1999 Promus Hotel Corporation
4th U.S. OPEN

The Racquet Club of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee: December 1-5

dailies &
PRSSA releases

MEDIA ADVISORY! ... Call 901/355-1748 (on site) for more details about this event from Christie Hyde, USRA Media/Public Relations Coordinator. For website questions or concerns, contact Linda Mojer, USRA Assoc. Executive Director/Communications & Editor/RACQUETBALL.

Tuesday ... Tashie, Bell Win Pro-Am Doubles

Two Memphis Amateurs Battle in Finals ... The Promus U.S. OPEN Racquetball Championships kicked off on Tuesday evening with the St. Jude Pro-Am Doubles Charity Tournament at The Racquet Club of Memphis. It was the fourth year for the special charity event, which pairs up a top pro athlete with an amateur for a single elimination game to 15 points.

For the third time since the tournament’s inception in 1996, Memphis-native Dino Tashie has lucked-out in his pairing with a pro partner to capture the St. Jude Pro-Am Doubles title. This year, his partner was pro Jeff Bell of Tucson, Arizona. The two bullied their way through the draw of 32 pro-am pairs, defeating numerous top pro athletes, including No. 4 Jason Mannino with partner Rene Platkin, No. 5 Derek Robinson/Fred Heros, and Doug Eagle/Joe Long. Tashie and Bell met University of Memphis Head Racquetball Coach Larry Liles and his pro partner Sameer Hadid of Sacramento, California in the event final.

Although Liles has coached numerous national championship racquetball teams for the University of Memphis, he and Hadid could not overcome the powerful combination of Tashie and Bell.

“The best part about this is where the money goes,” Tashie said. “It gets a little competitive at the end, but what makes this so fun is knowing you’re helping the kids as St. Jude’s.” Tashie’s win gave him his third St. Jude Pro-Am Doubles title in four year. In 1996, Tashie won with Robinson, and in 1997, he took the opening crown with Mike Guidry.

All proceeds from the St. Jude Pro-Am Doubles Charity Tournament benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This year’s event raised over $8,000. The Promus U.S. OPEN officially begins Wednesday, with tournament play starting at 8 a.m. at Wimbleton Sportsplex and University of Memphis. Men’s pro play will start later in the day at The Racquet Club.

What's Going ON in There??

Just on the other side of the sidewall glass of court six, twelve students from the University of Memphis Department of Journalism are busy completing an internship project with the Promus U.S. OPEN Media Relations department, under the direction of USRA Public and Media Relations Coordinator Christie Hyde.

All that frantic writing, interviewing, faxing, copying and telephone follow-up activity is being done by:
• Adam Badrain (Memphis)
• Harriet Bradley (Memphis)
• Natalie Garthright (Memphis)
• Leslie Grandberry (Munford, Tenn.)
• Forsyth Kenworthy (Memphis)
• Wendy Lindsey (Memphis)
• Kirsten Marks (Clarksville, Tenn.)
• Therese Pramick (Clarks Summit, Pa.)
• Courtney Sikes (Memphis)
• Kathy Walker (Whiteville, Tenn.)
• Molly Watkins (Germantown, Tenn.)

The busy group are all members of the University of Memphis chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the work they have already accomplished has been a great service to the event, and to the athletes in attendance. Each student has been assigned three athletes, two professional and one amateur, and is responsible for coordinating media relations efforts for that athlete in their hometown. Students will interview their athletes and write daily press releases for the hometown media on the athlete's accomplishments. This is the first year of the internship project and it is already proven to be a huge success.

Sidelines

Dressed to Kill ... Check out the Oklahoma Delegation ... easy to recognize as they sport new royal blue windshirts with the O.R.A. (Oklahoma Racquetball Association) logo on the front and TEAM OKLAHOMA on the back! There are over thirteen players in this year's event, compared to six during the initial U. S. OPEN in 1996. The windshirts were designed by national champion David Watson and were issued fresh off of the embroidery machine! Reported by Bruce Adams

Start me Up ... According to bystander Glenn Collier, pro draw qualifier James Lockhart, of Lincoln, Nebraska, logged the most impressive comeback of the division thus far in his round of 64 match up against Kyle Veenstra of Schefield, Wisconsin.

