In our last recap article, we’re going to selectively discuss players who didn’t make the top 10 but who are notable, we’ll talk about players who dropped off the tour this year, and opine some at the end.
Notables in the 11-20 range on tour:
– #11 @Samantha Salas Solis missed out on #10 by a scant 3 points and thus misses out on a top 10 spot for the fourth year running. She’s now 38 and is finishing up her 22nd year on tour. She made 2 quarters this year, and can still get wins, and is still Paola’s doubles partner getting titles. How much longer will she tour? We only had 7 events this year, so a once-a-month trip to see old friends isn’t too hard to keep up with.
– @Valeria Centellas and Lexi York finished with almost identical results and points this year, coming in at #12 and #13. Both made all seven events, each made the round of 16 five out of seven times.
– #15 @Stephanie Synhorst made all seven events, made the round of 16 three times, and just out-pointed Carla to finish #15.
– @Carla Munoz finished last year inside the top 10, but missed three of the seven events this year to fall to #16. She’s obviously closer to a top 10 player but just couldn’t hang with the ladies ranked above her missing so much time this season.
– #17 Maria Renee RodrÃguez Josey returned to the tour after taking a bit of time away for life, education, etc. She finished #17 with three round of 16 finishes.
– @Michelle Key, who went years without appearing on tour, made four events and just made it into the top 20 this year.
– Former top 10 player @Angela Barrios fell all the way to #21. Barrios is always a tough draw when she does play, whether internationally or professionally, but is like many Bolivian players who struggle financially to make all tour events.
– Naomi Ros, who holds both the USA Racquetball National Adult title and the U21 Junior title right now, finished ranked 22nd.
– @Susana Acosta made it to two events, enough to ensure her 27th season in the rankings.
– Laura Brandt played in two events and finished tied for #28 with a few other ladies, but did so at the age of 57., She became the 3rd oldest player ever to make a round of 16 on tour.
– Two former top 4 players also finished with just enough results to get into the top 30: @Frederique Lambert and Erika Manilla . Lambert’s racquetball career now is mostly limited to Canadian National events, while Manilla’s hip injury has turned out to be far more difficult to recover from than she likely thought. Since exiting the 2024 US Nationals with the injury, she’s played just one LPRT event (in Dec 2024) and then attempted to earn back the US national singles title in May 2025. A healthy Manilla pushes for a top 4 spot on tour, but now she has to work her way all the way back from being ranked well outside the top positions.
– A slew of ladies finished “tied” for #34 with 18.75 points, basically the number of points one earns by making a round of 32 in a singular event. Included in that crew was the @Rhonda Rajsich, who entered her first LPRT pro event in years at the Arizona Open. Also notable in that group is 16U and busy national tournament participant Victoria Rodriguez , former top Mexican Junior @Lucia Gonzalez, and NorCal Outdoor specialist @Erica Williams.
—-
Some notable names who failed to even log an appearance this year:
– Sunshine Arterburn finished #21 last year; zero appearances this year.
– Argentine lefty @martina Katz showed some promise last year in limited appearances and was missing this season.
– Bolivian veterans @Jenny Daza and Yazmine Sabja Aliss missed out on this season. Former top Bolivian junior Michaela Meneses seems like she’s done with the sport.
– Former Junior legend @Adrienne Fisher Haynes didn’t play this season.
– Irish star Aisling Hickey got some surprise results last season but didn’t log an appearance this year.
– No traveling visits from the Ecuadorian Munoz regulars.
– Masiel Rivera has gone from being a top10 threat to no appearances in just a few years.
– Long-time touring pro @Adriana Riveros may ahve finally called it quits.
– Texan @Linda tyler is usually good for an event or two but hasn’t been seen in a while.
Lots of missing Mexican youngsters as well, who normally help fill out these draws and cause some surprises. The tour depth dropped for the 4th year running; we only had 43 distinct players play this season, down from 60+ a few years ago just after covid. A sign of the times.
That’s it for the season! LPRT kicks off with @jim hiser’s big World Singles and Doubles extravaganza in August.