the Open 3-wall singles over some very tough players.

——————————-

Projecting the 32s: here’s some possible matchups, though the depth of this draw could make for some upsets and make these predictions moot:

– #16/#17 should be Erick Trujillo versus Javier Mar . Two great players, and possible trouble for DLR in the 16s (read on). I don’t think Trujillo can top the veteran Mar just yet, but another good test.

– #20 Martell will favor his chances for another upset of #13 @Sebastian Franco in the round of 32.

– #14 Thomas Carter projects to face #19 Natera, and this could be a solid match. Carter has never faced Natera in a tier 1 event.

– The 15/18 match between Garay and Carrasco could be interesting.

——————————-

round of 16:

– #1 @dDaniel de la Rosa faces yet another far-too-difficult round of 16 matchup. He frequently plays Fernandez at this juncture, but has had to face off against Alonso, Montoya, and now likely Mar here. These are all better than #16 players, and the risk of a third straight upset of the #1 seed is in play. DLR looked laser focused though in Vegas and is still the favorite here.

– 8/9 Jake Bredenbeck v Mario Mercado : Mercado was lights out in Vegas and is sharp. But Jake made the final in Pleasanton and topped Mario 9,9 along the way. I think Jake’s got his number for now.

– #4 Eduardo Portillo , newly crowned 3WB Outdoor pro doubles champ, projects to face the Martel/Franco winner to open his tourney.

– #6/#11 Montoya v Samuel Murray : tough opener for Murray; he’s 2-2 lifetime versus Montoya and he’s hot this season, having made the US Open final. Upset watch.

– 7/10 Battle of the Americans between @Rocky Carson and Adam Manilla . Manilla is 0-7 lifetime against Rocky indoors, but did take him to a breaker in Minneapolis last month.

——————————

Projected Qtrs:

– DLR over Jake; DLR’s wired in right now.

– Portillo over Landa : Alex got him in US Open, but Lalo topped him the two times before.

– Montoya over Andree Parrilla : a rematch of the 1v16 upset in Maryland earlier this year; Montoya has his number.

– #2 Conrrado Moscoso over #7 Carson: Moscoso has owned this h2h matchup since Bolivia in 2019.

Semis:

– DLR over Portillo

– Moscoso over Montoya

Finals; 1 v 2: this is the match we all want to see right now as a measuring stick of how far Moscoso has come. Most observers have now elevated Conrrado to the “2nd best player in the world” status (behind a healthy Kane) and having pipped DLR for that mantle … but this would be a great final to see where they are right now. They havn’t run into each other in a while: DLR won in 2021 Denver and 2020 Sioux Falls, but Moscoso has some h2h wins internationally and at the US Open semis in 2019.

I like Moscoso to win his 3rd straight pro title.

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Doubles review:

With the Beltran injury, DLR picked up a last minute doubles replacement in Carrasco and are seeded third; not likely they can top the dominant Mar/Montoya pairing from the lower half. 3WB champs Rocky/Lalo are the #6 seed, team Zurek (Garay/Franco) is #7, and an intriguing Mercado/Vargas all-Bolivian native pairing is #10, making for a stacked lower half.

From the upper side, #1 Murray/Parrilla is clearly the team to beat … but we get a Landa/Conrrado pairing for the first time at #4. Also at the top: the US national finalists Bredenbeck brothers at #5 and an interesting Trujillo/Manilla lefty-righty pairing at #9 will challenge.

Prediction: Montoya/Mar top Murray/Parrilla in the final.

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Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the IRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live.

@internaInternational Racquetball Tour

Congrats to your winners on the weekend:

– Singles: Conrrado Moscoso

– Doubles: Samuel Murray & Andree Parrilla

Moscoso wins his 4th pro IRT singles title, tying him with Alejandro Landa , Steve Keeley , @Steve Serot, and @Gregg Peck for 20th all time. Murray and Parrilla each break long title-less streaks: Sam wins his first pro doubles title since 2018, and Andree his first since 2019.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=39852

——————

Lets review the notable matches in the Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/avw

—————-

In the 128s and 64s:

– Solid win by Nick Riffel to advance over Colombian @AndAndres G

– Bravo to Colombian junior Jhonathan Flores to push solid Mexican veteran Jaime Martell to a breaker before falling.

