Month: October 2025

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2025 Golden State Open Recap

Vargas takes back over #1 on tour with her win in Golden State Open. Photo via usaracquetballevents.com

Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:

– Men’s Pro Singles: Conrrado Moscoso

– Women’s Pro Singles: Maria Jose Vargas

– Mixed Pro Doubles: Conrrado Moscoso & Gaby Martinez

Moscoso wins his 10th career singles title (he’s now 14th all time) and his third straight major Mixed Pro Doubles title (to go along with the 2023 and 2025 World Singles & Doubles titles). Vargas wins her 13th career title, tied for 10th ever, and takes over World #1.

R2 Sports App home page for event: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=48678

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Let’s review the notable matches in the Men’s Pro Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/42ed4b

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In the 32s:

– @Robbie Collins dropped the first game to @Wayne Antone 15-1, then came back to win 15-10 and 11-0 thereout.

– @DJ Mendoza grabbed the first game against Bolivian vet Carrasco, but couldn’t finish it out, losing in three.

– Bolivian junior debutant Santiago Borja certainly made #2 Javier Mar work for it, losing into 14 & 11. Great showing.

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In the 16s:

– Martell made fast work of Carter 7,3 in the 8/9 seed matchup

– Parrilla came back from a blowout game 1 loss to edge Diego Garcia in three 11-9. This was an upset special for me, but Parrilla held him off.

– Carrasco earned his first career pro IRT tier1 quarterfinal with a walkover injury against Natera. Alan had major knee surgery earlier this year and struggled a bit in his round of 32 match against a junior, and had to step out of this match.

– Alonso squeaked past Gastelum 6,14.

– Moscoso crushed Bolivian native turned Argentine Miranda 0,2.

– Lastly, the big result of the round: #2 Mar, who we already had circled as a potential upset in this match, had to retire after losing the first game to Bolivian phenom Flores.

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In the Quarters, all four matches go breaker:

– Montoya was stretched to three against countryman Martell but advanced.

– Parrilla held off Manilla 11-9 in the third to move into the semis.

– Alonso was pressed by Carrasco, but moved on in a very close 13,(13),8 result.

– Moscoso was pressed all night by Flores, but found an extra gear in the breaker to win 14,(10),6.

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In the Semis, the two top players in the draw (Montoya and Moscoso) cruised into the finals with little trouble; Montoya frustrated his long-time rival Parrilla 8,2 and Moscoso blasted Alonso 4,0 to setup the dream final.

In the Finals, we had two players who seem like they’re a lot closer than they historically have been: Moscoso led the h2h for their careers 9-5, but had won the last 5 meetings to put some separation between them from a period a few years ago where Montoya really seemed to have his number. Rodrigo did his best here to reverse the trend, taking game one 15-13, but Moscoso took over from there, winning games two and three by 15-7, 11-5 margins that weren’t ever really in doubt.

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Points Implications of Men’s Pro results

Moscoso’s win should move him up to #5, which once again in a full draw would put him on a collision course with Kane prior to a final. Montoya moves up one spot and now sits #3, though there’s little separating #2 to #6 (270 total points). Any missed event and a big run from any of the #2 to #6 guys will put them right behind Kane, who despite missing this event still maintains a massive lead atop the rankings.

In other movement: Natera’s injury loss costs him; he drops from 6 to 9. Flores now sits 16th in the rankings, meaning he’s creeping closer to more manageable round of 16s with each passing event; he was the #15 seed as the #19th ranked player this past weekend, moving up 4 spots due to missing players, and that should just continue. Trujillo, a mainstay on tour for the last couple of years, has missed his 3rd straight Tier 1 and may be quietly stepping back from touring for now.

Here’s a link to my IRT Rolling 2year Calendar XLS, which I use to approximate the points after each event. It is not exact but it’s usually close enough to the actual rankings, which @Ryan Rodgers does with @R2 Sports App on behalf of the tour after each event, to allow some quick post-event analysis before the rankings post.

men

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z6eg6NJT6fjGMfRRyKTNLShAiDoz0TzzmQCt1_SbNBo/edit?usp=sharing

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Let’s review the notable matches in the Women’s Pro Singles draw.

