Posted at the request of Dave Ellis.
Great Read!

2010 – 11 WPRO Windup
What a Year!!!!
By Dave Ellis

There are many words that might be used to describe the end of the 2010 – 11 WPRO season. Tumultuous, explosive, outrageous, thrilling, and controversial are just a few. The tour visited Herndon, Virginia for the SCS Title and Escrow Pro Am; Stockton, California for the In Shape WPRO Championships Presented by Ektelon; and New Orleans for the Louisiana WPRO Ektelon World Championships. Each of the stops ended with an epic battle between Rhonda Rajsich and Paola Longoria.

In Herndon at the SCS Title and Escrow Pro Am, the activities began on Thursday evening, St. Patrick's Day. The sponsor doubles saw Kimmi Ferina and Johnny Forbes defeat Laura Brandt and Al Shipman to win large bottles of Guinness Brew. The ladies were then hosted at a Turkish restaurant that specialized in kabobs and other delicious foods. It was there where the ladies became acquainted with the tournament's principal sponsor, Jose Mariney, a gentleman determined to see that all present spent an enjoyable evening. Delicious food, friendship, and a fairly spectacular belly dancing exhibition certainly made that a reality

The round of 16 had a number of fascinating matches: Angela Grisar had defeated Kerri Wachtel both in Canoga Park and in Miami, each time in five games. The Virginia match again went five games, with a tired Angela dropping the tiebreaker, 11 – 1. A second pairing featured Cheryl Gudinas and Christie Huczek. This rivalry has occurred many times in the past at the World Championships, at the US Open, and in the finals of numerous pro stops. Cheryl had been fighting a painful soft tissue injury in her foot and her movement to the left on Christie's first drive serve brought obvious pain to the 8 time US National Champion. Christie easily won the match in three games. Just two weeks earlier, Jennifer Saunders, the Canadian National Champion had defeated Cristina Amaya, the Colombian National Champion in five games in Miami. This time it was different. The rapidly improving Cristina kept Jen off balance throughout, defeating her 5, 4, and 10. Nancy Enriquez and Samantha Salas had been paired up numerous times during the year with Samantha winning all of the matches except the one during the previous tournament in Miami. Everyone knew that the match in Herndon would be a battle. Nancy was up 2 games to 1 but this time it was Samantha's turn to hang on and come back to win it in the 5th.

This set the pairings for the quarter finals - Susy Acosta vs. Paola Longoria, Rhonda Rajsich vs. Cristina Amaya, Christie Huczek vs. Adrienne Fisher and Samantha Salas vs. Kerri Wachtel. All of the matches went quickly with Paola and Samantha moving into the semis along with Christie and Rhonda. The semis saw Paola defeat Samantha and Rhonda defeat Christie, both in four games.

In typical fashion, the final was a battle with Paola quickly winning the first game, 11 – 3. Rhonda turned it around and won the second game in convincing fashion, 11 – 5. The pivotal third game was a battle with Paola finally winning it 13 – 11. In the fourth, it was all Paola who played consistently and precisely throughout. Rhonda had started the season with wins in the Grand Slam in Cali, the US Open, and a Tier 1 in Arlington, Virginia. Paola had now won three tier 1’s in a row with her two previous victories at Canoga Park and Miami.

After a couple of satellite stops, the tour moved to Stockton, California for another Tier 1. The activities started with Paola Longoria and sponsor Steve Cohen winning the Thursday evening doubles. Sponsors and Players enjoyed a pasta dinner at the Ellis’ house with Pat’s famous hospitality. The hospitality continued Saturday night with a “taquisa” put on by Jose and Carolina Diaz. No less than 1500 tacos were served to the hungry tournament players. The action started Friday morning with local player Melissa McElfresh pushing touring pro Da’monique Davis to four tough games. The action in the round of 16’s was intense. Aubrey O’Brian, USA National Junior Champion, battled the number three ranked player, Samantha Salas, to a tiebreaker. Aubrey appeared stronger than ever and she was hitting great shots throughout the match. Both ladies made many gets, resulting in numerous exciting rallies. Samantha, using her experience gained on the tour, played a calm, solid tiebreaker to take the match 11 – 3. The final match of the evening pitted Da’monique against college teammate, Adrienne Fisher. Da’monique had match points in the fourth and fifth games but did not score. Adrienne won the tiebreaker 13 – 11 to complete the two hour match.

The quarter finals went fairly quickly with Paola defeating Angela Grisar in 3 games, Rhonda Rajsich defeating Cristina Amaya in 4 games and Samantha taking out Susy Acosta in 4. Adrienne Fisher also defeated Ektelon’s Aimee Ruiz in 4 games. The semis that evening were routine victories for Paola and Rhonda, who moved into their fifth straight Tier 1 final. It was certainly the match that everyone had come to see. Paola started strong, winning the first game 11 – 3. She jumped to a big lead in the second, yet midway through the game, Rhonda seemed to gain the momentum. Paola held off the charge, taking the second, 11 – 8. The third and fourth games were mirror images of the first two with Rhonda moving the match to a tiebreaker with wins of 11 – 3 and 11 – 5. The fifth game looked as if it was going to be all Rhonda as she achieved a 9 – 3 lead. Point 10 continued to elude her as Paola hung on with side out after side out. Chipping away at the lead, all of a sudden Paola had a match point at 10 – 9, and then it happened:

At the beginning of each WPRO match throughout the tournament, the players were notified of designated court hinders. These consisted of a microphone placed by the IRT Network and the ceiling sprinklers. The sprinklers had cages around them. As acting commissioner, I declared that all of the sprinklers were designated as court hinders. At 10 – 9, Paola hit a Z serve to Rhonda’s forehand. Rhonda attempted a ceiling ball return which contacted something on the ceiling and pretty much dropped straight down. It did not make the front wall. Referee Adrienne Fisher evidently thought the shot had hit the light frame, a surface that was not designated a court hinder. As the shot did not make the front wall, she called point and match. Rhonda appealed that the shot had hit the sprinkler. Both line judges disagreed with Referee Fisher and a replay hinder resulted.

