Waselenchuk wins #7

Kane Waselenchuk won his fourth consecutive US Open Racquetball Championship title and his seventh overall on Sunday, as he defeated Rocky Carson, 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7. He is undefeated in US Open finals, and extended his own record of US Open victories to seven.

Early, it looked like seven might not happen, as Carson led all of game one, although Waselenchuk did tie it at 7-7, before Carson won 11-7.

But games two and three, were vintage Waselenchuk as he took big leads of 8-0 and 7-0, respectively in each game, winning both easily.

Game three was a different matter as Carson battled Waselenchuk all the way. They were tied at 3-3. Carson led 5-3, and 7-6, but Waselenchuk came back took a 9-7 lead and then won 11-7 on a push shot into the front right corner.

It was a shot that Waselenchuk used to close out two games against Jose Rojas in their semi-final. Asked about it afterwards, Waselenchuk said he'd hit that shot "100,000s of times. No doubt that I was not going to skip it."

Speaking to the crowd, Waselenchuk thanked himself for working so hard, while wearing a t-shirt with the number 7 on it, signifying the number of US Open titles he's won.

Waselenchuk also acknowledged the efforts of his opponent, saying "Rocky is a gentleman on and off the court, and I really respect him." In fact, Waselenchuk said this was the "hardest I've had to work" to win a US Open.

For his part, Carson said his goal was to "have Kane roll every shot, and he rolled a lot of them." So it was mission accomplished in that respect, but not goal achieved for Carson, who stated he'd be back next year to try and win another US Open title.

Carson won the US Open in 2007.

Prior to the final neither Waselenchuk or Carson had lost a game at this year's US Open.

2011 US Open Racquetball Championships, Minneapolis, Minnesota

IRT Finals

Kane Waselenchuk d. Rocky Carson, 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7

Follow the bouncing ball....