Eduardo Portillo and Conrrado Moscoso will face off in the final of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) 2021 IRT Sarasota Open presented by Team Dovetail in Sarasota, Florida on Sunday. On Saturday, they both caused upsets in the semi-finals. Portillo, the 5th seed, took out the IRT’s #1 player, Daniel De La Rosa, 13-15, 15-4, 11-10, while Moscoso, the 7th seed, got the better of 3rd seed Samuel Murray, also in three games, 15-6, 2-15, 11-8.
Portillo has already won once over Moscoso this weekend, as he and Rocky Carson won the IRT Doubles divison, beating Moscoso and Roland Keller in the final, 15-12, 15-3, on Saturday night.
In his semi-final versus De La Rosa, Portillo was up in breaker at 4-0 and 6-2. But De La Rosa tied him at 6-6 and 7-7. Then De La Rosa pushed on to lead 10-7. Portillo stopped him with a backhand winner. He tied it at 10-10 after De La Rosa skipped a shot in the front court. Portillo finished the match on the next rally with a wide angle backhand pass shot.
Moscoso was also behind in the 3rd game of his match with Murray, and Murray won the first seven (7!) points of the game to lead 7-0. Moscoso got a few points, and then Murray made it 8-3. That was the last point he'd score, as Moscoso scored the next eight points to win the breaker 11-8. It was a classic streaky match. Moscoso got nine straight points to end game one, going from 6-6 to 15-6. Then Murray won 22 of the next 24 points to take game two, 15-2, and go up 7-0 in game three before momentum switched back to Moscoso to win 11 of the final 12 points in the match.
Murray did hold off three match points, but not Moscoso's fourth, when he hit a forehand winner.
In the singles quarterfinals, De La Rosa almost went out at the quarterfinal stage, as he eked out a victory over 8th seed Jake Bredenebck, 15-11, 6-15, 11-10. For their parts, Portillo upset 4th seed Andree Parrilla, 15-11, 15-6, and Moscoso beat 15th seed Andres Acuña, 15-10, 15-7, while Murray defeated 6th seed Carson, 15-13, 15-8.
Doubles
Carson and Portillo hadn’t played together before this weekend, yet they won the tournament. A key to their success came in the semi-finals against 7th seeds Adam Manilla and Mario Mercado, Carson and Portillo dropped game one, but then in game two switched sides with the veteran Carson moving to the left side and Portillo playing on the right. That led to them coming back to win the match, 7-15, 15-13, 11-10.
Credit Manilla and Mercado as they came back from 10-4 down in the tie-breaker to tie it at 10-10. But Carson hit a winner to get his side back in the service box, and then Portillo served a drive serve that cracked off the left wall for an ace to win it.
Keller and Moscoso also came back from a game down to defeat Sebastian Fernandez and Andree Parrilla, 6-15, 15-14, 11-6.
The singles final will be at 11 AM Sunday Eastern time. Look for the action via the IRT YouTube channel., as well as its Facebook page.
2021 IRT Sarasota Open presented by Team Dovetail
November 18-21, 2021 - Sarasota, Florida
IRT Singles - Quarterfinals - Saturday
1) Daniel De La Rosa d. 8) Jake Bredenbeck, 15-11, 6-15, 11-10
5) Eduardo Portillo d. 4) Andree Parrilla, 15-11, 15-6
3) Samuel Murray d. 6) Rocky Carson, 15-13, 15-8
7) Conrrado Moscoso d. 15) Andres Acuña, 15-10, 15-7
IRT Singles - Semi-finals - Saturday
5) Eduardo Portillo d. 1) Daniel De La Rosa, 13-15, 15-4, 11-10
7) Conrrado Moscoso d. 3) Samuel Murray, 15-6, 2-15, 11-8
IRT Singles - Final - Sunday
5) Eduardo Portillo v. 7) Conrrado Moscoso - 11 AM
IRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Saturday
5) Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso d. 8) Sebastian Fernandez & Andree Parrilla, 6-15, 15-14, 11-6
6) Rocky Carson & Eduardo Portillo d. 7) Adam Manilla & Mario Mercado, 7-15, 15-13, 11-10
IRT Doubles - Final - Saturday
6) Rocky Carson & Eduardo Portillo d. 5) Roland Keller & Conrrado Moscoso, 15-12, 15-3
Follow the bouncing ball….
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