There are 41 men in the APP Arizona Open singles draw, and Alvi Regalado was the 41st of them. By Thursday night in Mesa he was in the final.
He did it the long way. Three wins in the early rounds, over Zack Marceau, Eduardo Irizarry and John Cangelosi, would have made a decent week on their own. Then he met Ronan Camron, the top seed and No. 1 in the APP’s US singles rankings, in the quarter-finals, and beat him 11–7, 9–11, 11–6. The APP’s own account called him a newbie who was “already stirring things up”, which undersold the evening. In the semi-final he dropped a game 13–11 to Ryler DeHeart, the No. 4 seed, and then took the decider 11–3.
A bottom seed reaching a final is not proof that seeding is broken. Seeds are a forecast built on what players have already done. What Thursday proved is narrower and more useful: on one day in Arizona, the forecast had nothing on him.
His opponent on Sunday is Andre Millet, the sixth seed, who beat Tristan Dussault (3) 11–7, 3–11, 11–2 and Max Green (7) 11–5, 7–11, 11–5. DeHeart and Green play for bronze.
Millet also ended the European Open champion’s week. Jake Bower, who won the European Open singles title in Manavgat last Sunday, opened in Mesa by beating Mateusz Matysik, the European Open mixed champion, 11–6, 11–8. In the round of 16 he took the first game off Millet 15–13, lost the second 11–3 and the third 14–12. A defeat in the back draw finished his singles. Bálint Bakó, the man Bower beat in the Manavgat final, went out of the main draw to Camron in three games and then won four straight back-draw matches.
The women’s final is the one the form book wanted. Katerina Stewart, the top seed, and Domenika Turkovic, the second, both reached it without dropping a game in the quarter-finals or semi-finals. Stewart beat Shannon Pretorius 11–4, 11–3 and Roos Van Reek 11–2, 11–4. Turkovic beat Emilia Schmidt 11–4, 11–1 and Amanda Hendry 11–8, 11–2. It is a repeat of the Louisville final, which Turkovic won, and she has won the APP’s last two women’s singles titles. Van Reek, seeded 12th, was the surprise of the women’s draw: she came from a game down to beat Seone Mendez, the No. 4 seed, 8–11, 11–9, 11–3. She plays Hendry for bronze.
Over 50s and 60s
The seniors started on Thursday as well, and the first AARP title of the week has gone. Heather Iffert and Mark Wilder won gold in the AARP Masters (60+) mixed pro draw, beating Anna Shirley and Ross Weinberg in the final. Scott Burr and Barbara Dunne took bronze, beating Lisa Conway and Dana Treister in two games for the loss of six points.
Friday is the busiest senior day of the week, and it starts before the open pros. AARP Champions (50+) men’s singles, 14 players, begins at 08:00 Mountain, which is 15:00 in London. On paper the field has a clear top: Youssef Bouzidi’s DUPR singles rating of 6.07 is the highest of the 14, ahead of Blake Arrant (5.69), Marcello Jardim (5.66) and Mario Porcelli (5.44). Ratings are a forecast, not a result. A 50+ singles draw is also exactly the kind of event where a forecast goes to die, because one pulled calf rewrites the bracket.
The Champions women’s singles, eight players, follows at 10:00 Mountain (17:00 London). Karin Ptaszek-Kochis (5.46) and Eugenia Carolina Lopez Ascarate (5.41) are the two highest-rated, and some way clear of the rest. Lee Whitwell, who is also in the women’s doubles later in the week, sits next on 4.79.
Then the Masters. Men’s doubles, 14 teams, starts at 11:00 Mountain (18:00 London), with Scott Moore and Vince Van Patten together, alongside pairs including Scott Burr and Warren Pretorius, and Kevin Casey and Mark Lewis. Moore is a Hall of Famer and the APP’s former Masters player of the year. Van Patten is 69, a former ATP professional, and still entering three senior events in a week. The Masters women’s doubles, nine teams, starts at 12:30 Mountain (19:30 London).
If you only watch the open pros, Friday in Mesa is an afternoon. If you watch the seniors, it is a full day.
Friday: Fudge, Schenk and the mixed
The open-pro centre of Friday is mixed doubles, 34 teams from 09:00 Mountain (16:00 London).
The pairing to watch is not new. Megan Fudge and Aidan Schenk took mixed bronze together at the European Open in Manavgat last Saturday, and they are entered together again here. That matters because of a number the APP put at the top of its own preview. Fudge is level with Simone Jardim on 33 women’s pro gold medals, the tour record, after tying it in Overland Park. One more women’s pro gold and the record is hers alone. The mixed is her first chance of the week. Women’s doubles with Jada Bui, from Saturday, is the second.
The pair most likely to stop her is the one that has been stopping everybody. Jack Munro won mixed gold in Louisville with Roos Van Reek, and they are together again. Munro leads all APP pros this season with 10 golds and 12 medals, and he and Richard Livornese Jr have won seven men’s doubles titles in a row. Livornese is in the mixed too, with Katerina Stewart, who took bronze with him in Louisville. Jay Devilliers and Domenika Turkovic, the Louisville silver medallists, are entered again. So are Bower with Naomi Tran, and Bui with Zack Marceau.
Championship Court coverage on Friday runs from 14:00 to 20:00 Eastern, which is 19:00 to 01:00 in London, on APPTV on YouTube.
Thursday belonged to a man the seedings had placed last. Friday asks whether anyone can do the same to Munro, or whether Fudge gets there first.