After qualifying into the pro draw, Lockhart lost the first game of his match against Veenstra, 11-3, then trailed 10-2 in the second before finding his game. Lockhart ralliedto score 32 straight points to take the second, third and fourth games and advance to face #7 seeded Tim Doyle at 2:00 pm on Thursday.

Collier rightly observed, "You just might not have known how close this match was [for Lockhart] just by looking at the scores." Probably not, at 3-11, 12-10, 11-0, 11-0.

Out of Towners ... Krystal Csuk and Lupita Torres worked hard to advance into the women's pro draw yesterday. Naperville, Illinois' Csuk defeated Stephanie Munger, of Anchorage, Alaska in four games and Mexican national team member Torres took a five-game win over Paula Truman of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Luckily, both players have all day to rest up before facing the top seeds in the WIRT draw on Thursday. Csuk will go up against #1 Jackie Paraiso at 4:30pm and Torres will see action at the hands of #2 Cheryl Gudinas at 6:00pm.

Wednesday ... Young Man With A Plan
by Harriet Bradley

John Joseph “Jack” Huczek of Rochester Hills, Michigan is a young man with a plan. While most 16-year-olds are looking forward to getting their driver’s license, Jack is going about the business of breaking a junior title record currently held by Sudsy Monchik, preparing to become a pro racquetball player after graduating from high school in 2001 and planning to earn a spot to compete in the 2003 Pan Am Games.

On Wednesday, the current U.S. National Junior Team member played against the team's assistant coach, Todd O’Neil of Lewisville, Texas. The win allowed the youngster to advance into the round of 32 against pro tour regular and #12 seeded Dan Fowler of Rockville, Maryland.

Huczek eliminated the left-handed O’Neil in four games, saying “It felt almost like a dream to beat someone that coached me.” After racquetball, ice hockey is Huczek’s favorite sport. And his career plans? He wants to be a personal trainer and major in business management in college.

Thursday ... Gonzalez Upsets Partner

As a team, Mike Guidry and Ruben Gonzalez captured the USRA's national doubles title together in October. They made the perfect doubles pair -- the best of friends who are two of the best players. But the U.S. OPEN pitted these two against each other in the round of 16. Ruben — the elder legend in the sport, had already upset No. 10 Andy Roberts, then No. 8 Mike and is aching to break into the semifinals.

After Mike took the first game with ease, many feared that Ruben might be put away in three straight. But he refused to go down that easily. Mike snuck out the second game, 12-10, but Ruben came alive in the third and fourth games, taking them 13-11, 14-12. The wins didn’t come easily though, with Ruben landing face first onto the court at the conclusion of one rally. But Mike quickly joined his best friend by lying on the court floor as well. As they caught their breath side-by-side on the main exhibition court with the crowd cheering, Mike only said to his friend, “are you as tired as I am?”

With the momentum of his fourth game win and the crowd loudly supporting him, Ruben cruised through the fifth game, 11-3, to advance to the quarterfinals. The teammates embraced in center court, and Mike admitted to his friend, “that’s the best I’ve seen you play.”

Oftentimes friends are pitted against each other on the racquetball court, but few play with such respect for each other as these two. Prior to the match, they were seen snacking on DooDads while watching another 16s match and awaiting their turn on the court.

“We both love to play racquetball, and we both love to win. We knew we had a job to do, and tonight it was to try to beat each other,” Ruben said. Now that Ruben has topped his partner, he must meet his protégé, Sudsy Monchik, who was Ruben’s loudest fan during the match.

“I don’t think Ruben will be coaching me on Friday, but who knows. Maybe I can get lucky and convince him to give me tips during the timeouts.”

Richly Blessed by Jim Ryder

Anyone recognize one or more of these gentlemen? If you’ve been to several of these events, you may have seen one of them at the 96, 97, 98 or even this years’ U.S. Open! The five pictured came to the U.S. Open for the first time in 1996, when the youngest of the family, Sam, went home with a first place win. The eldest began playing in 1969. This racquetball “generation” spans from ’69 all the way to ’96!

