2016 Patterson Men’s Preview

October 3, 2016
Fairfield, CT

The Patterson Club Open has come very far, very fast. Growing from its early years (2008-2010) as a B tournament into its middle age as an NRT/PCQ (2011-2014), Patterson emerged last year as a Grand Prix tournament, attracting many of the top players to the season’s opening premier event. This year, the Patterson Open Grand Prix NRT/Viking PCQ has a stronger field than ever, with many new and established teams looking to make their mark at the start of the season.

Although they have each played this tournament in past years with other partners, this is the first time that #2 ranked Johan Durandt and Mark Parsons are playing it together. They, along with 2015 Patterson Champions Steve DeRose /Jon Lubow, last year’s semifinalists John Hughes/Marc Powers, and top ten ranked teams Martin Bostrom/Sebastian Bredberg, Scott Kahler /Casey Watts, and Anton Mavrin/Patricio Misitrano, are all proven entities.

In addition to the well established teams, there are some interesting new pairings hoping to shake things up in the Patterson draw. The #3 and #4 ranked teams have reconfigured, with #3 George Wilkinson and #4 ranked Max LePivert joining forces. George’s longtime partner Marco Grangeiro is teaming up with Nathan LeFevre, and Max’s former partner Juan Arraya will play with Javier Ferrin-Kranewitter. Another untested entity is the team of Eric Butorac and Trevor Spracklin. Butorac, fresh off a solid career on the ATP tour with numerous doubles titles on his resume, will try to learn quickly how to translate his lefty tennis serve and doubles acumen to paddle.

As befits the first APTA Grand Prix tour event of the season, The Patterson Club Open boasts its strongest men’s field in its history. With only top ranked Drew Broderick/Jared Palmer and eighth ranked Marek Czerwinski/Chris Gambino missing from the top ten, Patterson will give us a good indication of what to expect in the men’s game this season.