World Singles & Doubles IRT Event Wrap Up
by Todd Boss
Congrats to IRT Pro Singles winner Conrrado Moscoso for his win at the 2023 World Singles & Doubles Championships. Moscoso also teamed with LPRT great Paola Longoria to take the Mixed Pro Doubles draw, giving him a “double” winning weekend.
Let’s review some notable matches in the Men's Pro Singles draw.
In the Qualifiers
- #45 Elias Nieto had two solid wins to get into the Round of 32, topping Canada/Chile's #52 Pedro Castro and then USA's #20 Sam Bredenbeck.
- Hometown favorite #43 Jacob Kingsford had a nice win over #22 Rodrigo Mendoza to get into the main draw.
- #18 Erick Cuevas Fernandez took a match from east-coaster and outdoor specialist #47 Dylan Pruitt to move on.
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In the 32s
- #21 Diego García topped #12 Thomas Carter in game one 15-5, then got an injury forfeit to move into the 16s as a 20+ seed. Garcia continues to show why he’s a dangerous player, one who we hope can be a more regular competitor on tour.
- After two solid qualifier wins, #45 Elias Nieto kept it going, getting a career best win by taking out #13 Alan Natera in a breaker. Nieto is really coming into his own; he got a win over Murray at PARC earlier this year and now reverses the result with Natera since their last meeting.
- #19 Erick Trujillo made fast work of #14 Jaime Martell 5,9 to move on. This was a significant win for Trujillo, who had had some sputtering results lately but looked strong this weekend.
- #23 Carlos Keller Vargas came from a game down to topple #10 Andres Acuña. A tough break for Acuna to draw Keller here, as both are top-10 ranked players who had to meet in the 32s. Keller is a former US OPEN finalist who can make waves whenever he plays.
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In the 16s
- #1 Conrrado Moscoso made fast work of former #1 Rocky Carson 4,5, in a battle between the current #1 and a past #1. Carson’s conversion to part-time touring leaves him susceptible to tough early-round matchups as he pivots to a new phase in his career.
- #8 Adam Manilla defeated #9 Samuel Murray 7,7. These kinds of 8/9 wins are crucial for players at the edge of the top 10 to stay there, and Manilla has been really making a strong push forward over the past year.
- Garcia continued his run with a victory over #5 Eduardo Portillo, coming from behind after dropping game one. Garcia has now beaten Lalo twice this year, to go along with wins over Mar and Carson last October; a U21 junior worlds win last December; and a semifinal showing at PARC in April where he lost 21-19 in the 5th game to Keller. Is Garcia legitimately a Top 5 player in the world?
- Nieto extended #4 Rodrigo Montoya to a third game before falling, really making a statement this weekend.
- #6 Andree Parrilla took the match from Javier Mar, a long-time rival who goes back and forth with Andree on the court, to advance to the quarters.
- Little-known #34 Diego Gastelum really hung in with #2 Jake Bredenbeck, losing game one 15-14 after not being able to convert on several game-point chances, before getting run off the court in game two. Still, to be able to hang with the #2 player is great.
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In the Quarters, the top four seeds advanced as expected.
- #1 Moscoso trounced Manilla 11,3, showing his comfort on the hard courts and playing at altitude.
- #4 Montoya lost game one to Garcia before advancing in three. Garcia is right on the cusp of a really big IRT breakthrough.
- #3 Daniel De La Rosa finally got pressed in this event, losing game one to Parrilla before moving on.
- #2 Bredenbeck ground out a very close 13,12 win over the always-tough Keller in a semis-quality match.
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In the Semis and Final
- #1 Moscoso took care of business 11,6 over #4 Montoya. The last few times these guys played, it has been super close, including a bunch of 15-14 games. Not today: Conrrado really played Rodrigo off the court.
- In a rematch of the U.S. Nationals final, #3 De La Rosa worked through a leg injury to top #2 Bredenbeck and move into the final. It was a pretty impressive performance from someone who was clearly hurt.
In the final, DLR blasted Moscoso 15-3 in game one, then seemed to let up in game two to preserve his leg stamina for a tiebreaker. In the breaker, DLR went for glory shots again and again as it was clear his movement was hampered, and towards the end of the breaker Moscoso got to just a few more shots than DLR anticipated, leading to an 11-7 loss and the title for Conrrado.
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Points Implications of results
This event didn't expire anything from 2022, so there won't be any substantive changes in the IRT rankings after this event until you get to about the #18-20 range. The next event will feature the same top 4 seeds in the same order. By Mid-October, we’ll start to see some big-time movement in the Top 10 as results from 2022 expire, just in time for an exciting finish to the 2023 season.
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Next up for the IRT? Labor Day weekend, thanks to Wayne Antone, we have the 2023 Tracktown Open in Eugene, Oregon, the first time the pro tours have ever been to Eugene.