Singles Match report in the PRS database: https://rball.pro/300dd0

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In the 32s:

– MRR got a solid win over Mexican junior Gutierrez 13,11 in kind of a trap match.

– Rajsich won her most recent return to LPRT, 6,3 over the elder Perez-Picon sisters.

– Andrea Perez-Picon, the reigning 16U Mexican Jr Champ who has also won US Jr National titles in the past out of the 209 Stockton Jr. factory, got a win over fellow Norcal player Erica Williams to advance.

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In the 16s:

– Centellas got a solid win over Parrilla in the 8/9 matchup, a good sign for the Argentine as she gets back into regular touring.

– Mendez was pressed by MRR before winning in three

– Gaby dominated US National Sanchez 4,2

– Mejia took out former 4-time pro champ Rajsich in two

– Laime was stretched before topping Munoz in three

– Lotts got a career win, topping Amaya in three, earning her 4th career quarter final appearance.

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In the Quarters, all four matches go chalk.

– #1 Longoria was pushed by Centellas 9,10

– #4 Gaby Martinez cruised past Mendez 7,11

– #3 Mejia had a match, going toe to toe with fellow power hitter Laime before advancing 11-8 in the third

– #2 Vargas moved past upset-minded Lotts 6,10

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In the Semis, Longoria was pressed to a breaker by Gaby as she often is, but she persevered after some acrobatic rallies to move into the final. Meanwhile, Vargas-Mejia turned into a smooth win for the Argentine, who is dialed in this weekend and advances 7,9.

In the Finals, Vargas just controlled the match from start to finish, Longoria just couldn’t seem to hit her serves or her lines, and Maria Jose won 8,8 to take her third straight title on tour. As @Steve Castleberry pointed out to me, It has been nearly to the beginning of Longoria’s touring career since she failed to win a tournament one out of four in a row … Vargas has now won the last three events, matching her career best stretch that powered her to her first pro title at the end of 2023.

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Points Implications of Women’s Pro results

The Points are tight at the top, and I may have my XLS calcs wrong, but I believe with this win Vargas takes back over #1 on tour by around 20 points. My sources tell me Longoria may miss the next event due to conflicts with her new career in politics, which could spell trouble for her title defense. Other movements: despite Herrera’s absence she will jump Laime for #6. There should be a wholesale shuffling of the ladies ranked 14th to 18th with Lott’s big win, MRR’s strong return, and York/Synhorst’s absence this weekend.

Here’s a link to my running 2-year+ Women’s ranking worksheet.

women

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16o0aE4YophvlQdezlMVj_dqPRUoDQqwE5-LtsLbOncg/edit?usp=sharing

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Mixed Pro Doubles review

Natera’s injury suffered during singles resulted in his wife picking up a last minute sub … and she managed to “find” a suitable replacement in the legendary Alvaro Beltran. Alvi’s inclusion caused a last minute shuffling of the whole mixed draft and actually improved the draw, removing one blatantly too-early matchup and getting neutrals a better draw. Here’s a quick rundown of how the action went:

In the 16s:

– the Parrillas were pushed to an 11-10 limit by Guatemalans MRR and Galicia, a testament to how “back” Maria Renee seems to be based on her results this weekend.

– Last minute sub Beltran got to a breaker, but fell alongside Munoz to the Argentines MIranda and Mendez

– The Manillas, kind of inexplicably seeded 10th despite winning US Nationals Mixed two years ago, “uspet” the #7 seeds Carter & Lotts.

In the quarters:

– Mejia & Mar held off the tough young Flores/Centellas pairing.

– The Parrilla siblings took out the #4 seeds Miranda & Mendez

– Moscoso &Martinez had a great win over Vargas & Garcia in the match of the round.

– The Manilla siblings, seeded 10th, continue to upset and prove the seeding committee wrong with a solid 15,7 win over #2 Montoya/Laime.

