The 2012 Indy Open took place this past weekend and featured a draw comparable to last year’s: no Gambino, Broderick, and Johnson but instead you had Goodspeed, Berka, LeFevre, Fiedler, McKnight, and Rose. Notables who played both years are Uihlein, Mansager, Eberly, Bondurant, English, Heil, Struck, Reed, Bakker, etc. All in all, a strong draw that made it tough to hide, reflective of the current depth of the sport. 43 teams were spread across a 64 team draw and there were some brutal round of 16 match-ups.
Obviously, I will only be able to comment on the matches that I have seen – I apologize to those whom I will not mention in the tournament recap. The first match I was able to watch was the round of 16 between Ben McKnight and Pete Rose against the up and coming Indy team of Ricky (Bobby!) Heath and Ryan Baxter – the team who beat Flip Goodspeed and Scott Mansager in the second round of the Midwesterns a month ago. It was a surgical straight set win by McKnight/Rose, a classic example of experience taking over a match. I like how Ricky and Ryan play though, they are very talented and will only get better – both need to keep their emotions under control though. Once you get crazy on the court in paddle, you’ll be in the shower (in a losing capacity) in 30 minutes, regardless of what the score was when you started to lose your mind. Ben and Pete are very tough, they always come ready to play and give their best every time they step on the court, many teams can learn from their attitude, particularly inexperienced players. In my opinion however, if they are really serious about paddle (as serious about paddle as one can be, of course!), going forward they will need to manage their tournament schedule a little better in order to get the protection and ranking they deserve – this year they might not even get placed at the Nationals, which is a joke as far as I am concerned. They will be one of those floating teams that all seeded teams will want to avoid in the 32s or earlier.
I caught the tail end of the second set of Denny English and Nathan LeFevre vs. Scott Bondurant and Bill Fiedler (who have rekindled the legendary partnership for this tourney). Nathan and Denny were down 2-4 in the first set and did not lose another game for the rest of the match – that is not easy to do against Bondo and Big Bill. It only speaks to how good a team Denny and Nathan are. They complement each other perfectly: Denny is a big power player who has one of the biggest forehand drives and is also an excellent volleyer while Nathan is as nimble as they come and can do anything he wants with the ball. If he develops a heavy power drive to add to his all-around touch game and speed, he will be one of the marquee players of the next decade.
The next match I saw (almost in its entirety) was Peter Berka and Drew Eberly against Flip Goodspeed and Scott Mansager. This quarterfinal could easily be the semifinal match-up at the upcoming Nationals. Flip and Scott had won a long and hard fought two and a half hour second round war vs. John Hough and Rodney Workman (the crafty and cagey veterans) 6-1 in the third set – am sure they were not looking to spend that much time on the court for a second round but that’s how paddle it. Petey and Drew always give the nine time National Champions a hard time as I believe they have beaten Flip and Scott the last three times they played, at the 2010 Charities, the 2011 Midwesterns, and this year in Indy – all victories in straight sets. This time it was no different: Berka/Eberly won 3 & 4 in a very entertaining match that was closer than the score indicates. The difference maker!? Petey and Drew did not make any mistakes on the big points and were always ahead in the match. This usually forces the team who is behind in the count to go a little more than they need to and press too much. It’s always surprising when Scott and Flip lose a match but Drew and Petey are an elite team and have the confidence, athleticism, chemistry, and mental fortitude to win the Nationals. They were my pick to win it all last year and it was too bad that they ran into Johan and Ports early on – one great team was out of the tournament way too early. What makes them so tough to play against is that they can hurt you with a lot of different stuff: Petey can get into this mode where he misses one shot every 15 minutes and chases down virtually everything. He has great hands and has one of the highest game IQs out there – his shot selection is 99% accurate. Drew is cut from the same cloth as David Caldwell and Mark Parsons – all three of them have a very similar game based on outstanding athleticism, world class speed and explosiveness, and phenomenal drives off both sides. He is also a great volleyer and their positioning at the net is almost always flawless. They are on my short list of teams that can win it all on Long Island in a few weeks. Not only they can beat anyone but they also have the ability to steamroll you, particularly if they get ahead – they are great frontrunners.
The U and I played Brian Heil and Chris Struck in our quarterfinal – a new and talented team that Juan Arraya and I also played in the quarters of the Midwesterns. Brian is one of the best volleyers in the game while Chris has a monster serve on the ad side. They are both great athletes and are still figuring out how to play together but it’s only a matter of time before they will put it all together. We played very well and won 2 & 3. Chris and Brian had a hard time against The U’s overheads (who doesn’t!?) and were almost always on their heels in the so they could not generate too much offense from the backcourt.
