| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay | May 2009 
ITF Pro Tennis Futures Tournament at Canto Del Sol May 11-17, 2009
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
| | There will also be pro doubles competition and last year the U.S. team of Mason Fuller and Ikaika Jobe were surprise winners and might be back. They are pictured with Jose Manuel Cueva from the Mayor's staff, Canto Del Sol Tennis Director Martin Parra and pro player and member of the Mayor's staff, Ramon Aguirre. | |
The Canto Del Sol Resort and Tennis Club will again be host to the ITF Futures professional tennis tournament held in Puerto Vallarta for the second consecutive year. The event is the ITF (International Federation of Tennis) Mexico F5 Futures 2009 - Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.
| | Last year's champion Marinko Matosevik and finalist Nima Roshan will not be in the ITF Futures event but the number one seed will be the same; Italian Juigi D'Agord who dropped a tough semifinal match to the eventual winner. | 
| | The trophies from last year were so large and heavy that the champion had to leave his in Puerto Vallarta to avoid the extra freight charge back to Australia. |
The ITF is again, as last year, having a five tournament swing through Mexico. The total purse is $10,000 USD and will draw not only Mexican professionals, but players from the United States, Italy, Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Canada, Guatemala, Switzerland and South Africa are confirmed entrants in the main draw of 32.
A total of 18 players will be direct entries and 8 wild card entries will be given, some to Puerto Vallarta professionals. The tournament will be played on the hard court surface. The top seed is Luigi D'Agord of Italy who made the semifinals in the tournament last year. D'Agord was also last year's top seed but was defeated by the eventual winner, Marinko Matosevic who has moved on to tournaments with bigger purses, based on his Mexican run last year. The second seed is 19 year old Mexican Cesar Ramirez who has shown tremendous promise and is the youngster in the Mexican pro ranks.
Qualifying slots are also available, and 8 players out of a possible 64 will begin play on May 9th in the battle to get into the tournament, which will conclude on May 10th. The qualifying players will include many of our local Puerto Vallarta professionals. If there are 64 players in the two day qualification, it will take three (3) consecutive victories over the grueling two-day span to reach the main draw. There should, however, be closer to 32 qualifying players.
Already confirmed from Mexico in the main draw are Cesar Ramirez, Carlos Palencia, who has won a tournament in Puerto Vallarta and the popular Juan Manuel Elizondo, who is no stranger to Puerto Vallarta tournaments. Elizondo has won two pro tournaments and was a finalist in the previous three other tournaments played here. There are also three other national players, who will play in their first Puerto Vallarta pro tournament.
Also included in the tournament is a doubles component of 16 teams, which means that play will begin early in the morning and conclude late in the evening. As players reach the quarterfinals, the schedule will be less grueling with only the best reaching that point.
The tournament director will be Martin Parra, the director of the Canto Del Sol Tennis Club. For information, call (322) 226-0123 ext. 4187. The public is invited, and there is no charge for spectators. Come out and enjoy the competition! |
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