Three of top 4 seeds plus 1 into semi-finals at 2019 IRT Atlanta Open

The higher seeds all won in the quarterfinals on Friday at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) 2019 Atlanta Open, but every match went to a tie-breaker. In three of the four, the higher seed won the first game, and then had to win in three games. But in the Sebastian-Sebastian showdown, Sebastian Franco, the 8th seed, dropped the first game to Sebastian Fernandez, and then came back to win the next two games, and take the match, 5-15, 15-6, 11-9.

Franco will face 4th seed Andree Parrilla in the semi-finals Saturday. Parrilla almost won his quarterfinal contest in two straight games, but 5th seed Alvaro Beltran squeaked out the second game by a single point, forcing a tie-breaker. The breaker went to Parrilla, who won the match 15-6, 14-15, 11-4.

On the other side of the draw, IRT #2 Rocky Carson defeated #7 Samuel Murray, 15-10, 11-15, 11-0, in the quarters, so in the semi-finals he’ll play IRT #3 Alejandro Landa, who beat #6 Daniel De La Rosa in three games, 15-5, 8-15, 11-10.

Look for all the action via the usual IRT media outlets: The IRT YouTube channel or the IRT Facebook page. The singles semi-finals will be 3 and 4 PM Saturday with the final at noon Sunday. The doubles semi-finals will be Saturday night at 7 and 8 PM with the final Sunday at 1 PM. All times Eastern.

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

Quarterfinals - Friday

8) Sebastian Franco d. Sebastian Fernandez, 5-15, 15-6, 11-9
4) Andree Parrilla d. 5) Alvaro Beltran, 15-6, 14-15, 11-4

3) Alejandro Landa d. 6) Daniel De La Rosa - 15-5, 8-15, 11-10
2) Rocky Carson d. 7) Samuel Murray - 15-10, 11-15, 11-0

Semi-finals - Saturday

4) Andree Parrilla v. 8) Sebastian Franco - 4 PM
2) Rocky Carson v. 3) Alejandro Landa - 3 PM

IRT Doubles - Quarterfinals - Saturday

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

3) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado v. 6) Andree Parrilla & Eduardo Portillo - Noon
2) Alejandro Landa & Samuel Murray v. 10) Sebastian Fernandez & Andres Acuña - Noon

Follow the bouncing ball….