The result seemed to unnerve Paola. She was so sure she had won the match. Play continued with Paola having additional match points at the point of replay and again at 11 – 10. Rhonda earned a side out and went on to score 3 points to win the tiebreaker, 13 - 11. The second of the three saw Paola hitting a passing shot that appeared to be a winner. The ball came off the back wall ever so slightly, with Rhonda running straight at it. Rhonda flicked the ball through her legs and it barely made the front wall with a surprised Paola watching. The match was such a classic that it was a shame that someone had to lose. Paola was extremely disappointed, to say the least, and she caused a scene with her subsequent actions. She went on to post derogatory comments about the WPRO on social media. These actions resulted in multiple fines and a suspension of the first tournament in the 2011 – 12 season.

Two weeks later, the tour moved to New Orleans for a $20K end of the season grand slam. Throughout the tournament, Paola played as well as any woman ever has. She did not drop a game. She had the consistency of Michelle Gould, the speed of Robin Levine, and the competitive drive of Lynn Adams. In three games, against Laura Brandt she gave up 7 points total; against Angela Grisar, she gave up 4; against Samantha Salas she gave up 11; and in the final she gave up 14 total to Rhonda, with 9 of those coming in the third game. It was as if her anger from losing the match in Stockton drove her to play with a vengeance.

With her victory in Stockton, Rhonda had put herself in a position that if she made the final in New Orleans, she would finish number 1 for the year. This was not common knowledge as on the 12 month ranking system, Paola was only 14 points behind. But Paola had finished second in 2010 and Rhonda had lost in the semis. That meant that Paola would drop 228.75 points while Rhonda would drop 127.5. Paola earned 300 points for her victory while Rhonda earned 210 for her second place finish. Thus Paola had a net gain of 71.25 points while Rhonda gained 82.5.

Rhonda had only to defeat Kerri Wachtel in the semis to earn the number 1 ranking. The last time the two had played was in November in Olympia, Washington. There, it was as if Kerri had voodoo powers, reading Rhonda like a book, and hitting shot after shot just out of Rhonda’s reach. In New Orleans, Rhonda came out strong and won the first game 11 – 4. Kerri turned it around and won the second, 11 – 7. In the third game, Kerri jumped to a 5 – 0 lead. With her fans becoming very nervous, Rhonda stayed composed and went to the drive serve. The drive serve was the weapon she needed and her multiple aces and near aces carried her to a 4 game victory. With that win, Rhonda had clinched the number 1 ranking for the year.

What a season! Including the one satellite in which they both competed, Rhonda and Paola went head to head 9 times with Paola earning 5 victories to Rhonda’s 4. Each match was epic and one of the greatest shows in racquetball. You might say that Rhonda earned number 1 because she participated in four satellites while Paola only played one. Paola had been awarded by the Mexican government the title of “Female Athlete of the Year,” a tremendously prestigious award in Mexico. As acceptance of this award caused her to miss a tier 1 stop in Olympia, Washington, ironically, the 0 points earned at that tournament may also be seen as the difference in the top two rankings.

The season also included notable changes in the end of the year top 10 standings. Samantha Salas moved from number 10 to a solid number 3 ranking. Her year was highlighted with a win over Rhonda in Dallas and a championship in Olympia. Veterans Susy Acosta and Jen Saunders moved into 6th and 7th. Colombia’s Cristina Amaya finished at number 9 and Krystal Czuk finished at number 10. Angela Grisar, Christie Huczek and Nancy Enriquez missed tournaments but still managed to finish 11, 12 and 13. For sure, these three ladies will do damage next year. The prediction here, however, is that again in 2011 – 12 the tour will see the rivalry between Rhonda and Paola play out to the fullest. Baring injury one of these two will end up number 1 and the other will finish number 2. It will be a great show. Don’t miss it.

Shannon Feaster, Commissioner of the WPRO, served for five years. Her job with the federal government, and her duties as a new mother, have helped her decide to step away from the WPRO. Under her leadership, the WPRO has grown to provide a stable tour for the ladies. This year ten tier 1 and above tournaments took place, along with four satellites. A larger schedule is in the works for next year. Commissioner Feaster leaves the tour in great shape. Soon, the name of the new commissioner will be announced, a person who hopefully can continue to expand women’s professional racquetball.

Thanks for sharing!

Great recap from Dave.

There are going to be some changes over the Summer and there are going to be better players when the season begins.

I so look forward to it.

Paola is a little fireball. She is Ben Croft of the WPRO....LOVE IT!!!!

I hope Christie comes back and plays a lot more events. I believe she was in every Semi Final of every tournament she played.

Samantha will be even better this coming season as well as Adrienne.
Hopefully Sharon Jackson and Aubrey can make it to more events because I believe they will stir up the top 16 real quick!

Manny