The year was 1969 (no that’s not a typo) and I was playing racquetball at our local YMCA — putting in hours each day wondering just how good a person could get (keep in mind I was 18 years old at the time). Then, fast forward to 1971, when a tournament in Winona, Minnesota, saw these four finalists: Strandemo, Schmidke, Hamline and Ryder.

Later in the 70’s, four future players — Tim (72), Ben (74), Joe (76), and Sam (78) came into the world, but racquetball became a memory during their “formative years.” But in 1986, the call was very strong when I introduced the boys to racquetball. My memories were still there, and the skill had dropped a bit for me, but this was no longer about me. My sons and I would go on to play tournaments for many years, making friends and improving our court skills.

Then, their skills were directly related to age — the oldest was the best, the next oldest, the best next and so on. Now we are here, at the 1999 U.S. Open and, with all four of my sons playing and watching the pros you can see why I say we are richly blessed. So if you recognize one of the boys say hello! This is the one event we can all get together.

Thursday ... Friendship Aside

When Doug Ganim advanced to meet Adam Karp in the round of 32, many thought the ‘flying fish’ would put away the Promus U.S. OPEN tournament director quickly in three games. Some even felt so strongly they guaranteed it in Thursday’s site newsletter.

The ‘flying fish’ crashed in the second game, suffered a broken wing and started flying in circles. Or maybe it was just that Doug had him running in circles. Adam squeaked out a 11-9 win in the fourth game to hang on until the fifth, where he was smiled on from above — from his sponsor?

With Doug up 9-7 in the fifth, Adam argued a screen on a pass with the referee. Rather than moving into match-point position, Doug, who is also influential in awarding Head sponsorships, opted to replay the rally, leaving the crowd questioning just how much he really wanted to defeat his number two player.

“I really don’t think our friendship affected the match as much as people might think, because the match was so close,” Adam said. “He played a good match, and I missed a couple of balls, and I think that is why it was so close. I really don’t think the outside factors affected it.”

However, Doug admits the friendship did come into play somewhat during the match. “The good thing about us being friends is that we kind of take the ref out of the match. We make our own calls.”

So what about this ‘so called’ screen? “It was an obvious call to me. The ball almost hit me, but he got it back to the wall anyway. So, if the ball almost hits you, and the guy still gets it back, but he argues that he didn’t see it, it’s obvious to me that it was a screen.”

Thursday's WIRT Sidelines By Johanna Shattuck

This year's WIRT draw was, well let's face it … lopsided, at best. The bottom-heavy, bottom-half features formerly #2 ranked, 1999 IRF World Champion Christie Van Hees, and U.S. National Singles silver medalist Laura Fenton, along with former national singles champ Robin Levine and Pan American Games gold medalist Cheryl Gudinas. Van Hees and Fenton dropped considerably in the rankings after missing two key tour stops, which impacted the round of 16’s by squarely placing Gudinas against Fenton and Van Hees against Levine in relatively early round match-ups today.

The top half held no surprises with defending champ Jackie Paraiso and #4 Kersten Hallander advancing easily over much less experienced young opponents. Number seven seeded Doreen Fowler took the win over Chile's Angela Grisar, while tour veteran Janet Myers beat Mexico’s Joanna Rivera. Canada’s Lori Jane Powell used all five to beat Denver’s Johanna Shattuck, and Lisa Hjelm took a quick win over Peggy Stephens. The absence of Caryn McKinney - who made the quarters here for the last three years - left an empty spot up for grabs ... maybe we could have used her to round out the top of the bracket.

Round of 16 Picks … Doreen Fowler over Kim Machiran, Susana Acosta and the newly-wed Sadie Hall (formerly Gross) will go down to the wire in a five-game toss-up that could go either way. Canada's Josee Grandmaitre may be able to slip past Jennifer Dering, but scrappers Phyllis Morris and Janet Myers may be in for a long, drawn-out afternoon. As for Levine, Van Hees, Fenton and Gudinas…these ladies have been here before. Van Hees and Levine faced off at the 1998 World Championships, and Fenton and Gudinas will be in a re-match of last May’s National Singles final. We’ll just have to see who can peak early and then peak again in the quarters. We’ll all be peeking from the bleachers!

