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This article appeared on October 25, 2017.

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The World Racquetball Tour (WRT) is in Utah for the 2017 Rocky Mountain Open in Taylorsville, Utah. David Horn is the top seed with Alejandro Cardona 2nd seed, Jake Bredenbeck 3rd and Gerardo Franco 4th. Also, the event will have a Saturday night finish.

But perhaps the biggest news ahead of this event is that Sudsy Monchik is in the draw. He’s seeded 11th, which we’re surprised at as it’s Monchik’s first WRT event, so he doesn’t have any ranking points.

Monchik, a former #1 professional men’s player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) and four time US Open winner, made the successful return to competitive racquetball earlier this month, when he made it to the US Open quarterfinals in his first pro appearance since 2012. In doing so, Monchik defeated two players who are in the draw this weekend: Felipe Camacho and Gerardo Franco.

Monchik likely has his eyes on winning this weekend, but his path to do it won’t be easy, as he’ll need to face the top three seeds to get the title (if there no upsets in the draw). Assuming he defeats his first round opponent, Steve Black, Monchik will likely face 6th seed Jose Diaz, then 3rd seed Jake Bredenbeck, 2nd seed Alejandro Cardona, and 1st seed David Horn. Not a clear path.

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