John Hughes and Marc Powers Win the Battle for the Best at Boston

January 25-26, 2019
Weston, MA

2019 Boston Men's Open Final Results (pdf)

There was no clear favorite coming into the 2019 Boston Open, the fourth Grand Prix of the 2018-2019 season. After dominating the Grand Prix circuit last season and taking home the APTA National Championships as well, John Hughes and Marc Powers had cooled off, falling in the quarterfinals of Chicago Charities and the semis at The Midwesterns. Could they reassert themselves and uphold their top seeding, or would one of the other top teams prevail?

Seven of the top eight seeds gained quarterfinal berths, with only the fifth seeds, Rob Bakker and Tyler Fraser, falling to local favorites Johan du Randt and Stephen Mitchell. That set up the quarterfinal showdown that the local fans were hoping to see, pitting du Randt against the partner he won two APTA National Championships with, Mark Parsons. Parsons, seeded third with Juan Arraya, took a close 6-4 first set from du Randt/Mitchell as the crowd enjoyed the incredible shotmaking from both teams. Du Randt/Mitchell came close to taking the match to a third set, but couldn’t convert on four set points, enabling Arraya/Parsons to close out the match, 6-4, 7-5.

At the top of the draw, Drew Broderick and Jared Palmer looked unbeatable as they dismissed Marco Grangeiro and George Wilkinson, 6-1, 6-1, while Hughes/Powers posted a comfortable, 6-2, 6-4 win over Sven Burus and Roman Stoisavljevic at the bottom of the draw. The most competitive quarterfinal contest featured Blake Anderson and Martin Bostrom (8) against Scott Kahler and Graham McNerney (4). Kahler and McNerney have both had outstanding seasons, beginning with a win together at the Patterson Open. Both won Grand Prix titles with different partners: McNerney at Philadelphia with Marek Czerwinski, and Kahler with Brian Compton at The Midwesterns. Kahler/McNerney took the first set, 6-3, but Anderson/Bostrom held on to win a very long 7-6 second set and closed out the third, 6-4.

In the semifinals, Broderick/Palmer continued to dominate, easily handling Arraya/Parsons, 6-2, 6-1. Hughes/Powers faced a much tougher hurdle, needing three sets to defeat Anderson/Bostrom. After losing only nine games in four matches, Broderick/Palmer had an air of invincibility about them going into the finals. The current National Champions, however, showed why they were so dominant last year, finding their very high level of play when they needed it. By using the hard overheads hit by Broderick/Palmer to create offense for themselves and using their style of patient, controlled aggression, Hughes/Powers were able to win the match in straight sets. As the final Grand Prix of the season, the Short Hills Invitational approaches, Hughes/Powers are once again the favorites with many worthy challengers looking to dethrone them.

Thank you to tournament director Drew Sawyer and Weston Golf Club Head Racquets Professional Genius Chidzikwe for running an amazing event for players and fans. There were many spectators all weekend, culminating in the hundreds of fans who enjoyed the Saturday night BBQ.

Results:
Main Draw: John Hughes/Marc Powers def. Drew Broderick/Jared Palmer, 6-2, 6-4
Quarterfinal Reprieve: Sven Burus/Roman Stoisavljevic def. Marco Grangeiro/George Wilkinson, 6-4, 6-4
Reprieve: Adam Gart/Thomas Nolan def. Rob Bakker/Tyler Fraser, 2-6, 7-5, (13-11)
Round of 32 Consolation: Lucas Green/Victor Vidal def. Andrea Bonfigli/Anton Protsenko, 7-6, 5-7, (10-7)
Round of 32 Consolation Reprieve: John Hauck/Steve Hauck def. John Cassas/Zack Rosenfeld
Consolation: Sky Kalkman/Ilya Levin def. Chris Humphreys/Ricky Sanford
Consolation Reprieve: Walker Chafee/Pablo Gottret def. Nate Burnes/Jake Garmey, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4