Thursday's MILLENIUM EDITION "LINE" By Lefty O’Neil

Adam “FISH” Karp VS John “ELLI” Ellis. Odds Ellis 4-1 over/under 64. This match could get messy. For those of you who don’t know it, John and Adam are roommates back in Stockton, California. The house is owned by John and Adam pays rent. So look for Adam to get ahead early and in between games try to re-negotiate his lease. Adam must neutralize Elli’s power with accurate re-kills and mixing up his passes. Elli has to get over the fact that Adam never cleans the kitchen. Look for Elli to take out his frustrations on the ball with hard drive serves and big monster splats from deep court.

We almost found the fish floating in the tank during an earlier match against Doug Ganim, who ran out of gas at the finish line. This breathed new life into the fish. Look for him to play loose, broken hand and all. Elli, on the other hand has established himself as a sharp dresser. In fact I saw him shopping at the "Short and Small" yesterday. Look for three things: 1. the rent's going up 2. The fish will dive. 3. Elli will rock the house. DON’T MISS IT !

Dan “Foul Ball” Fowler VS Jason “J” Mannino. Odds Mannino 5-1. Over/under 58 1/2. Both of these guys are playing great ball right know. Dan has a rock solid all–around game. Look for “J” to play his patented bait-and-switch, coo-coochie-coo lob and re-kill game. Danny my boy will have to short hop J’s lob serves really well to dictate this match. If Dan does that this could be a war. If he does not it could be good night Irene. “J” is in prime shape after Dr. Nip & Tuck performed emergency liposuction on him last week. Apparently, J’s girlfriend said "get rid of the handles or else." J ran down to the clinic and had 20 lbs removed from his mid-section. This means any ball is gettable for J now.

Rocky Carson VS Cliffy Swain. Odds Swain 8-1 over/under 57 1/2. This should be an interesting match-up. Look for Cliffy to dictate this match with his venom serves. He looks hungry. But, that's just because he eats a steady diet of nuts and acorns. He doesn’t want to get so heavy he could tip over. Those ankles can only handle 2 lbs per square foot. I think there will be some great rallies in this match. Both players possess incredible retrieving ability. If Rock can get in the match early and feel comfortable against Cliff he may have a fun match. But, if he doesn’t it could be CHINESE water torture. Cliff has made many a great player feel like a novice with his game. This is Rocky’s biggest match to date so it will be interesting to see how he handles it. Cliff and his dad Red won the father/son Thanksgiving day shootout at the Boston Athletic Club Last weekend so we know Cliff is ready.

Ruben Gonzalez VS Sudsy “The Kid”Monchik. Odds: NL Suds needs to win the next five meetings to bring his record to .500 against his mentor. Over/under 51 1/2 At some point you have to stand for something. Right here and now I have to say Ruben is the best of all time. How many times are we going to count this guy out? Tonight he really made a believer out of me. Facing match point in the third game against Guidry, Rubes ran off 6 points to force a fourth game. Then won the forth 14-12 and 11-3 in the fifth. NOWAY!!! When most guys his age are figuring out why they have to get up four times a night to go to the bathroom, Ruben is outlasting one of the fittest guys on tour in a tough five-game war after beating Memphis legend Andy “Big Kid” Roberts earlier in the day. What in the hell is going on around here ?? This is the stuff legends are made of. I still cannot believe it. PURE GREATNESS!! WE ALL LOVE YOU RUBES!!

** If Ruben beats Sudsy today I will strip naked and jog all the way down Poplar to the river.**

Friday ... Roommates Make for Interesting Opponents

On Thursday it was doubles partners and best friends in an exciting head-to-head. Yesterday pitted roommates against each other when Stockton "neighbors" John Ellis and Adam Karp met in the quarterfinals and the two gave everyone a show worth every penny of the price of admission.

The ‘flying fish,’ whose nickname should probably be ‘Quarters Karp,’ due to his apparent inability to break out of the top eight, surprised everyone, including his roomie, by taking a 2-0 game lead with consecutive early wins of 12-10. The Fish even had a chance to put away Ellis in the third and advance to his first semifinal pro match since 1996, when he got stuck at 10. Ellis rallied back to take the game 12-10.

