2011 Texas Open

The Racquetball Blog staff is emerging from the tall grass where we've been spending much of the summer to coincide with the Texas Open, which is the kick off tournament to the 2011-2012 Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) season.

Most of the usual suspects will be in Dallas, but WPRO #2 Paola Longoria is absent from the event as a result of her behavior following the final at the Stockton event in April. Longoria lost that final to Rhonda Rajsich after she had a matching winning point overturned on appeal. Other calls that did not go Longoria's way late in the match led her to be insulting to the WPRO at the event as well as subsequently in social media. Longoria has been fined and suspended for the first match of this season as a result. She has since apologized for her remarks.

The Stockton event was the second last tournament of last season though, and there was two weeks until the next event in New Orleans. Thus, one wonders why Longoria wasn't suspended for the next tournament after the infraction occurred, which would have been that last event in New Orleans.

Of course, suspending Longoria for New Orleans would have decided the season ending #1 player, as Rajsich and Longoria were that close going into the New Orleans event. If Rajsich had lost early and Longoria done well, then Longoria would have finished #1. As it was Rajsich made it to the New Orleans final, and thereby clinched the #1 spot, despite losing that final to Longoria.

Longoria's absence from Dallas moves Samantha Salas into the #2 seed, Kerri Wachtel to #3 and Cheryl Gudinas to #4, with Rajsich as the top seed.

Also absent from the Texas Open draw, and perhaps surprisingly so, is WPRO #12 Christie Huczek, who lives in the Dallas area and did play this event last season, when she made the semi finals.

2011 Ektelon WPRO Texas Open
Dallas, Texas

Round of 32

Rhonda Rajsich BYE
Linda Scales vs. Sharon Jackson

Krystal Csuk BYE
Cristina Amaya BYE

Susana Acosta BYE
Da'monique Davis vs. Carla Munoz

Claudine Garcia vs. Liz Alvarado
Cheryl Gudinas BYE

Kerri Wachtel BYE
Keely Franks vs. Sheryl Lotts

T.J. Baumbaugh vs. Dolly Watson
Jennifer Saunders BYE

Adrienne Fisher BYE
Angela Grisar vs. Bernadette Zimmerman

Laura Brandt vs. Maiko Sato
Samantha Salas BYE

Follow the bouncing ball....