Right on the heels of the Northern Virginia Invitational, the traditional season ending event for the LPRT is upon us: the Sweet Caroline Open. Normally held in Greenville, SC, at the club that serves as the home for the LPRT’s official Hall of Fame, this year due to club renovations (thankfully that, and not yet another historic racquetball club closing) being held at the Dowd YMCA in Charlotte, NC. The ladies of the tour drove south down 95, passing through my hometown in Richmond, before heading into North Carolina proper.
R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=49103
Basically the same set of ladies who competed last weekend in DC, with a couple of changes at the tail end of the seedings. However, thanks to some major ranking shakeups, the quarters project to be completely different than last week.
With her finals finish last weekend, Longoria has sewn up the year end title, her 14th. The top 8 finishes are mostly set; only a huge run of upsets would change the final season rankings from where they sit now. There’s a bit of room in the 9-10-11 spots where someone could nab a “top 10” finish for the season, if the players cared about such a thing. So, a bit to play for this weekend.
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Let’s preview the draw. Here’s some notable qualifying matches that i’m looking forward to:
There’s just 2 matches in the 16s, and both could be interesting. In the 16/17 MRR takes on reigning US National champ @Naomi Ros in a good test for our young champion. Meanwhile, in the 15/18 matchup, the reigning U21 world junior champ from Bolivia @Camila Rivero is in town, taking on tour vet @Stephanie Synhorst.
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round of 16:
– I’d like to see what Ros can do against Something-time Mexican champ @Paola Longoria (I don’t have any idea how many Mexican national titles Paola has, thanks to shoddy record keeping at the FMR, but I do know she’s won every title save for one since 2014, and likely every title from around 2008-2014, so i’d estimate it at either 16 or 17).
– With Herrera all the way down at #8, she faces #9 Parrilla for a shot at Paola.
– All Argentine grudge match between Mendez and Centellas, in a battle of the long-time representative and the player they’re trying to replace her with.
– Laime got upset early last week; can she hang with hard-hitting Salas to live up to her seed?
– Lotts plays into Vargas, and she can hang with the big hitting Argentine.
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Projected Qtrs:
– Longoria over Herrera: the time where Alexandra could beat Paola seems now past.
– Gaby over Mendez: We never seem to talk about Ana Gabriele Martinez’ draw until suddenly she’s in the semis, taking on Paola.
– Vargas over Laime: Laime seems to either make the final or lose in the first round.
– Mejia over Lawrence. With her win last week Montse moves up to #2 and takes on the American Kelani, who has a couple hour’s drive from her Va Beach home to get to Charlotte for this one.
Semis: I like the top four seeds once again
– Longoria has another close one against Gaby but moves on
– Mejia has the hot hand, Vargas knows she’s out of the title race and loses.
Finals; Longoria finishes off her season with a title in the last event.
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Doubles review
Longoria & Salas take the weekend off from doubles, which paves the way for Mejia & Herrera to get a title, even if they’ve been supplanted in the rankings.
“There’s just 2 matches in the 16s, ”
Should be the round of 32. Otherwise, great preview as always!