Pro Racquetball Stats published this article on Facebook on February 21, 2018.

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Mexican Nationals Men’s Open Preview

http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=24713 for the draws.

Mexican Nationals are already underway, starting today Wednesday 2/21 and running til Sunday. I’ve missed some early matches, but here’s a preview of perhaps the best amateur singles tournament in existence today.

A huge draw for the Men’s Open: no less than 40 players, which is larger than any IRT event this season outside the US Open, larger than any WRT event from this year or last, and double the size of the US National team selection event from May 2017. And its deep; just about the only top Mexican player I see missing is Alex Cardona. Last year’s finalists are the #1 and #2 seeds, and deservedly, but the seeding might be a big different if you were to go strictly by talent. And as a result, we’re going to get some great early round matches.

Here’s some interesting Round of 16 matches to look for:

– #1/#16 Javier Mar – Christian Longoria: Longoria can win this; he’s a shooter who has some great WRT wins, but Mar isn’t the defending champ for nothing.

– #8/#9 Gerardo Franco – Rodrigo Garay, but only if Garay can beat Eduardo Portillo Rendon in the 32s (which i’m not sure he can)

– #5/#12 Daniel De La Rosa v Javier Moreno: the under-seeded DLR has to face off with the long-time Mexican tournament player Moreno.

– #4/#13 Javier Estrada – Sebastian Fernandez: Estrada lost to the 18U Fernandez in Denver 2017 and it wouldn’t be much of an upset (except by seeding) for another loss here.

– #3/#14: Andree Parrilla – Edson Martinez: Martinez shouldn’t trouble Parrilla here, who finally gets a decent seed at Mexican Natioanls (he was seeded in the 30s last year)- #6/#11: Alvaro Beltran – Polo Gutierrez: we havn’t seen Polo in a tourney in months and this is a brutal draw for Beltran … but Beltran may not even make it here; in the round of 32 he has to face Ernesto Ochoa, who made the semis at WRT San Antonio in Dec. Polo is always a threat to win and I’m curious to see what he’s got in the tank in this tourney.

– #7/#10: Rodrigo Montoya Solís – Ruben Estrada: Montoya should cruise here and gear up for his tough projected quarters.

– #2/#15: Alejandro Alex Landa – Jaime Martell Neri: Martell is a top 5 player on the WRT but runs into one of the hottest pros out there in Landa early. Landa is fresh off a IRT pro win and will look to capture a title that has eluded him.

Here’s some possible quarter final matches; all of these look awesome.
– Mar-Franco
– De La Rosa-Fernandez
– Parrilla-Beltran
– Landa-Montoya

Semis and Finals prediction:
– Mar, DLR, Beltran, Landa

– Final: DLR over Landa, getting some revenge from the Sioux Falls Event.

I’ll post a women’s singles preview tomorrow.