Alvaro Beltran has made a second straight final on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT), as he won his semi-final match versus Ben Croft the IRT's 3rd ranked player, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, in the semi-finals of the Florida Spring Break Pro-Am in Tampa. He'll play the IRT's #1 player Kane Waselenchuk in Sunday's final.
Waselenchuk beat Jose Rojas, the IRT's #4 player, in what was a unique match, as Rojas won the first game 11-0, only to have Waselenchuk come back and win game two 11-0.
Waselenchuk used the momentum to push through and win games three and four to take the match, 0-11, 11-0, 11-4, 11-1.
Afterwards, Waselenchuk said "I don't even know how I won. The match is kind of a blur," as he was worried about hurting himself more. Waselenchuk injured his back two months ago in the California Open and reaggravated it in the New York Open, which led to him missing the last two IRT events.
Waselenchuk changed pace after game one, but said that wasn't an intended plan. Rather it was just a result of the situations he found himself in.
Rojas, who's form dropped off after game one, said he wasn't bothered by the change of pace so much as his arm started hurting.
Asked about game one, Rojas said he "felt like I was in the zone, killing balls, and you have to kill balls against [Waselenchuk]." For his part, Waselenchuk said Rojas was serving well in game one, and his own shots were not good, coming into the middle. At a pro level, Waselenchuk said, players should be hitting winners when the ball comes into the middle and Rojas did that.
The IRT Network is web-casting the final at noon EDT (note: the USA goes to daylight saving time this Sunday).
2012 Florida Spring Break Pro-Am - Tampa, Florida
Semi-finals
Kane Waselenchuk d. Jose Rojas, 0-11, 11-0, 11-4, 11-1
Alvaro Beltran d. Ben Croft, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5
Final
Kane Waselenchuk v. Alvaro Beltran - Noon PM EDT
Follow the bouncing ball....
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