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May 10, 2007
Becker and Bruning qualify
Duo battled heat, injuries to advance to main draw
By Mike Scarr / AVP.com - Original Story Link
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It was all about keeping cool in the heat during men's qualifying at the Glendale Open on Thursday.
With four berths at stake for Friday's main draw, 34 men's teams battled as temperature gauges in the area registered 101.
Getting out of the qualifying round were the No. 3 seed Ben Koski and Jeff Minc; Billy Allen and AJ Mihalic (4); Vincent Robbins and Jason Wight (7); and Rico Becker and Mike Bruning (16).
An early casualty Thursday was Dane Jensen and Mike Placek. Seeded fourth in the qualifier, Jensen and Placek dropped their second-round match to Everett Matthews and Ivan Mercer, the 27th seed. The pair survived qualifying last week in Huntington Beach and finished 17th in the tournament.
Becker and Bruning advanced Thursday by defeating Leonardo Moraes and Reuben Danley, 21-13, 21-16. Bruning bump set most of the afternoon as he nursed a broken thumb he suffered a couple of weeks ago but Becker still gave most of the credit to his teammate.
"I had a very big partner and he was blocking like a maniac today," said Becker, who qualified into the main draw for the first time in his career and is a local.
Becker and Bruning needed just 18 minutes in their first-match of the day as Matt Ogin and Todd Strassberger failed to show on time and forfeited the first game. Becker and Bruning then emerged with a 21-11 victory in the second.
In their succeeding match, Becker and Bruning dropped the No. 1 seed in the qualifier David Fischer and Scott Hill, 21-13, 21-16, before advancing to play Moraes and Danley for their ultimate berth in the main draw.
That victory prompted a celebration as a handful of their friends stormed the court and gave Becker a Gatorade bath.
"I haven't had one before," Becker said. "I'm not sure I want another one."
Becker and Bruning will play Nick Lucena and Will Strickland at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Friday.
Mihalic and Allen eliminated Fernando Sabla and Soeren Schneider, 21-15, 21-12. They opened with a 21-16, 22-24, 15-12 victory over Cody Crowell and Mark Kirunchyk in their first match of the day and then got past Chad Mowrey and Kimo Tuyay, 21-15,21-17.
On Friday at approximately 10:45 a.m., Mihalic and Allen will play Hans Stolfus and Scott Wong.
Koski and Minc eliminated Matthews and Mercer from the tournament in a fourth-round that was delayed for several minutes as Mercer suffered from a cramp in his left leg.
After receiving medical attention, Mercer returned to action but ended up on the losing end for a late afternoon exit.
The heat played a role throughout the day and Koski said finding the mental edge was as tough as dealing with the elements.
"It's hard," Koski said. "The sun is beating down on you and you just find yourself getting really lethargic and you have to yell or something to get yourself going."
Koski and Minc had a relatively easy time in their first match, winning 21-14, 21-18 over Erik Gomez and Dan Madden before eliminating Chris Harger and Jeff Murrell, 30-28, 21-17 in their second match. Koski and Minc will play Ryan Mariano and Larry Witt on Friday morning.
Robbins and Wight chased the sun with the last match of the day but pulled out a 21-16, 25-23 victory over Jeff Carlucci and Adam Roberts, the No. 2 seed. Robbins admitted they got a break by having two of their matches later in the day when the temperature dipped slightly but mostly he cited the confidence in beating Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger last week.
"It's nice to know that you can play with these guys," Robbins said. "Jeff and Adam are perennial main draw guys and last week proved to us that we can get down in the match and come back in a match."
It was the second straight berth into the main draw for Robbins and Wight, who qualified for the first time last week in Huntington Beach.
Robbins and Wight will play John Hyden and Brad Keenan on Friday.
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