2015 US Open IRT Round of 32

In the early action of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Round of 32 at the 2015 United Healthcare US Open Racquetball Championships in Minneapolis there's already been one upset and one near upset. Veteran Javier Moreno upset 13th seed Alejandro Landa, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-9, to move into the Round of 16 later today. Landa was a semi-finalist here last year, so will suffer a major drop in rankings points with the loss.

Fifth seed Jose Rojas could have had the same fate as Landa, as he was pushed to a tie-breaker against Gerardo Franco before coming out on the winning side, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-1. Rojas took it up a notch in the tie-breaker to make his way past Franco.

But top seed Rocky Carson and defending champion Kane Waselenchuk both won their matches comfortably. Carson defeated Thomas Fuhrmann, 11-5, 11-1, 11-3, while Waselenchuk beat Andree Parrilla, 11-1, 11-2, 11-5.

Two other near upsets happened to 6th seed Ben Croft and 7th seed Jansen Allen, who both had to come from behind to win. Croft came from 2-1 down to beat Majeed Shahin, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-0. Croft is still recovering from shoulder surgery, and clearly seemed to be favouring his right arm at times in the match. Yet he found a way to win.

Allen was down 2-0 versus current USA Racquetball Intercollegiate champion Adam Manilla, but came back to win, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3.

Next up for Croft is Anthony Herrera, who was an upset winner over 11th seed Robert Collins, 11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-8, while Allen will face Jose Diaz, who defeated Thomas Carter in three straight games, 11-1, 14-12, 11-5.

Play will streamed live via the IRT Network.

2015 United Healthcare US Open - IRT Draw
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 7-11, 2015

Round of 32 - Thursday

1) Rocky Carson d. Thomas Fuhrmann, 11-5, 11-1, 11-3
Jaime Martell d. 16) Mauricio Zelada, 11-8, 11-1, 11-9

Jake Bredenbeck d. 9) Charlie Pratt, 9-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-3, 11-2
8) Marco Rojas d. Christian Longoria, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 11-2

5) Jose Rojas d. Gerardo Franco, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-1
12) Felipe Camacho d. Sebastian Franco, 11-0, 13-11, 11-8

Javier Moreno d. 13) Alejandro Landa, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-9
4) Daniel De La Rosa d. Teobaldo Fumero, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6

3) Alvaro Beltran d. Alejandro Cardona, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6
David Horn d. 14) Matthew Majxner, 11-2, 11-4, 11-0

Anthony Herrera d. 11) Robert Collins, 11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-8
6) Ben Croft d. Majeed Shahin, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-0

7) Jansen Allen d. Adam Manilla, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-3
10) Jose Diaz v. Thomas Carter, 11-1, 14-12, 11-5

15) Chris Crowther d. Gerardo Guevara, 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-4
2) Kane Waselenchuk d. Andree Parrilla, 11-1, 11-2, 11-5

Round of 16 - Thursday

1) Rocky Carson v. Jaime Martell
8) Marco Rojas v. 9) Jake Bredenbeck

5) Jose Rojas v. 12) Felipe Camacho
4) Daniel De La Rosa v. Javier Moreno

3) Alvaro Beltran v. David Horn
6) Ben Croft v. Anthony Herrera

7) Jansen Allen v. 10) Jose Diaz
2) Kane Waselenchuk v. 15) Chris Crowther

Follow the bouncing ball….