– @Anthony Martin with a solid win over budding star @EzeEzequiel Subi to move on.

– NorCal’s @Walter Ramos pushed Sam Bredenbeck a little in the second game but fell 2,10.

—————-

In the 32s, a few blow-outs but five tie-breakers with some upsets.

– Natera pushed to a breaker to down Collins in the 16/17 match.

– Riffel pushed Keller to an 11-7 breaker before losing.

– Sam Bredenbeck got the first game but cou ldn’t close out against Bolivian @Kadim Carrasco.

The two notable upsets:

– Argentina’s Diego García took out @Javier Mar 11-10 in perhaps his best professional win. Match point was amazing, with multiple dives from Mar to extend the rally and then a backhand overhead splat winner from Diego to take it. He gets a crack at Rocky next, and is clearly building on his main-draw appearance last week at the US Open.

– In an all-Mexico affair, Martel took out Fernandez to move on. This is an upset by seed, and probably a slight upset by true talent levels, but its still a great win for Martel, who always seems to make noise when he plays IRT events.

—————-

In the 16s, a couple more massive wins for infrequent tour players

– Martell took out #3 @Samuel Murray 8,14 to make his first ever IRT pro singles quarterfinal.

– Garcia achieved the same feat, topping Carson in a breaker to get to his first ever pro quarter as well.

Other notable 16s results:

– #8 Manilla held serve and topped the always-tough #9 Keller in a breaker

– The mercurial Mercado (hey, that almost rhymes!) dispatched the US Open finalist Montoya with relative ease. Its all about the matchups: despite recent runs of form, Mercado has now beaten Montoya in 3 of their 4 meetings, and in all 3 pro meetings.

—————-

In the Quarters, some more shocks

– Moscoso ground out a win against Manilla, who made it closer than some may have thought it’d be.

– The Garcia train came to a crashing halt at the hands of fellow youngster Portillo, who blew past him 2,5.

– For about 15 minutes it looked like another major upset for Martell, who took down his former frequent WRT rival Bredenbeck 15-2 in the first. Then, Jake woke up and crushed Jaime 15-3, 11-2 the rest of the way to improve to 7-1 lifetime against him to move into the semis.

– Mercado continued providing surprises, edging #2 @Andree Parrilla 13,14 to move into the semis.

—————

In the Semis

– Moscoso pulled a rabbit out of his hat to win an 11-10 breaker over Portillo, in a match he really should not have won. Portillo had a setup at 10-7 and missed it, and Conrrado never gave the serve back. Lost opportunity for Lalo, but credit to Conrrado for making it to the final.

– Jake repeated the results from last week at the US Open, topping Mercado in two straightforward games to make his second ever IRT pro final.

In the Finals, Moscoso cruised to his 4th title, winning 11,7.

—————-

Points Implications of results:

This tournament expires the Jan 2021 Atlanta Grand slam, which was won by Sam, so he had a ton of points to defend. Fittingly, he’ll fall from #4 to #6 after this weekend. Despite winning this weekend with Daniel missing the event, Conrrado only picks up a few points on DLR in the race for #1. Despite not playing, Kane actually improved one spot since he did not play the 2021 event that dropped off.

—————-

Doubles review

Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/acs

Due credit to Portillo/Acuna, who have teamed up anew this year and are getting results. they made the MD pro doubles final, and now they’ve topped the #1 seeds Montoya/Mar to make this final from the top half.

On the bottom half, #2 Parrilla/Murray had to fend off mat-point against from home town favorites Manilla/Fernandez before advancing 11-10 into the final.

In the final, the veteran doubles team of Murray/Parrilla finally got a win together, topping team Dovetail 10,13 for the title.

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Men’s Open, other draws

– Sebastian Fernandez won the Men’s Open title as the #1 seed, beating surprise finalist Colombian junior @Jhonatan Flores in the final.

– Garcia teamed with NorCal top player @Will Reynolds to take the Men’s Open doubles title.

