WRT 2015 Midwest Championships - Quarterfinals

Cliff Swain turning back the clock again, as he defeated 4th seed David Horn, 15-13, 15-7, in the quarterfinals of the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Midwest Championships in Minneapolis. Swain will play top seed Polo Gutierrez in the semi-finals later Saturday, as Gutierrez beat Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-4, 15-2, in the quarters.

Swain and Horn were close all the way in game one, and Horn led late at 12-10 and 13-12. But it was the veteran Swain who pulled out the win, making the last point with a forehand kill shot. Game two was not close, as Swain went out to a 9-1 lead.

Horn did close the difference to three at 10-7, but didn't get more than that as Sawin won the last five points of the match. Serving at 7-14, Horn double faulted on a second serve lob to the right side - Swain's backhand.

Swain drove serve throughout the match, hitting drive z serves on second serve. We counted nine aces by Swain in the match.

On the bottom of the draw, Minnesota's own Jake Bredenbeck was up big in game one against Jaime Martell, but Martell came back to win it, 15-14. However, it seemed Martell used up too much energy in making that come back as Bredenbeck won the next two games relatively comfortably, taking the match 14-15, 15-4, 11-4.

Bredenbeck, the 3rd seed, will face 2nd seed Alejandro Cardona in the semis, after Cardona defeated Fernando Rios, 15-3, 15-2.

The semi-finals will be live streamed beginning at 5 PM CDT Saturday. Look for a link on the WRT Facebook page. Also, both the singles and doubles finals will streamed on Sunday - at noon and 1 PM, respectively.

WRT 2015 Midwest Championships
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Quarterfinals

1) Polo Gutierrez d. 9) Jose Daniel Ugalde, 15-4, 15-2
12) Cliff Swain d. 4) David Horn, 15-13, 15-7

3) Jake Bredenbeck d. 6) Jaime Martell, 14-15, 15-4, 11-4
2) Alejandro Cardona d. 7) Fernando Rios, 15-3, 15-2

Semi-finals

1) Polo Gutierrez v. 12) Cliff Swain - 6 PM CDT
2) Alejandro Cardona v. 3) Jake Bredenbeck - 5 PM CDT

Doubles - Semi-finals

1) Anthony Herrera & David Horn v. 5) John Goth & Alejandro Romo - 7 PM CDT
2) Jaime Martell & Jose Daniel Ugalde v. 3) Jose Daniel Alvarez & Fernando Rios - 7 PM CDT

Follow the bouncing ball….