In one of the final stops of the season in San Diego, lefties dominated the bottom half of the draw in late rounds, after Mike Guidry advanced via forfeit from Kane Waselenchuk to go up against Cliff Swain in the semifinal. It wasn’t the first match that Kane had forfeited, due to an inner ear problem, and we can only hope that the young Canadian can get past his medical problems to consistently compete at the level he is capable of, when healthy.

Between the remaining southpaws, Cliff jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first with blazing drive serves, but Guidry, ever so patiently, picked on Cliff’s backhand with deep nick lobs. Cliff began skipping, not only some of his service returns, but shots during the rally as well, allowing Guidry to get back in the game at 9-9. As the game went back and forth with momentum, Guidry capitalized on his own consistency and Cliff’s skipped shots to win the first game 14-12. 

Both players became more consistent and intense in the second game. Using pinpoint nick lobs to Cliff’s backhand, Guidry erased a slow start to tie the score at 6-6. Relying on his drive serve, Cliff managed to pull ahead slightly and looked to even the match at one game apiece. Guidry, no stranger to semis or pressure from the “Ultimate Warrior,” made a run of his own to even the score at 9-9. Cliff ended Guidry’s run by earning a side out, then hitting two great serves for weak returns and easy setups to close out the game, 11-9. 

Cliff jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in the third and appeared to be in the drivers seat. After a great get that seemed to shift the momentum, Guidry evened the match at 9-9. He then dug in deeper, perhaps remembering the second game, and was able to sustain his momentum to win 12-10 for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Although down, Cliff is never out, of any match. Even with people doubting his desire to play, and wondering he could still win, Cliff showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with on tour. His drive serves and ability to re-kill balls allowed him to jump out to another lead in game four — one that he held on to for an 11-7 win. 

Cliff continued to play well in the deciding fifth game, with a serve that was more consistent than in any of the previous games, and he went on to win 11-3.

The second semifinal pitted Jason Mannino against Rocky Carson, who opened with conservative nick lobs to Jason’s backhand and a lot of ceiling balls. But “conservative” isn’t in Jason’s vocabulary and he replied by shooting Rocky’s ceiling balls from seemingly everywhere. Jason jumped out to an 8-3 lead only to find himself down 9-8 after an amazing run by Rocky. After hitting a touch shot for an apparent winner, Rocky got some bad news from the referee; he’d called a skip. With that Rocky lost that point, the serve, and his momentum. After a splat and a cross-court winner, Jason took game one 11-9. 

The second game was tight throughout and could have gone either way. Jason, relying on great retrievals and some untimely skips by Rocky, came through 12-10. 

The wheels came off for Rocky in the third game. Jason seemed to step his game up to a level that others can only dream about. He didn’t even offer Rocky a cup of coffee as he served up the doughnut to advance to his eighth final of the season.

Amazingly this was the first time that Jason and Cliff have faced each other in a final this season. The first game was back and forth as both players relied on their strengths; Jason making unbelievable gets and Cliff blistering serves. Tied at 9 apiece, Cliff’s serve won out and he ended the game with two great ones, forcing skipped returns to go up 1-0.

Jason started out the second game with a 4-0 run only to see it quickly erased when Cliff scored seven unanswered points to take the lead 7-4. Jason methodically picked at Cliff’s lead and eventually caught him at 9-9. After a few more side outs Jason hit two great nick lobs to Cliff’s backhand setting Jason up for winners to close out the second game 11-9.

Again Jason started out the third game with an early run, gaining a larger lead. At 8-1, and unlike the second game, Jason never let Cliff get back into it. After thwarting Cliff’s attempt for a comeback, Jason ended the game in the same way he had ended the second; two nick lobs and two perfect passes for an 11-6 finish and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Points were scarce to begin the fourth game as it started with five consecutive side outs. Cliff drew first blood with a splat that even Jason couldn’t get. Jason then scored four straight to take a 4-1 lead, only to see Cliff reciprocate with four points of his own. It was Jason’s turn to score four, which was followed by Cliff scoring not four but three to tie it at 8-8. Cliff not keeping up with this pattern made the difference. Jason closed out the game, 11-8, for the match, and widened his lead in the point standings.

Pictured L-R: Swain, Tom Resendez, Mannino.