LeFevre and English played McKnight and Rose on the court next to us so I couldn’t watch anything other than a few shots during changeovers. Denny and Nathan won 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. I know they were up 4-0 in the first set and lost it – this goes back to Ben and Pete’s never give up attitude. Thad Reed and Rob Bakker beat the second seeds Paget Neave and Brad Smith 3 & 3 to take the last semifinal spot at the bottom of the draw. Paget and Brad had pulled a Houdini in their first round against Will Colmar and Matt Warner, dodging five match points on their way to a labored 6-7 (5), 7-6 (9), 6-3.
On Sunday, The U and I played Denny English and Nathan LeFevre. It was a similar match as the quarterfinal we played the day before vs. Heil/Struck and we ended up winning 6-3, 7-6, despite a late second set comeback from Denny and Nathan – we were up 6-3, 5-2 and before we know it we were down 5-6 before finally winning it in a tie-breaker. Berka and Eberly won their semifinal match 6-3, 7-5 against Bakker/Reed in straight sets after being down in the second set.
The final was a great match that lasted about two hours. Other than The U being a little off with his return at the beginning of the first set (we switched sides for the final and I played the ad side so it took him a few games to calibrate his forehand drive), I thought that all four of us played at a very high level. Petey and Drew were up 5-2 in the first set and they were clearly the better team. Maybe they thought they had the set in the bag, who knows!? Bottom line is that The U started playing better and better and, in my opinion, from that point on the match became an outstanding one. We played a great first set tie-breaker and won it 7-4 after leading throughout. We went up 3-0, 4-1, and 5-2 in the second set with the momentum clearly in our favor and even had a match point at 5-3 which unfortunately I butchered with a weak backhand drive into the net after a long point. That was kind of a choke on my part in all honesty. Of course, this being paddle, we go down 5-6 but I somehow hold serve and force a second breaker. We played a flawless breaker again and won it 7-1. Final score: Bancila/Uihlein vs. Berka/Eberly 7-6, 7-6 – really close but even more rewarding when it happens this way.
A few people have asked me how did it feel playing with the U. I can tell you this much: you feel very protected. He is exceptional at EVERYTHING, the crazy spins are just a part of his game, A PART, that’s it. He is one of the best lobbers, has world class hands, has more power than anyone, is a phenomenal athlete, and has a great feel for the game. On top of that, he is a ferocious competitor, definitely in the top 3 I have ever come across, tennis or paddle. And keep in mind that I grew up playing tennis with and against guys like Rios, Kuerten, Albert Costa, Moya, etc. – no strangers to great competition. From an emotional perspective, he makes Borg look like Johnny Mac – there is absolutely no emotion, win or lose a great point. In capsule, yes, I was extremely impressed, it is tough not to be.
More specifically, I do not think there is one player who comes even close to his ability to keep players off balance in the backcourt. His spins literally defy the laws of physics. His serve is by far the best ever, he is the only guy for whom the serve is a huge weapon – most players are happy if their serve is not a liability. He hit one serve in the final to Drew (to the ad side) where the ball took a bite off the side screen (off the bounce) and then it came back SIDEWAYS AND BACK and bounced on the ad box’s service line, halfway through between the T and the singles line. Just take a moment and think about that and try to understand what happened, I am not exaggerating one bit. Go ahead and try to do that, I don’t care who you are, it ain’t happening, bro! His overhead causes so much havoc for the opposing team that when you are on the receiving end of it, you are rarely, if ever, thinking to bring offense from the backcourt. For the most part you just do not want to be too embarrassed by it. I am sure it sounds weird but it is true. The U’s overhead is the single most dominant individual shot I have ever seen – probably the greatest shot in the history of the sport. There are many players who can generate some pretty good action with their overheads but nobody hits it as clean and with so much action as him. Additionally, nobody has as many different locations with their overheads – he can hit the nasty spinner with the same effectiveness anywhere along the ad side screen and along the entire backscreen. It’s really amazing how he does it and how much control he has when swinging Mach 4.
Great job by Steve Webster and Ludo Aaron who ran a first class event! The players’ party on Saturday evening was a lot of fun and very well organized, despite Denny English and Brian Heil being there!
Lastly, many thanks to Dr. Nicole Klein – one beautiful and cool MD! You are awesome and I thank you so much for your help!
See everyone at the Nationals!