Ellis turned it up to put away the fourth, 11-8, to force a fifth-game tiebreaker. Karp ran out to a 9-3 lead, but once again got stuck on 10. While Karp floundered in trying to reel in that last match point, Ellis took the opening and ran with it, rallying back once again to take the game and match 12-10.

“We live together and we’re good friends, but this is a business,” John said. “We are racquetball pros. I try to be as professional as possible. I’m genuine when I say I feel for Adam when he loses his match, even if it’s to me.”

Adam agrees. “Once you step on the court, its business.” But as soon as they stepped off the court, it was back to being buds again. “You’ll see us hanging out together tonight.”

However you won’t be seeing John and Adam cruising for interns at the Party with the Pros tonight. Those lovely ladies on their arms are John’s fiancée Jen and Adam’s girlfriend Angela. Sorry girls. These guys are taken!

Off Court ...

Right after "hello," Sudsy Monchik's first words of greeting to practically everyone here in Memphis were "She's pregnant!" Accompanied by his new bride Lisa and stepdaughter Lauren, Monchik is ecstatic about becoming a dad. He and Lisa (nee Bagarozza) were married on July 10 [see the September/October issue of RACQUETBALL], and will have another good reason to celebrate next summer when they welcome another member to the family right after their first anniversary. Fabian Balmori of Boca Raton, Florida and Stephanie Detling were married here in Memphis on September 29 ... Shuttle driver Byron James went missing from his route between the Racquet Club and Wimbleton on Friday and Saturday to get married himself — but plans to be back in the driver's seat on Sunday. If you're riding that shuttle, be sure to congratulate him!

Wednesday ... Just an Average Guy
by Juan Castaneda

I'm just an average guy who has been playing racquetball for ten months and am now competing in the Cs and 25+ C/D. Since I'm from Mexico (although I live in Indianapolis right now), I went to the International Athlete reception on Wednesday night. The first person I met was from Mexico and he was very friendly and just before he left he mentioned that he was the head of the Mexican Racquetball Federation [Enrique Villagran]. I should have known that this was not just an average reception, but I didn't think much of it.

Next I met Angela [Grisar] and "Mike" from Chile (at least that was written on his nametag). Later I was browsing the event program and found out that the Mike I had been talking to was the #8 seeded Mike Guidry, and that Angela was listed with 10-1 odds of winning the women's pro event!

I met alot of people from Mexico — Chihuahua, to be exact, which happens to be the state that I am from, so I came all the way to Memphis to meet friendly people from my own area. I spoke with Javier, Alvaro, Cesar, Johana, Silvestre and lots of other pros.

I was also introduced to someone named Luke, who looked familiar but I couldn't figure out why until I remembered seeing him in RACQUETBALL magazine, along with Sudsy Monchik and John Ellis!

All in all, I had a great time and got a chance to mingle with a lot of pros, who all seemed to be very nice people. Just this reception made my first trip to the U.S. OPEN an event to remember!

Friday ... Shattuck on the Sidelines

Four world class athletes — Christie Van Hees, Robin Levine, Cheryl Gudinas and Laura Fenton — battled it out in the lower half of the draw for two precious spots in the quarters. Like a game of musical chairs, the last two left standing got to play on. Here’s how the bottom-heavy draw played out ...

Canada's current world champion Christie Van Hees beat No.3 seeded Robin Levine in a match worthy of any final. Christie came into the event unhappy with her seeding, but was determined overcome it. Robin was coming off a big win at national doubles. But Levine’s fearless dives were no match for Van Hees' precision.

After taking the first game 11-9, Robin's game began to slip and became extremely vocal in her frustration. Christie remained cool and calm, and put Robin away in the next three games, 11-8, 11-7, 11-3.

In their rematch of the National Singles final last May, Fenton and Gudinas traded two games apiece before Gudinas ran five straight points to open the tiebreak.

But during an early get, Laura heard something snap in her back. "It had starting getting tight in the second game, but during the fifth I heard a pop and something came out of joint in my back." During the injury timeout she searched for someone to pop her back into place without any luck. She returned to the court and attempted to play, but at 8-0, forfeited due to pain.

