Underdogs Give Favorites a Run For Their Money
| July 11, 2023
With four seeds higher than 24 making the quarterfinals on singles day at the Baird Wealth Management Open in Rockwall, Texas, it looked like the men’s bracket was going to be a day for the underdog.
In many ways it was, with the quarterfinals including the 12, 22, 25 and 45 seeds.
It just didn’t end that way.
In a tale as old as time, No. 1 seed Ben Johns is in the final and he’ll play No. 2 seed Tyson McGuffin. But that isn’t to say that there weren’t fireworks along the way.
Johns needed three games to beat Christian Alshon, the No. 12 seed, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6. Alshon even had a 4-0 lead in the third game and pulled off a flurry of remarkable shots, including a number of slaps shots between his legs.
But despite the excitement, the world’s top player moved on. He’ll face McGuffin, who beat the No. 22 seed Pablo Tellez, 12-10, 11-3. McGuffin held off four game points from Tellez in the electric first game.
Tellez was one of many underdogs who had a good run on Thursday in Texas. Tellez beat No. 11 seed Jack Foster in the second round and then topped No. 38 seed Scott Doerner, 12-10, 14-12 in the third round. Doerner had upset No. 6 seed Frank Anthony Davis in the previous round. Tellez then won two in a row against No. 3-seeded Jay Devilliers, 11-5, 11-6 to earn the matchup with McGuffin.
On the other side of the bracket, the 12th-seeded Alshon got to the semifinals after winning matches against the No. 21 seed and the No. 28 seed Travis Rettenmaier, 11-3, 1-11, 11-7. He then beat No. 45-seeded Brandon Lane in the quarterfinals, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7, earning him the matchup with Johns.
On the women’s side, there was more drama than surprises.
No .1 seed Anna Leigh Waters won 31 consecutive points in her first three matches, which included going ahead 9-0 in the first game against No. 8-seeded Anna Bright. However, Waters then ended up dropping the second game to Bright 11-9 before rebounding to win game three, 11-4.
And in the semifinals, Waters once again needed three games to advance against No. 4-seeded Salome Devidze, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5. The match included several disputed calls, including an overturned call that went in Devidze’s favor. Waters had four game points in game one and was ahead 6-2 in game three before giving up three consecutive points. Waters then called a timeout and came out of the break to score the last five points of the match.
In the other semifinal, doubles partners Catherine Parenteau and Lea Jansen played a three-game grinder that Jansen eventually won 11-5, 8-11, 11-7. Jansen went ahead 9-4 in the third game, before giving up three points in a row.
Jansen then won the final two points and the partners exchanged an unemotional paddle tap. Opponents today and partners tomorrow! We’ll see how the pair play together on Saturday.
Catherine Parenteau fought her way through Salome Devidze to capture the bronze 11-5, 11-5. In his own bronze medal match, Julian Arnold took down Gabriel Joseph 11-8, 11-9.
Friday in Texas will be the mixed doubles competition. There are more than 30 teams in the field, including the evergreen favorites, Johns and Waters.
Others to watch include Callan Dawson and Meghan Sheehan-Dizon – both of whom didn’t play singles Thursday. Some newer partnerships in the event are Michelle Esquivel/Dylan Frazier and Patrick Smith/Megan Fudge. Others to watch include Parenteau and Riley Newman, Jessie Irvine and Devilliers, and Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova.
