2006 US Open Racquetball Championships

Wow!!! What an experience the week was. The greatest racquetball you could find on the planet. The event kicked off on Tuesday beginning with the St. Jude Pro/AM Doubles. The charity event was sold out for the 11^th year in a row raising $9600 for the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Sal Perconti and Alvaro Beltran beat Jimmy Floyd and Angela Grisar in the finals.

At the Pro-Am event, there were record numbers in entries and fan attendance. That is a good sign moving forward. From a personal experience I could not believe how loud and excited the fans got. Especially for Jason Mannino and Jack Huczek in the Pro Am semi-final match. Mannino seemed to have the fans going for him. I think that might have had something to do with his stellar play. He played some great racquetball. His semi final match against Jack Huczek might go down as one of the best matches ever. The Daily Racquet (www.choicehotelsusopen.com) reported that Jason dove 79 times in his match against Jack. That is unbelievable!! Who thought that could be possible. I watched the match. There is no doubt that between both Jason and Jack there had to be a good 110+ dives between the both of them. I didn’t count but Jack was all over the floor doing everything he could to keep the ball in play. This match was over two hours long and the fans were into every single rally. It was great. I’m so glad I got to witness this match. Jason beat Jack 5, 6, (6), (9), 10.

Rocky Carson played some great racquetball all week long without losing a game until the Final round. The only player to ever win the US Open without losing a single game was Kane Waselenchuk at the 2004 US Open. Kane would still be the only player to ever accomplish such a feet as Rocky went on to lose to Jason Mannino in the finals in 3 straight games as Jason won his second title.

Coming into the event Jack Huczek was the clear favorite as he has won all 4 Tier 1 stops this season. Jason Mannino would show too much determination and a never die attitude while at the same time handing Jack only his second loss on the season as he lost to Shane Vanderson in a satellite event in Western Michigan.

During the tourney, Ruben Gonzalez and Ektelon announced the release of Ruben's Signature racquet.

On the Women’s side, they have continued to give the fans a special treat. They showcase the absolute best females the game has to offer. One of the big talks all week was the return of Christie Van Hees and her quest to become the only female to ever win this prestigious event 3 times. This was Christie’s first pro event on the season. Due to lack of contract and support she has been unable to compete full time on the tour. If you watched her play at the US Open then you know that there was no way anyone could have tell she hasn’t been competing. She played some absolute great racquetball.