Just like in Chicago for the Doubles Nationals, the trend of international players “conquering” paddle continues. This time it was the Men’s Eastern Singles Championship. Earlier this afternoon, Enrique Catter won his first Singles crown when he beat Sebastian Bredberg in a HIGH level match. The final score was 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 for the Peruvian native.
Both players reached the final match after having to battle tough opponents in the semifinals. Catter beat another international player when he took down Brazilian born Marco Grangeiro by 6-4, 6-3. Catter came back in the second set after being 3-1 down in a match that was much closer than what the score shows.
In the second semifinals, the Swedish Adonis of paddle fought hard to claim victory versus Ben Stein in three long sets. Sebastian was able to break this former NCAA Tennis Champion serve at 6-5 in the third set and earned his place in the final. The score was 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 for Bredberg. In his own words, Sebastian explains what happened in the second set and how he beat Stein:
After I was down a break I didn’t want to waste my energy and I decide to slow down to be ready for the final set.
As players were getting ready to play, a crowd of approximately fifty spectators came down to the Greenwich Country Club to watch the final. Having played the tournament twice before and reaching the semifinals in both occasions, Catter had the edge that allowed him to go home with the title. Coming in as the #3 player in the Singles Rankings, he will probably be at the top when the new rankings are released next home.