Semis: the two favorites advanced, with Mar/Mejia dominating the Parrillas and Moscoso/Martinez crushing the Manillas.

In the final, Moscoso won his 3rd straight major Mixed Pro doubles title with a come-from-behind win over Mar & Mejia (14),10,2.

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Open Singles, Open Doubles, other notable draws

– Texan USA Junior National DJ Mendoza won a stacked Men’s Open singles draw, beating the surprise finalist Alvaro Guillen from Costa Rica

– Mexican former Jr star Ivanna Balderrama won a solid international junior laden Women’s Open/Elite draw, beating fellow Mexican Michelle Gomez in the final.

– Flores & Guillen took the big Men’s Open Doubles draw, getting a walk-over in the final but more than earning their title.

– Guatemalans MRR and Reyes won the small RR Women’s Open Doubles draw.

– Guatemalans continued to shine, taking the Mixed Open doubles draw as Mansilla/Sipac beat Mexicans Martin & Gutierrez in the final.

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Thanks for all the streaming, thanks for the Tourney directors, and the sponsors.

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Next up?

Per our handy master racquetball calendar …

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6OTid6rZ356voXVkoV2sN7KMMbIP9SZd0MssH_nPGU/edit?usp=sharing

The 10th annual Asia Open Racquetball competition is next weekend in Seoul. After that, there’s an IRT Satellite just announced in the Chicagoland area. November features more IRT events plus a possible IRT/LPRT collab in Denver.

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tags

@International Racquetball Tour

LPRT

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2025 Golden State Open Preview

Rhonda Rajsich with a rare pro appearance. Photo 202 USAR Doubles by Kevin Savory

One of the year’s biggest events is this coming weekend; the 2025 Golden State Open, the brainchild of two former touring pros in @David ” Bobby” Horn and @Adam Manilla, hosted by two of Stockton’s legends @John Ellis and Steve Cook. Both pro tours are onsite at the Bay Club Pleasanton in the East Bay portion of the San Francisco bay area, which means a huge prize purse fundraising effort was done and we get Mixed Pro Doubles for the second time in as many months.

R2 Sports App link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=48678

There’s 38 men’s pros and 21 Women’s pros on hand, with fireworks and unexpected results anticipated. By the time you read this play has already started, with the round of 64 on the mens side getting a rare Wednesday evening start.

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Let’s preview the Draws. We’ll do the two singles draws and then the Mixed Pro draw. They’re hosting Open doubles draws for both genders, but the top pros are not entered.

Men first: as we covered in our IRTclub Fantasy Fastbreak podcast with @BBrian Pineda (see here for the link if interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1590097114629503/?multi_permalinks=3794248374214355&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen ), we are missing the top three ranked players out of this draw and four of the top 10. Kane and Jake both have weddings (separate weddings we believe), Andres had a family commitment, and Lalo is elsewhere along with his girlfriend Herrera.

This leaves Rodrigo Montoya to get a #1 seed, a career high. In fact, most of the top 8 at this event are at career high seedings: Mar at #2, Natera at #3, Alonso at #6, and Carter at #8 are all career-best seeds, and the mashed up top 8 is going to give us some new and unexpected head-to-heads here.

More importantly, the absence of Kane in particular historically has been a big indicator that we may get a first time winner.

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In the round of 64 and 32, here’s a few matches to watch for:

– Mauro Rojas vs Emir Martinez: Rojas a former US Junior National champ, and Emir a former top Junior from Mexico. Tough opener, and as it turns out it went three before Rojas fell.

– There’s a few unknown Bolivians who made the trip and who could make waves: Arnez & Borja in particular. Santiago Borja is the two-time defending World 14U junior champion. Both won their openers to face off against top ranked pros in the 32s.

– Sendrey vs Wolfe in the 32s is a solid test for the teenager to see if he can take out a semi-regular IRT touring player.

– Mexican Junior Santiago Castillo, who owns a slew of Mexican Jr National titles including the 2024 16U title, faces off against IRT veteran @Thomas Carter in a match he can’t look past.

