2015 IRT St Louis Winter Rollout - Round of 16

Mario Mercado knocked off the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) #3 player Alvaro Beltran, 5-11, 15-13, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, in the Round of 16 at the St Louis Winter Rollout in St. Louis, Missouri in five games. The two played last week in Garden City, Kansas, where Beltran won in three straight games, and it looked like the same would happen today, as Beltran won game one comfortably. But Mercado responded, and came back from 2-7 down in game two to squeak out the vin 15-13, and level the match at a game each.

Mercado was in control the whole of game three, winning it 11-5. But the veteran Beltran turned up the gas in game four, when his back was against the wall, winning 11-7 to force a tie-breaker.

In the breaker, Mercado took the early lead at 5-1. He had a great chance to make it six, but make an unforced error on a backhand pinch shot in the front court.

Beltran narrowed the gap to a point at 4-5, but then Mercado made a great backhand pinch shot to get the serve back. Three backhand winners later and the score was 8-4. Beltran called a timeout, but that couldn’t stop Mercado from reaching his first ever quarterfinal.

He’ll play Maurcio Zelada in the quarters, as Zelada upset 6th seed Charlie Pratt, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-1.

Zelada played his first quarterfinal in Atlanta earlier this season, losing to Beltran there, while Mercado has reached the quarterfinals for the first time. One of them will make their first semi-final with a win tonight.

Also advancing to the quarters were Kane Waselenchuk, the #1 IRT player, with a win over Jeremy Best, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, and IRT #2 Rocky Carson, who beat Fernando Rios, 11-4, 11-0, 11-1. Waselenchuk will play Jansen Allen, who defeated Felipe Camacho, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5, and Carson will be up against Jose Rojas who was a straight game winner against Robert Collins, 11-8, 11-3, 11-4.

The IRT Round of 16 concludes Friday afternoon with the quarterfinals beginning at 4 PM CST. You can watch it live via the IRT Network. Also, note that the Winter Rollout final will be 7 PM CST on Saturday night. The semi-finals are scheduled for 11 AM and noon Saturday.

2015 St Louis Winter Rollout, November 19-22
St. Louis, Missouri

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Kane Waselenchuk d. Jeremy Best, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
8) Jansen Allen d. Felipe Camacho, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5

5) Marco Rojas d. Matthew Majxner, 11-5, 11-0, 11-3
4) Daniel De La Rosa d. Maurice Miller, 11-3, 11-1, 11-4

Mario Mercado d. 3) Alvaro Beltran, 5-11, 15-13, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4
Mauricio Zelada d. 6) Charlie Pratt, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-1

7) Jose Rojas d. Robert Collins, 11-8, 11-3, 11-4
2) Rocky Carson d. Fernando Rios, 11-4, 11-0, 11-1

Quarterfinals

1) Kane Waselenchuk v. 8) Jansen Allen
4) Daniel De La Rosa v. 5) Marco Rojas

Mario Mercado v. Mauricio Zelada
2) Rocky Carson v. 7) Jose Rojas

Follow the bouncing ball….