"I'm an athlete. I didn't want to quit." Laura said. "But I also knew something was pinching my nerve. I didn't want to risk hurting myself any more. I do want to walk."

In the next round, Gudinas meets her best friend of over a decade, Kim Machiran, who advanced after defeating Doreen Fowler in three.

Josee Grandmaitre’s Canadian National Team experience was too much for Jennifer Dering, who was eliminated in three straight games as well. The advance places Grandmaitre against teammate Van Hees.

In the top half of the draw, despite the "Amazing Lisa Hjelm Diving Show," Hallander brought it home in four games. Hjelm's relentless pursuit of Hallander’s passes made for some exciting rallies ... even forcing Kersten to lay herself out for a dive or two to keep points alive.

Lori Jane Powell was first out of the blocks in her match with Jackie Paraiso — even holding a 9-4 lead at one point before Jackie turned out a first game victory with a close 12-10 win. Her perseverance paid off as she went on to win the match easily, 12-10, 11-3, 11-3.

Mexico’s Susana Acosta ousted Sadie Hall in four games — but will now be introduced to the Hallander 39 foot forehand overhead off-speed reverse pinch rollout in Saturdays quarterfinal at 11:15.

Long time tour player and #8 seeded Janet Myers meets the #1 seed Jackie Paraiso after beating Texas’s Phyllis Morris in four games.

The Picks…Popular opinion predicts Paraiso/Hallander and Van Hees/Gudinas semi-final match-ups. Get ready for some quality ball all day long!

Friday ... MILLENIUM EDITION "LINE" By Lefty O’Neil

John “Elli” Ellis VS. Cliffy Swain — ODDS: Cliffy 4-1 over/under 71 1/2 When I was a kid I used to have this game called “Rock em’ Sock em’ Cowboys. The object of the game was the keep hitting until you knocked the other guy's head off. I think this match will be a lot like that.

Cliff has dominated this matchup over the years. When Elli first hit the Tour in 89’ Cliff was ranked #1. John quickly moved his ranking to the IRT trap door #16 ranking where he had to face Cliff in the 16’s every tournament. Then when Elli got to #8 he faced Cliff in the quarters every time.

Cliff won (I think) 20-something times in a row. At one of those tournaments Elli stayed at my house and I had no food, so John almost starved. Sorry Dude!

Cliff’s mentality is such that when he gets you down he tries even harder. I think because of this Cliff has earned an edge in this match-up. I have never seen anyone so dedicated and driven to win as Cliff Swain. He’s pretty sick. I have told him to seek counseling on several occasions. So he decided to go to Winners Anonymous. "Hi, my name is Cliff." "Hi, Cliff."

On the flip side, Elli has progressed tenfold from the days of being Cliff's whipping boy to a “TOTAL RACQUETBALL CRUSHING MACHINE.” He has worked really hard to improve his game. John can play run-and-gun or play the soft stuff with great patience.

Against Adam yesterday he really made a lot of unforced errors but played clutch on the big points. The key to this match will be if Elli can keep his unforced errors down to a minimum and once again play tough on the big points. This will be a very entertaining match to say the least.

Sudsy “The Kid” Monchik VS. Jason “J” Mannino — ODDS: Suds 7-1 over/under 64. This matchup has hysteria written all over it. The Kid seems to have his game on autopilot. Cruise control, baybee and I don’t mean maybe. Suds is playing about as good as the body will allow and then some.

Yankee coach Joe Torre said of his MVP reliever Mariano Rivera “He’s so automatic its almost boring ... and I love it.”

I’m sure the Monchik entourage feels the same way about their boy. The Monchik following has grown since last year with the addition of new bride Lisa and built-in adoring daughter Lauren. Congrats to Suds and Lisa who are now expecting a boy they plan to name Todd.

Jason is playing great ball right now and always impresses me with his incredible gets and world class racquet skills.

Looking for an edge to beat Sudsy, Jason pulled Ruben aside for some assistance. Reluctantly, Ruben divulged some important information that he had been harboring for years.

Ruben asked Jason “Do you remember when you were 11 and someone stole your Snickers and we never found out who? It was him."