– Carrasco-Mendoza in the 14-19 matchup could be close: how much is Mendoza improving versus how quickly is the aging Carrasco’s skills fading?

– If Borja wins his first, he plays into #2 Mar. A good pro debut for the 15yr old.

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Round of 16:

– Martell-Carter in the 8/9 is an interesting matchup; they’ve never met in a top-level event.

– We’re projecting two lefties who both play out of the Bay Area a lot in Collins and Manilla into the 16s.

– Tough draw once again for Parrilla: last week Moscoso played into him early, this week is Garcia, who’s demonstrated his ability to beat nearly anyone on tour.

– Gastelum-Alonso could be close: they met at 2024 Mexican Nationals and Alonso prevailed in three, but Gastelum has come a long way. This is Pineda’s big upset pick.

– the dangerous Miranda meets Moscoso in the 7-10 matchup; this is too bad for Miranda, who has been eyeing a deep run.

– #2 Mar faces off against #15 Flores in a huge trouble area for the Mexican. If Flores plays up to his capabilities, this might be a huge upset.

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Projected Qtrs:

– Montoya over the Carter/Martel winner: Montoya will be favored no matter who comes out here, and has to like his draw this weekend in general. No crazy bolivian junior world champs, no Moscoso seeded 16th, etc.

– Manilla-Garcia: Manilla made a massive run here last year as the host; can he do it again?

– Natera v Alonso: both players are probably looking at each other going, “hey i should win this” and get back to the semis. Could be close

– Moscoso will be favored over whoever comes out of that bottom half, whether its a huge shock like Borja, an upset-minded Flores, or Mar holding serve against two top Bolivian juniors he’s set to face early.

Semis:

– Montoya over Manilla/Garcia winner: Montoya’s only obstacle to the final this week is injury.

– Moscoso over Natera/Alonso winner: this could be over fast.

Finals; I’m calling a Moscoso-Montoya final, with Conrrado taking the title.

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Women’s Pro Singles preview:

Like with the Men’s draw, the ladies draw is missing a few key players. Herrera is out, as is Lawrence and Salas (surgery). So that’s three top 10 ladies missing. What we do have in this draw is a bunch of top Junior Mexicans who we rarely see, including the Perez-Picon sisters. Plus, we get a rare sighting of Rhonda Rajsich, which is awesome to see the future Hall of Famer.

Preview of the draw:

round of 32s to watch for:

– top Mexican U21 player Cynthia Gutierrez makes her LPRT debut and faces Maria Renee Rodriguez-Josey in a tough one for the veteran

– Andrea Perez PIcon, the reigning Mexican 16U champ and finalist at World Juniors last December, faces Norcal’s ERica Williams. Andrea’s older sister Estefania feeds into the Legend Rajsich.

Projected 16s of note:

– The 8/9 between Centellas and Parrilla will be awesome.

– #4 Gaby Martinez projects to play rising USA player Annie Sanchez, who’s played some top players close lately.

– Mejia could face Rhonda in a generational battle of top players

– Munoz-Laime is probably the match of the round.

– Amaya-Lotts will be a battle.

Qtrs on: From here, I see the top four ladies advancing as they typically do: there’s such a gap between Longoria/Mejia/Vargas/Gaby to the rest of the tour right now, it’s hard to predict any upsets. I see Longoria topping Mejia in the final.

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Mixed Pro Doubles

I love Mixed pro doubles: we just have no idea who’s going to win some of these early matches. Normally I look at the two women’s players and try to use that as a determining factor (thinking that the weakest link on the court will get the most shots and will play the biggest part in the match result), but that doesn’t always tell the whole story, and the doubles acumen of the players involved needs to be given more weight. With Salas missing (one of the best mixed doubles players ever) and Longoria skipping out, there’s some new teams and tough matchups.

Here’s some matches to look for and some guesses how this draw will go:

In the 16s, easily the match of the round is the Manilla siblings versus the Argentine mixed national team of Garcia/Vargas: how this is an opening round match is beyond me.