– @Carla Munoz topped @Annie Roberts in the Women’s Open final.

– Mercado teamed with @Kimberly Randolph to beat Munoz/@Tyrone Snipes in the Mixed Open final.

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Thanks for all the streaming on the weekend, especially from broadcasters @Favio Soto and his collection of guest broadcasters, which included Erika Manilla and other local voices who did a great job.

——————

Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar …

https://docs.google.com/…/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMb…/

We get a little break in the schedule, then the big Outdoor Major in Las Vegas, @3W3Wall Ball !

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tags

Hot on the heels of the Us open, the IRT moves westward to Northern California for a new event, the Golden State Open. Held in Pleasanton, CA, it represents the first time the Men’s pros have played in NorCal since 2015, and the first time since 1984 that the tour has played in Pleasanton. Back then it was called the “Schoeber’s Christmas Classic” but now its the brainchild of IRT players Bobby Horn and Adam Manilla, who piggy backed off of the US Open purposely to get a number of the international players another tournament while on US Soil.
R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=39852

33 men’s pros are in the draw this weekend, and a couple of notable top 8 absences will make for some interesting matchups. US Open champ @Conrrado Moscoso has ascended to #2 on tour, and gets the #1 seed here with DLR missing the event. Also skipping out this weekend is #6 ranked Landa and #8 ranked Kane, who will be sidelined for sometime with his ankle issue.

Lets preview the draw. Here’s some notable qualifying matches that i’m looking forward to:
In the round of 64:

• @Jaime Martell will have a good match with Colombian junior @Jhonatan Flores
• Bolivian junior @Ezequiel Subieta will have a solid match against some-time tour player AAnthony Martin

– Powerful lefty NorCal outdoor specialist (and new dad) Walter Ramos will have his hands full against the improving @Sam Bredenbeck . Lots of broken balls in this one.

Projecting the 32s: here’s a few possible upsets to watch for in the 32s.

• #17 Alan Natera could upset #16 Robbie Collins to get into the main draw, though Collins plays quite frequently on these courts and could have the advantage.
• #12 @Javier Mar will have his hands full with Argentine U21 phenom @DDiego García , who just won the U21 event in Minneapolis over a ton of really quality players.
• Martel will certainly vex #14 Sebastian Fernandez to move on.

– Sam Bredenbeck has one of his better chances to advance into the main draw in recent memory with a projected matchup against Bolivian @Kadim Carrasco

round of 16 to watch for:

• #8 Adam Manilla versus #9 @Carlos Keller Vargas . Tough one, as 8/9 seed matches always are. Manilla has been playing solid, but Keller has finals capability on the right day.
• #12 Mar over #5 Rocky Carson : not the first round that Carson wants to see, a player who can regularly get to the semis of pro draws if he was seeded properly.
• #3 @Sam Murray versus #14 Fernandez; these two have met three times; Patata got a win in 2017, Murray crushed him in South Dakota in 2019, then a tiebreaker win for Big Canada in May of 2019. Can Fernandez even the score?
• #6 @Jake Bredenbeck versus #11 @Andrés Acuña : they haven’t met since 2017, and both players have come a long way since. Which Acuna shows up? The one who makes the finals of int’l events or the one who loses to local open players in the round of 32?

– #7 Mario Mercado versus #10 Rodrigo Montoya : Mercado has beaten him both times they’ve played professionally. But Montoya is coming off a US Open final. Will he have a letdown or will he build on his success?

Projected Qtrs:

• Moscoso over Manilla
• Portillo over Mar; if Mar can get past Rocky he may be too winded to handle the kid.
• Murray over Jake
• Montoya over Parrilla; they’ve played so many times in the past, it’s less about talent and more about mental.
  Semis and Final:
• Moscoso over Portillo
• Montoya over Murray

final; rematch of US OPen; Moscoso over Montoya.

Doubles review
A really fun doubles draw in store for California, with 6 or 7 teams who could win it. The Bredenbecks will try to build on their US Open finals appearance but will have to beat both Portillo/Acuna and Montoya/Mar to do so. Moscoso and Keller are the #3 seed but may be the favorites.

