The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) served up the 2001-2002 season with its first annual tour stop in New Orleans, at the 2001 Summer Cooler Pro Am hosted by the Elmwood Fitness Center August 9-12. This being the first stop since early June, the question was: who would have the winning edge?

Early rounds and quarterfinal matches stuck to the seeding plan, but there were two particular matches worth mentioning in the round of sixteen: Dan Fowler vs. Mike Guidry, ninth and eighth seeds respectively, and a rematch of national open finalists, Rocky Carson vs. Jack Huczek, the fifth and twelfth seeds. Both matches were classic racquetball duels ending in tiebreakers. The match between Guidry and Fowler looked like it would never end, as both refused to give an edge to either, and after two hours of hard play, Guidry finally emerged as the victor 10,(6),3,(9),9. After dropping the first game, Huczek looked as though he could do no wrong and planned to steam roll into the next round. Even Carson himself exclaimed, “Can I just get a break?!” Well, those darn racquetball gods were listening, and Carson bolted his comeback by taking the final two games to advance 8,(3),(1),8,5.

In the quarters, all four top seeds took care of business. The first match was between Cliff Swain and Tim Doyle. After dropping a close first game, Swain won the next three to move in the semis (10) 7, 9, 8. Next up was Sudsy Monchik, who defeated Guidry in three straight, 8, 5, 6. Between John Ellis and Alvaro Beltran, the two had fairly close games, until Ellis prevailed 6, 9, 8. Jason Mannino and Carson faced off in the last match of the evening, where the first game remained close before Mannino overtook Carson, and won the next two fairly promptly 9, 4, 4.

The first semifinal featured Swain and Ellis. Ellis came out strong in game one, keeping Swain off-balance and away from front court to win it 11-3. In game two Swain took command early with his power serves, jumping out to a 10-2 lead. Ellis fought back to cut the lead to one, but Swain ended his comeback with a neat little get in front court to take the game 11-9. Game three saw Swain again taking command with his power strokes and serves to an early lead of 8-2, but the cat-like Ellis scratched and clawed his way back in the game, cutting the lead to 7-9. Swain then regained the serve with a forehand winner, and finished the game with an ace and splat shot rollout. Game four was somewhat reversed, as Ellis took a six point lead. Down 3-9 Swain mounted his own comeback, scoring a point here and a point there. Before you knew it, it was tied 10-10. From there Swain finished the match after Ellis skipped his backhand splat shot attempt and the final point was an ace by Swain to win it 12-10.

The next semifinal was between Monchik and Mannino, whose first game was not all that fancy. After exchanging point for point to reach 5-5, Monchik pulled away with his deep court winners to take the first game 11-5. In game two, Mannino stayed in control. Noticing that Monchik was staying back, Mannino took advantage by putting the ball away as quickly as possible, not to let him get anything going. After winning game two 11-4, Mannino continued to control the tempo of the match by timing Monchik’s serves well. He was so much in control of game three he only launched only one dive and won the game 11-1. In game four the crowd expected Monchik to make a run to force the tiebreaker, but Mannino did not give him a chance. If he was not making diving put-aways, Mannino was killing it from back court to win the game 11-4 and upset the number one seed.

The final paired Swain and Mannino, in a repeat of the previous final at the Portland stop at the end of last season. After a 90-minute wait for IRT referee Erin Brannigan to conclude his own open semifinal tiebreaker, the match got underway with Swain serving three straight aces. He did not let up from there, controlling front court, moving quickly and, of course, rolling out splat shots to take game one 11-3. In game two Swain took a 9-5 lead before Mannino launched his comeback by scoring four straight points to tie it at 9. After several exchanges and sideouts, Mannino closed out the game, 12-10.

In the third, Swain served five aces and ran off ten unanswered points, then ended the game with a front court pinch shot for an 11-3 win. In game four Mannino took a 4-0 lead and did not let Swain get any closer than two points. 

On an unforced error by Cliff, Mannino claimed game four, 11-6. In the deciding fifth, the game stayed close, and they exchanged points until mid-way in the game. After a time-out by Mannino at 6-7, Swain scored five straight points, and finished the match the way he started it, with an ace!

Cliff Swain successfully defending his title at the 2001 Summer Cooler to once again start the season atop the IRT. Swain attributed his victory to his aggressive front court play especially in the deciding game. “I picked up the pace and just took control of front court”, Swain said, “and not (depending) so much of my aces. I just try to get the ball in play in a good position.” Later posting to the message board at his website, Mannino stated “after having him 7 to 6 ... he rattled off three aces and played great in the clutch. Also I think the ref took a nap in the fifth game, missing some really obvious calls. But he did the best he can ... no hard feelings.”