The Daily Racquet Established 1996 OCTOBER 10th, 2015 Volume 20, Issue 3 SUPER SATURDAY In Play Saturday... October 10, 2015 ALVARO MARIA USAR Amateur Matches LIFE TIME FITNESS VS VS All Locations 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. RHONDA KANE Silent Auction for Children’s Charities Men’s Professional Semifinal #1 Women’s Pro Semifinal #1 Bidding ends at 5:00 p.m. 11:00 A.M. - Stadium Court 10:00 A.M. - Stadium Court Ticket Session #7 Kane Waselenchuk vs. Alvaro Beltran Rhonda Rajsich vs. Maria Vargas LPRT Semifinal #1 The first men’s semifinal of the day is a Rhonda and Maria met in this same spot at IRT Semifinal #1 last year’s US OPEN and have been regular semifinal LIFE TIME FITNESS - rematch of last year’s Championship Final where Target Center Kane won in a three game sweep. Kane and opponents on the LPRT the last couple years in their 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Alvaro both regularly started playing on the IRT quest to knock off Paola. in 2000 and have faced each other many times. Rajsich cruised in her quarterfinal match Ticket Session #8 Waselenchuk is 38-4 all-time against Beltran, against a highly competitive Samantha Salas Solis. LPRT Semifinal #2 including a 12-0 record in the last three seasons. Meanwhile Vargas bounced back from a racquet to IRT Semifinal #2 Alvaro has played a bunch of racquetball the head on Thursday to defeat Michelle Key in four LIFE TIME FITNESS - this week including a pair of five gamers, a games yesterday. Target Center tiebreaker in doubles and trio of close games in Maria has had Rhonda’s number recently, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. the quarterfinals. Can the Mexican’s legs recover but Rajsich has had a calm and ‘under the radar’ enough to give the Canadian a run? Possible, demeanor all week. Could that mean she can sneak Ticket Session #9 but not likely. King Kane moves on in his march up and take Maria to the brink? Remember, Rhonda Men’s & Women’s for US OPEN Title #11. is a four-time US OPEN Champ after all. Pro Doubles Finals LIFE TIME FITNESS - Prediction: Kane in Three Prediction: Maria in Four Target Center VERONICA 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. DANIEL PARTY WITH THE PROS VS VS ROCKY PAOLA The Pourhouse Men’s Professional Semifinal #2 Women’s Professional Semifinal #2 S 5th St & Hennepin 2 Blocks East from the 2:00 P.M. - Stadium Court 1:00 P.M. - Stadium Court Target Center Rocky Carson vs. Daniel De La Rosa Paola Longoria vs. Veronica Sotomayor 9:00 p.m Daniel has cruised through his first three Seeded No. 12, Veronica crashes the semifinal DRESS TO IMPRESS! matches this week, giving up less than four points party as the outsider with wins this week over LPRT per game on average. Rocky has also reached the No. 5 Cristina Amaya and No. 4 Frederique Lambert. semifinals with relative ease. Sotomayor is no stranger to the grand stage though, Daniel is labeled as the ‘heir apparent’ to the having reached the UnitedHealthcare US OPEN US OPEN top spot on the IRT and the stats back up that praise semifinals in 2012. She is also a US OPEN Champion MEDIA TEAM to a point. Of any player not named Kane, Daniel has by winning the inaugural Women’s Pro Doubles defeated Rocky the most over the past three years. Championship. Jeff Oliver Granted those four losses for Carson come against Her partner in the doubles title last year here Co-Media Manager seven wins, but if there is going to be an upset today in Minneapolis? The No. 1 ranked player in the world Leo Vasquez this match provides the best odds. and best female racquetball player of all time: Paola Co-Media Manager De La Rosa is just 22-years-old. Do the math Longoria. to Carson’s age there is a difference of 14 years. Will Veronica looks primed to crack back into the Freddy Ramirez that also be a difference on the court today? LPRT Top 8 this season, but today Paola wins easily. Photographer Prediction: Rocky in Five Prediction: Paola in Three Roby Partovich Photographer If you have a great story, idea or thought, please feel free to contact us... E-Mail: [email protected] Established 1996 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10th, 2015 Volume 20, Issue 3 John Scott, the Voice of the IRT and A huge thanks to Dee and Sal Perconti for Ecuador’s Veronica Sotomayor has reached New York’s Meredith Gilbert organizing this year’s Silent Auction her second career US OPEN semifinal Hank Marcus with friends, including a very 4-Time US OPEN Champion Rhonda Rajsich Jose Diaz and Jake Bredenbeck take smart baseball fan... Go Cardinals! jumped her way into another semifinal questions from the media after their win SILENT AUCTION BENEFITING PRO DOUBLES FINALS CHILDREN’S CHARITIES JAKE Bids for this year’s Silent Auction, benefiting JOSE St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Rapha House, must be placed by 5:00 p.m. VS today at www.auctionsusopen.com. KANE BEN Great deals on vacation stays in the Grand Men’s Professional Doubles Final Cayman Islands, Sun Valley and the Bahamas 5:00 P.M. - Stadium Court are available! Also be sure to take a peek at Kane Waselenchuk & Ben Croft vs. all the racquets signed by the top pros. Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz Jake is a Minnesota native, hailing from St. Croix and played collegiate Tell your friends back home about the auction racqeutball at the powerhouse program at Colorado State University - Pueblo. too! They can place bids on all the items even Jose is a member of the ‘209’ crew (a.k.a. he is from Stockton, Calif.) and currently though they aren’t in Minneapolis. attends the University of the Pacific. Both Jake and Jose were members of the US National Team for the 2015 Pan American Championships contested last April in the Dominican Republic. auctionusopen.com Kane and Ben are looking to become repeat Men’s Pro Doubles champs. ALEXANDRA MONSERRAT MEDAL PICK-UP Medals will ONLY be available VS for pick-up at LIFE TIME FITNESS - TARGET CENTER. PAOLA SAMANTHA Women’s Professional Doubles Final This includes divisions won at the 4:00 P.M. - Stadium Court MAC, St. Louis Park and Moore Lake Paola Longoria & Samantha Solis Salas vs. clubs. Alexandra Herrera & Monserrat Mejia You may pick up your medals starting Paola and Samantha have paired to become women’s racquetball most dominant duo. In international competitions they have won two Pan American at 2:00 p.m. at the USAR Booth in the Games and three World Championships. Solis Salas sat out last year’s US OPEN Player’s Village while Paola won the event’s first ever Women’s Pro Doubles division. The favorites will face off against a pair of youngsters also from Mexico. Alexandra is 20-years-old while Monserrat is just 15-years-old! CONGRATULATIONS!.