Look for Jason to come out and put out like a workman for a get-every-ball-at-all-costs type of effort.

Specialty odds... • How many times Jason dives? Over/under: 44 1/2 • How many times Sudsy dives? Over/under: 18

Upset-Minded

Top-seeded defending champion Sudsy Monchik met his match in yesterday’s semifinals, in the form of longtime friend and No. 4-player Jason Mannino.

As a child, Monchik’s motivation to excel in racquetball was driven by the fact that Mannino constantly defeated him. But in recent years the tide had turned, Monchik held a higher ranking position than his childhood friend for well over a year, and had won 10 of 13 pro stops last season. Saturday’s semi-final match up between Monchik and Mannino turned out to be “J’s” chance to prove that he could still get the best of his longtime friend.

Mannino took an early lead, to win the first game 11-8 and — although Monchik was able to rally back to win the second game 11-9 — Mannino was on fire. Unstoppable with his acrobatic maneuvers and diving killshots, he took the match decisively in the third and fourth games 11-5, 11-3.

“I knew I could do this. I played good (Friday) against a player that can come out and smack you,” Mannino said. “Sudsy even told me that after seeing me play Thursday that he knew I had a shot at beating him.”

Although he is happy with his win over his best friend, Mannino concedes that Monchik is the best.

“I don’t want to take away from my win today, because it is huge for me, but greatness is measured by consistency. I might have beaten him this time, but look at any tournament’s he’s won in the past year. He truly is the greatest player ever, and that’s not because he’s my best friend. His record speaks for itself.”

Mannino will meet No. 2 Cliff Swain in the finals at 1:30 p.m. today, after Swain defeated No. 3 John Ellis in straight games on Saturday.

Saturday ... Shattuck on the Sidelines ...

The WIRT final will return to "normalcy" with a Paraiso versus Van Hees playoff, after an interesting mix of earlier round play.

Mexico’s lefty, Susana Acosta, advanced to the semis. The sharp-shooting Latina edged out No. 4 seeded favorite Kersten Hallander in four games, which ended with an avoidable hinder called against Hallander after the lefty stopped a full swing to avoid drilling a forehand directly into Kersten’s back. “I just wanted to win…and play my best because I knew I had a tough opponent.” said Acosta on the upset.

In the next round, Acosta fell to tour veteran Paraiso in a decisive straight game loss. Jackie said she “felt more prepared for this match (than her previous round)."

Josee Grandmaitre took on Canadian National Teammate Christie Van Hees in the quarters, where Van Hees made easy work of Josee with a three game sweep to reach the semis. There, in a sweet win, VanHees avenged her gold medal round loss to Cheryl Gudinas in last summer's Pan American Games in Winnipeg. Van Hees will meet Paraiso in a repeat of last years final ... which promises to be an explosive afternoon.

Saturday ... Sixteen Year Old Shocks Pros to Advance

Jack Huczek of Rochester, Michigan — a 16-year-old member of the U.S. Junior National Team – seems unstoppable in the amateur men’s open and the men’s 24 and under. He has advanced to the finals in the USRA's men’s open division, and will go up against Chris Crowther of Riverside, California at 10:15 a.m.

Huczek played the No.15 ranked pro Jeff Bell in the semifinals of the amateur men’s open. Bell took the first game 15-8, but Huczek came back and won the second game 15-6 and the tie-breaker 11-4. When asked how he felt making it so far in the men’s open, Huczek said, “You don’t think it can happen, but it's really happening.”

Huczek lost in the men’s pro division against No. 12-ranked Dan Fowler in the round of 32 then beat 11th-ranked pro player Mike Locker in the round of 16 of the amateur men’s open. He also beat the Pan Am Games bronze medalist Rob DeJesus in the earlier quarterfinals.

When asked what he thought about being compared to Sudsy Monchik as he gains ground on Monchik's junior record, Huczek said, “Sudsy is Sudsy. I’m going to be the first Jack Huczek.”

