Scott Kahler and Matt Riva won 18 games in three sets but ended up losing the final match. How did that happen? Simply because Brett Englesberg and Jeff McMaster were the better team at the clutch moments. With final scores of 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, Englesberg-McMaster brought their A game and are now the new champions at the 2011 Rochester Open, formerly Shadow Lake.
Both teams came from Pittsburgh and had a fairly easy way into the finals. Englesberg-McMaster did not drop a set until their last match. In the quarter finals they took down Miguel Cobbs and Dan Mott 6-4, 6-2 to later beat Mark Ruppert and Rusty Wright 6-4, 6-3 in the semis. Playing in their first NRT final, Kahler-Riva only dropped one set to David Hissey and Fritz Odenbach in the quarters. They started slow and lost 7-5 the first set but then picked up the pace and won 6-0, 6-1 the next two sets. In the semis they took care of Fayaz Bhanji and Eric Miller 6-2, 6-3 in a very entertaining match.
The Rochester Open was played under “perfect” paddle conditions. In the words of Tournament Director Fritz Odenbach:
“Our weather was perfect… Cloudy 40 degrees and no rain at all”
Rochester was also witness to the birth of the new breed in the Odenbach family. John Newell and Jack Odenbach won the B Draw when they beat in the final the #1 seeded team of Pat Lavell and Mike Smith. The final scores was a close 7-6, 6-4.
Other finals include:
- NRT Quarters Reprieve – McFaden-P. Stulac def. Rogers-Wagner 6-4, 6-3
- NRT Reprieve – Hersh-Willoughby def. Daw-Pike 6-4, 6-4
- NRT Consolation – Kladstrup-Thompson def. Luce-Morris NSR
- NRT Consolation Reprieve – Curry-Mantell def. LaVeck-Laveck NSR
- Men’s B Playoff 3rd Place – Lis-Stitski def. McIntyre-Sullivan NSR
- Men’s B Consolation Reprieve – Ponticello-Ralph def. Berno-Burdett NSR
How lucky were the teams that made the trip to Rochester? It was not the same type of luck (or weather) in the tri-state area where rain, slush, snow and wind bombarded New jersey, New York and Connecticut at the same time. Can anyone predict a snow storm in late October? Probably not but we can be certain that everyone will be having a great time in Rochester if eternal Fritz Odenbach runs a tournament at Shadow Lake.
