Cardona & Montoya in final of WRT Pleasanton Open

Not often does a #11 seed make a final in pro racquetball, but that’s happened at the World Racquetball Tour (WRT) Pleasanton Open in Pleasanton, California, as Rodrigo Montoya, who was seeded 11th, won his quarterfinal and semi-final matches Saturday to get in his first WRT final. Montoya will face WRT #1 Alejandro Cardona in that final.

Montoya’s path to the final went through 3rd seed Jaime Martell, who Montoya defeated in three games, 15-11, 10-15, 11-7, in what was a rematch of their Round of 16 match at the US Open earlier this month when they played over well over two hours. Then in the semi-finals Montoya defeated Jose Diaz, 15-6, 15-8, two games that surprisingly were not close. But Montoya served very well against Diaz, which was a big difference between them.

Cardona got to the final more simply, as he beat Luis Avila in the quarters, 15-2, 15-3, and David Horn in the semis, 15-7, 15-14. Cardona did need to come back from down 14-11 in game two, so there was some stress in his journey.

Montoya will have a chance to be a double winner Sunday, as he and Andree Parrilla are in the doubles final after defeating Erik Garcia and Horn, 15-8, 15-8. They’ll face Jaime Martell and Jose Daniel Ugalde, who beat Cardona and Freddy Flores, 15-5, 15-14 in the other semi.

The final will be Sunday at noon PDT with the doubles final to follow immediately afterwards. You can watch both finals live on Sunday via the WRT website.

2016 WRT Pleasanton Open
Pleasanton, California

Quarterfinals

1) Alejandro Cardona d. 9) Luis Avila, 15-2, 15-3
4) David Horn d. 5) Nicolai Miramontes, 15-5, 15-8

11) Rodrigo Montoya d. 3) Jaime Martell, 15-11, 10-15, 11-7
15) Jose Diaz d. 10) Gerardo Franco, 15-12, 15-5

Semi-finals

1) Alejandro Cardona d. 4) David Horn, 15-6, 15-14
11) Rodrigo Montoya d. 15) Jose Diaz, 15-8, 15-6

Final

1) Alejandro Cardona v. 11) Rodrigo Montoya

Doubles - Semi-finals

1) Rodrigo Montoya & Andree Parrilla d. 4) Erik Garcia & David Horn, 15-8, 15-8
2) Jaime Martell & Jose Daniel Ugalde d. 3) Alejandro Cardona & Freddy Flores, 15-5, 15-14

Doubles - Final

1) Rodrigo Montoya & Andree Parrilla v. 2) Jaime Martell & Jose Daniel Ugalde

Follow the bouncing ball….