Sunday ... MILLENIUM EDITION "LINE"
By Lefty O’Neil

CLIFFY SWAIN VS. JASON MANNINO. Cliff 4-1 over/under 63 1/2

SPECIALITY ODDS:
• How many times will Jason dive ? 32 1/2
• Dives for Cliff 7
• Aces for J – 1
• Aces for Cliffy - 5
• How many times Jason argues with the ref – 12
• How many times Cliff says the word "stink" – 5
• How many times Red Swain (Cliff’s dad) has to visit the restroom during the match – 1
• Odds on Cliff dropping the F-BOMB AGAIN!! 100-1

I must start out by saying that in all my years of watching high-calibre pro racquetball. I have seen very few gutsier performances than Jason displayed yesterday against Suds. Jason dove 51 times, hit a really high percentage of re-kills, yelled at the ref, worked the crowd, did an ESPN interview and showed everyone — with the help of Sudsy — that "f" does come after "e" in the alphabet. People actually cheered for J and not against him. What a performance!! The bad news is ... that was yesterday. While Jason was hurling his body to Beale street and back, Cliff made quick work of a frustrated John Ellis. Not only that but Cliff made the finals without losing a game. He should be well rested and seems to be on his game. Cliffy is all that and a bag chips. And ladies, he is available. Because I see him around working his nice guy pro tour routine. I’m so envious of this guy it makes me sick. Why couldn’t I be Cliff? Why, why, why?

Is it possible to beat Sudsy and Cliff in the same weekend? Nothing is impossible. But a realistic odd would be about 35-1. If Jason plays the way he did today there is no question he could beat Cliff. He will be hell-bent for the hardwood That’s for sure. But as the legend Bret Harnett once said “You can’t get a rollout.” I look for Cliff to dictate the match with his staunch service game and big money forehand. Jason will counter with his patented peekaboo lob serves, great court coverage and rekills.

CROWD PREDICTIONS ...
• Jason “J” Mannino: “Cliff in 15 minutes. But I will dive more than 50 times."
• Adam Fishkarp: “The Promus U.S. Open three-game finals are history. This one's gonna be a dogfight. Folks don’t miss it! If Corky’s is open on Sundays, Jason in five."
• Andy “King” Roberts: “11-4 in the fifth. Either way.”
• Jim Winterton: “Swain in four. But I did not see Jason play today.”
• John “Elli” Ellis: “Cliff in five. A battle of all Promus Hotel US Open battles.”
• Larry Liles: "Cliff in four. Maturity."
• Jack Huczek: "Mannino in five."
• Scott Winters: “Cliff in three. “He’s rolling and “J” will have trouble repeating today's performance.”
• Jim Hiser: "Mannino in four. Because Cliff cost me $600 in Phoenix.”
• Dan Fowler: "Jason in four. Cliff in five. Jason’s biggest win was over me. He’s my favorite player to watch.”
• Jeff Bell: “Cliff in three straight!”
• Edie Fredenberg: (I tried to get a quote from Edie’s husband Brian but she informed me he was not allowed to talk this evening). “Cliff will win. He’s a lot classier and just a better guy.”
• Tim Hansen: Cliff in four. Don’t count the old guys out.”
• Doug “Innerlight” Eagle: “Jason is good enough to beat me. It must be destiny.”
• Mike REDSTONE” Johnston: "Cliff in a tight four."
• Dave Negrete: "Cliff in four. Down the lines."
• Mike Ceresia: “I own both these guys. "Monchik in four."
• Ed Lover's Pizza: "My heart is with Mannino but I have a bad feeling."
• Louis Vogel: "I don’t know." Darrin “Shaw” Schenck: "Cliff in four."
• Luis “Nacho MaMa” Bustillos: "Cliff in four. Jason played great today but Cliff will be too much tomorrow. I love to watch Jason play but Cliff is Cliff."
• Brian Pointelin – "Jason strings his racquets tighter than Cliff, but Cliff has skinnier legs. Cliff in four."
• Dave Ellis: "Jason in four. Cliff will see so much glass he will think he's in the Biosphere."
• [ERIC] MUELLER’S MATCHBOX: "This is a Mannino type of moment, type of situation. He’s lost 20 lbs., he’s got a new sponsor and a new attitude. He'll be dangerous. Of course, Swain has been here before. He won’t be overly psyched up or overly confident. He knows how tough Jason is and he’ll be ready to battle. Look for a great match."