I’ll go with Moscoso/Keller over Montoya/Mar in the final.

Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the IRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live. Look for Dean Baer, Favio Soto, Pablo Fajre and the IRTLive crew all weekend on the mike, calling the shots!
Thanks to the Tourney Directors Bobby Horn and @Adam Manilla for putting this event on!
International Racquetball Tour

Welcome back to Men’s Pro Racquetball! It seems like it has been ages since the last IRT event, in May, in New York. We’ve had two international events, multiple nationals, outdoors, and ladies pro events in the interim … but now we’ve got the Men’s tour back in action.
And the tour returns to the Washington DC/Baltimore area for a Tier-1 for the first time since 2019, when the old Valentine Open was held at the former Laurel SportFit club (since closed, a Covid casualty unfortunately).
This weekend we’re at the legendary Severna Park Health and Racquet, roughly halfway between Washington and Baltimore, a club that has run tournaments for decades and still has a old-school stadium seating behind its show court.. The IRT did run a lower tier event at this club in May of 2021, so some of the pros are familiar with the setting.
R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=39163
There’s 40 IRT men’s pros entered into the singles draw this weekend, and we have a couple of curious missing players which will make for interesting seeding. #1
Daniel de la Rosa is not here, meaning that Andree Parrilla is the #1 seed, a career first for him. Also missing for one of the rare non-injury times in his life is #8 @Rocky Carson , perhaps “travelled out” after multiple IRF trips this summer and looking to avoid a cross-country trip so close to the US Open. This puts both @
Mario Mercado and @Jake Bredenbeck into top 8 seed placement, giving them guaranteed byes into the round of 16.

Other top 20 players missing include Fernandez and Trujillo (who is at Mexican Junior Nationals this weekend along with a few others who normally would be here). Interestingly, @Alvaro Beltran is here, and will be playing Pro Doubles with someone not named De La Rosa for the first time in recent memory (he’s playing with Landa as the #1 seeds).

Lets preview the draw. Here’s some notable qualifying matches that I’m looking forward to:
In the round of 128:

• A rare singles appearance by Bolivian doubles specialist Roland Keller , facing New Jersey’s @
  David Austin in the opening round.
• Junior U16 Texan @Cole Sendry is here and starts his tourney against local open player @Troy Moore.
• Top New England player John Behm has travelled down I-95 for the event and faces off against one of the Kelley Brothers in Sam.

– Two of the better Maryland-based open players (@Dylan Pruitt and @Ben Bleyer are entered and have their work cut out for them against @Abraham Mercado and former IRT touring pro @Kyle Ulliman respectively

In the round of 64:

• #17 overall seed @Javier Mar gets a tough one in Roland Keller to get into the main draw.
• Bolivian veteran @Kadim Carrasco returns to the tour and likely faces Texan youngster Sendrey to move on. This will be a great test for Sendrey if he makes it here in the opener.
• Mexican dark-horse @Jaime Martel is here and kicks off his event against the Pruitt/Mercado winner.

– A tougher opener than #18 @Jordy Alonso deserved, likely facing Ulliman.

Projecting the 32s: here’s some possible matchups, which should be great.

• #16 @Eduardo Garay projects to face Mar, a really nice matchup and contrast of styles. Mar is the better player, but has been out of singles action for a while. Can Garay grind out a win against the veteran control player?
• #12 @Carlos Keller versus #21 @Alan Natera; Keller should advance here, but Natera can surprise.
• #11 @Andres Acuna , who has now put himself squarely in the conversation of “man I’d least like to see in the qualifying draw,” faces local pro
  MoMo Zelada in the 32s. Zelada will get home-town bounces and fan support, but Acuna should advance.
• #10 @Adam Manilla gets perhaps the toughest qualifier draw in #23 @Jaime Martel. I’ve got Manilla higher on the pecking order, but Martel can get wins. This will be an upset watch for sure.
• #15

Thomas Carter has his work cut out for him against #18 Alonso. Another upset watch: Alonso has been on a hot streak lately, with 2022 wins over Horn, SFranco, and Jake.

Round of 16: Here’s some interesting projected matches for me in the 16s, which start Friday afternoon.

