Kane Waselenchuk defeated Rocky Carson, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, to win the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) final at the 2017 UnitedHealthcare US Open in Minneapolis. The win is Waselenchuk's 13th US Open title. He's undefeated in US Open finals.
The match started slowly, and Carson had a small lead early in game one at 4-2. They were tied at 5-5, when Waselenchuk took a timeout. From there he seemed to turn it up a notch, and scored six of the next seven points to win 11-6. Waselenchuk wasn't getting his drive serves in early in the game, and lob served on second serve. He improved that in the second half of the game.
In game two, Waselenchuk kept the pressure up, as he took an 6-0 lead on consecutive rallies. Waselenchuk got two more before Carson got on the board. But Carson never got close, as Waselenchuk closed it out at 11-4 with a forehand cross court shot. One of the shots of that game came when Waselenchuk was forced to the back wall and could only get a weak shot off. It came off the left side wall, and just made the front wall, where Carson was waiting, but the ball bounced twice before he could play it.
In game three, it looked like Waselenchuk was going to sweep Carson, as he was again up early at 5-1 and 7-4. But Carson held firm, and worked his way back into the game. There were a couple of calls that Waselenchuk wanted to appeal, but he had used his appeal earlier, so he wasn't able to appeal them. Carson ended the game with a forehand shot in the front court off a ball Waselenchuk has just managed to keep in play.
Game four started the same as game three, as Waselenchuk went up 5-0. Carson did come back, but only got within three at 7-4. Waselenchuk kept him at four, and got the last four points to end the game and match. The match winner was a drive serve to the left side that Carson was unable to return.
The IRT has three Tier 1 events left in 2017. They'll be in Atlanta for the Creatix - Atlanta Pro-Am, November 2-5. The Party with the Pros event goes November 16-19 in St Louis, and then the Portland Tournament of Champions happens November 30 to December 3 in Portland, Oregon.
2017 UnitedHealthcare US Open
Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 4-8, 2017
IRT Men’s Singles
Final - Sunday
1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 2) Rocky Carson, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4
Follow the bouncing ball….
Sunday, October 8, 2017
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