Carson & Parrilla into 2019 IRT Atlanta Open final

Rocky Carson and Andree Parrilla will face off in the final of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) 2019 Atlanta Open on Sunday after they won their respective semi-finals Saturday afternoon. Carson, the IRT’s #2 player, defeated #3 Alejandro Landa, 15-12, 15-11, in one semi-final, while Parrilla took out IRT #8 Sebastian Franco, 15-7, 15-7, in the other.

Number 1 will play #2 in the doubles final, as top seeds Alvaro Beltran and Daniel De La Rosa will take on 2nd seeds Landa and Samuel Murray. In the doubles semi-finals, Beltran and De La Rosa won two close games with 5th seeds Javier Mar and Rodrigo Montoya, 15-13, 15-12, while Landa and Murray came back from a game down to defeat Parrilla and Eduardo Portillo, 6-15, 15-12, 11-6.

In game one of their match, Beltran and De La Rosa were up 9-4 only to see Mar and Montoya come back with seven unanswered points to take the lead 11-9. The momentum swung back and forth, as Beltran and De La Rosa got the next four points to lead 13-11, then Mar and Montoya tied it at 13-13.

Beltran and De La Rosa got to game point with a penalty hinder call that Mar and Montoya appealed, but the line judges upheld the referee’s call. But they were successful it stopping Beltran and De La Rosa’s first two game points, as Montoya hit a soft backhand winner and then Mar hit a forehand pinch shot winner to get the serve back.

Unfortunately, that side out didn’t lead to points for Mar and Montoya, as De La Rosa hit a great backhand pinch shot, and then Beltran hit a forehand winner to get them their 3rd game point opportunity. Beltran hit his usually hit lob serve tight to the right wall, and Mar’s forehand return skipped, ending the game at 15-13.

Game two had a similar story line, as Beltran and De La Rosa led early, 4-1. They were tied at 4-4, and then Beltran and De La Rosa led again until a tie at 11-11. Montoya broke the tie with a backhand cross court shot that made it 12-11. But a De La Rosa forehand wide angle pass to the right side followed by a Montoya backhand skip gave the serve back to Beltran and De La Rosa.

They got their 12th point to tie it when Mar skipped a forehand serve return. A Beltran skip put his side half down, but a De La Rosa backhand winner put his side ahead 13-12. Mar got his side the serve back with a touch backhand winner. But he gave the serve back to his opponents when he first hit a forehand skip (to be fair he was diving for the ball) and then hit a ball out of play.

Beltran and De La Rosa reached match point when Montoya skipped a backhand shot. Game two ended just as game one did. Beltran served a lob to the right, and Mar made an error on the return. This time he hit a ceiling ball that didn’t reach the front wall. Oops.

The other semi-final did go to a third game, and in that game Landa and Murray took a big lead at the start, 6-1. That allowed them to win relatively comfortably after being pressed by the young team of Parrilla and Portillo. The younger team did cut the lead to 6-3 and 9-7, but that was as close at they got.

Parrilla and Portillo lost a point at 9-7, as they appealed a shot by Portillo that was called a skip, but they had no appeals left. Appealing when you have no appeals is a technical, which means a loss of one point. Landa and Murray won it on the next two rallies with Murray sealing the deal with a backhand winner.

Earlier in the day, Parrilla and Portillo were upset winners in the doubles quarterfinals, as they defeated 3rd seeds Sebastian Franco and Mario Mercado, 15-6, 15-14. The win put Parrilla and Portillo into the semi-finals against Landa and Murray, who beat Andres Acuña and Sebastian Fernandez, 15-13, 15-7.

On the top side of the draw, top seeds Beltran and De La Rosa needed a tie-breaker to get past Kadim Carrasco and Carlos Keller, winning 15-8, 14-15, 11-5.

The singles final will be noon Sunday with the doubles final to follow at 1 PM. Both times Eastern. Check out the usual IRT media outlets for live streaming: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page.

2019 IRT Atlanta Open, September 5-8, 2019
Lilburn / Atlanta, Georgia

Semi-finals - Saturday

4) Andree Parrilla d. 8) Sebastian Franco, 15-7, 15-7
2) Rocky Carson d. 3) Alejandro Landa, 15-11, 15-12

Final - Sunday

2) Rocky Carson v. 4) Andree Parrilla - Noon

IRT Doubles - Quarterfinals - Saturday

1) Daniel De La Rosa & Alvaro Beltran d. 8) Kadim Carrasco & Carlos Keller, 15-8, 14-15, 11-5
5) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya d. 4) Ben Croft & Kane Waselenchuk, forfeit

6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo d. 3) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado, 15-6, 15-14
2) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray v. 10) Sebastian Fernandez & Andres Acuña, 15-13, 15-7

IRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday

1) Daniel De La Rosa & Alvaro Beltran d. 5) Javier Mar & Rodrigo Montoya, 15-13, 15-12
2) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray d. 6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo, 6-15, 15-11, 11-6

IRT Doubles - Final - Sunday

1) Daniel De La Rosa & Alvaro Beltran v, 2) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray - 1 PM

Follow the bouncing ball….