In the quarters:

– Mar/Mejia should advance

– I like Natera/Munoz over the Parrilla sisters

– Moscoso/Martinez should beat whoever comes out of the above 6/11 match, but once again this is the toughest part of the bracket.

– Montoya/Laime is an amazing team and should top Miranda/Mendez.

Semis:

– Mar/Mejia should beat Natera/Munoz … but when these two teams met in the 2023 World Doubles competition it was an 8,9 win for the Chileans. So who knows. I think Munoz is a better doubles player than her counterpart, but Mejia is the harder hitter. Mar-Natera is probably a wash on the left, but Mar is a superior doubles player when he plays with Montoya on the right.

– Moscoso/Gaby over Montoya/Laime, but I have no confidence here. Montoya won the 2025 World Doubles mixed title with Paola in both 2023 and 2025, and Gaby should hold her own as a solid doubles player on the right. But, Laime is no doubles slouch and they could surprise here. Great match.

In the final, i’ll go with the winner of the bottom semi, who i’m thinking is going to be Moscoso/Gaby.

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IRT Club Fantasy: If you’re in the IRT Club, sign up to play Fantasy Racquetball along with myself, Brian Pineda, and other club members. Also, be sure to tune into our Fantasy Fast Break podcast, which we do before and after every IRT Tier 1 event!

Associations

International Racquetball Tour

LPRT

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2025 Academy Open recap

Mar with the double on the weekend. Photo Kevin Savory 2019 US Open

The Lomas Racquet club in San Luis Potosi held a solid local event last weekend, which ended up drawing a slew of top touring pros both Male and Female, especially those with ties to the SLP racquetball community, competing in the 2025 Academy open.

Congrats to the winners on the weekend:

– Men’s Open Singles: Javier Mar

– Women’s Open Singles: Paola Longoria

– Men’s Open Doubles: Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya

– Women’s Open Doubles: Montse Mejia & Alexandra Herrera

Perhaps the most surprising entrant across the board was 3-time IRT champion @Daniel De La Rosa, who hails from the area and grew up playing on these courts, but who has “retired” from pro racquetball to pursue Pro Pickleball and who last appeared in an IRT event in January 2024. How rusty was DLR and how would he fair against the top Mexican touring pros of today?

Let’s do a quick recap of the Open Draws.

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Men’s Open Singles:

Seeding at FMR events always makes me scratch my head; DLR was seeded 3rd, ahead of Andree Parrilla (currently ranked in the top 8 on tour). I suppose out of respect. Nonetheless, he played to his seed, making the semis before falling to #2 Javier Mar. Mar beat him 10,1,9, probably a fair result and one where DLR showed a ton of rust against a player he normally handles easily. From the top half, #5 @Diego Gastelum upset #4 @Andree Parrilla in the quarters, then fell to top seed #1 @Rodrigo Montoya Racquetball to setup a 1-vs-2 singles final between doubles partners Mar & Montoya. In the final, Mar got the better of his friend and long-time partner Montoya in four games.

Men’s Open Doubles:

Mar/Montoya and Parrilla/Gastelum took the group stages, forcing DLR/Mendoza to face the favorites in the semis. There they lost, and Mar & Montoya took the title, giving Mar the double for the weekend.

Women’s Open Singles:

Four top-10 LPRT pros headlined the draw and played to their seeds into the semis. #1 Paola Longoria topped Jessica Parrilla in one semi, while Montse Mejia topped Alexandra Herrera in the other. In the final, Mejia cruised to a game one win, then Longoria turned it around and won three straight for the title.

Women’s Open Doubles:

Five teams played a full RR for the title: LPRT #1 teamed with Hollie Scott, who traveled with boyfriend De la Rosa down for the event, and were “upset” in the group stage final by Mejia & Herrera (seeded 2nd despite being the best doubles team in the world for some time now).

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An excellent draw and great competition in SLP, even if we didn’t really get any of the up and coming juniors in Mexico making any noise this weekend. The tourney certainly served as a great tune-up for next Week’s Golden State Open, which we’ll preview in a few days.