• #1 Parrilla vs #17 Mar: wow, not the easy opener the #1 seed would normally expect. Up until quite recently I rated Mar as the better overall player than Parrilla, and these two go back a long ways. I don’t see an upset, but I do see a close match.
• In the always-close 8/9, we get @Sebastian Franco on his (sometimes) home courts versus @Jake Bredenbeck . These two have split their last few meetings, dating to 2018, but Jake topped Sebastian easily the last time they met. Edge to Jake.
• #5 @Conrrado Moscoso projects to face his country-man Keller, the mane he’d least like to see here. With DLR out of the top of this draw, Moscoso has to like his chances to get to the final (especially on the back of his great run at Worlds). But first he has to get past a player he’s played dozens of times in the past, and who knows how to beat him. Carlos beat Conrrado handily at last year’s US Open on the way to the final; Conrrado needs to find a way to mentally win this.
• #3 @Alex Landa versus #14 @Rodrigo Montoya. Tough one for the #3 seed, as Montoya just beat Alex at the World Games rather handily. Montoya’s only losses this entire year have come against Kane, Moscoso, De La Rosa, and Acuna (in the World Games final). I think Montoya moves on here, and is starting to really take his place at the top of the pro food chain.

– #6 Lalo Portillo versus #11 Acuna: first time they’ve ever met in a top level setting, and I’ve got them neck and neck in my pure talent rankings. Tough one to predict, but I’m leaning towards Acuna, who has been hot lately. Lalo won the 2021 event on these courts so he’s a fan favorite, but Acuna has really turned it up a notch lately.

Projected Qtrs:

• Parrilla over Jake: they just met in Birmingham and Andree handled the American easily.
• Moscoso over @Samuel Murray. Yes I know Murray had a couple of recent wins over the Bolivian; to me Moscoso is the 2nd best talent in the world and blew out the Worlds draw, and seems like he’s on fire right now. That being said … sometimes its about the match-up and not about the talent; if Murray can control Conrrado’s power and force him to play impatiently … this could be a loss for the Bolivian at the hands of Big Canada once again.
• Montoya over Acuna: even though Acuna topped Montoya at World Games final .. it was rally scoring. I think longer non-rally scoring games will favor Montoya, who can grind out points and wait for opportunities.
• Waselenchuk over Mercado: Mario’s goal will be to not get donuted in either game at the hands of the GOAT.
  Semis:
• Moscoso over Parrilla. Parrilla is a grinder, but Moscoso is a phenom.
• Kane over Montoya. Montoya has the power and talent to get some points … and has had some impressive showings against Kane before, but he cannot keep up flawless shot-making for the entirety of a match, which is what it takes to beat Kane right now.
  Finals: Kane over Moscoso, in what hopefully is a more enjoyable match than the last time they met, where the Bolivian didn’t seem to have any semblance of a game-plan and got wiped out attempting to lob serve one of the best shooters in history.

(Note: I really hope t his turns out to be the progression of matches, because my semis features 3 of my 4 favorite players to watch in terms of athleticism, power, and shot-making.)

Doubles review
As noted at the top, DLR is not here, so the usual #1 seeds are now different. Beltran has teamed up with Landa and they’re #1. But they’re going to face some serious challenge; the #4 team is Moscoso/Keller, who have three IRF titles to their name and are coming off a finals appearance at Worlds.
From the bottom, #2 Montoya/Mar are the 2021 Worlds champions and are also a tough team to beat, but they’ve got to contend with a relatively new team of Acuna/Portillo as the #3 seed, both of whom are excellentdoubles players.

In the end, I like Montoya/Mar to top Moscoso/Keller in the final.

Look for Streaming in the regular places; follow the IRT on Facebook and sign up to get notifications when they go Live.
Look for Dean Baer, Favio Soto, Pablo Fajre and the IRTLive crew all weekend on the mike, calling the shots! Also look for @Gary Mazaroff on the mike this weekend, as well as yours truly Todd Boss, coming in for Saturday’s action.
Thanks to the Tourney Director Slemo Warigon and regular helpers Grisz and Milbach et al for putting this event on!
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