The top women pros traveled to the mile-high city to compete in the Lakewood Athletic Club Coca-Cola Classic – an annual event that features tour stops for both the LPRA and IRT. With the second half of the season underway, players began to kick their games into high gear to jockey for final position in the season ending rankings.

There weren’t many surprises in the round of 32, which set up exciting matches in the 16’s. No.6 Lori-Jane Powell and No.11 Dina Moreland battled it out for five games. It was Moreland’s second straight match to go the distance after Mexico’s Claudia Corpi had tested her in the first round. Although Moreland had been successful in her first five-gamer, it was Powell who took the second, 14-16, 15-9, 13-15, 15-9, 15-8.

Another exciting five game match in the 16s featured LPRA calendar girls from south of the border. Tour rookie, No.5 Claudine Garcia of the Dominican Republic, faced off against Mexico’s No.12 Susy Acosta. Garcia impressed onlookers in winning the first two games 15-11, 15-7 but Acosta, looking as if she had regained her old form, fought back to even the match with 15-13, 15-6 wins. An exciting fifth game was close, but Garcia earned the victory 15-12.

Playing her best since rejoining the tour, No.23 Elaine Albrecht upset No.7 Kristen Walsh 16-14, 15-13, 15-9, and a match between U.S. National Team members No.8 Rhonda Rajsich and No.9 Kim Russell ended in a forfeit when Russell was forced to retire with flu-like symptoms.

The quarterfinals matched up No.1 Cheryl Gudinas and No.8 Rajsich. Following disappointing finishes at the Hilton U.S. OPEN and Saskatoon events, Rajsich had decided to change her game style. “I just decided to start having fun again,” Rajsich said. “After playing so bad in Canada I just decided to loosen up and have fun on the court.” It became a good strategy for her as she upset the world’s top-ranked player in a grueling five game match 15-8, 12-15, 13-15, 15-11, 15-12, and moved into the semifinals. Also advancing were No.2 Jackie Paraiso Rice, No.4 Kersten Hallander, and defending U.S. OPEN champion No.3 Kerri Wachtel.

In a rematch of the 2001 U.S OPEN, Wachtel and Rice faced off in the semifinals, marking Wachtel’s first chance to repeat that victory. But Rice had other plans and it was evident in her play that she had not forgotten the loss in Memphis, as she dominated the first two games 15-5, 15-8. Wachtel stepped up her game to take the third game 15-13 before Rice closed out the match in the fourth 16-14.

The remaining semifinal featured Hallander and Rajsich, who opened the match with a lengthy 18-16 first game that went to Hallander. But Rajsich’s new attitude brought her back to win the next three, including another 18-16 marathon, to advance to her first final in over a year.

With two upsets already under her belt, many were comparing her performance to Rajsich’s great run on the 2000 U.S. OPEN where she had gotten to the finals before falling to the now retired Christie Van Hees. During that run Rajsich had defeated Rice in one of the event’s most memorable matches, but Rice quickly squashed any chance of a repeat by coming hot out of the box and never cooling off. She defeated Rajsich in three straight,15-10, 15-11, 15-8, to capture the pro stop and move closer to Gudinas in the LPRA rankings.