Juan Arraya and John Hughes Sail to Victory at the Sound Shore Invitational.

November 18-19, 2017
Rye, NY
By Vickie Bergman

The top seeded Juan Arraya and John Hughes reigned over the competition with a dominant performance throughout the Sound Shore Invitational, only losing a total of thirteen games in five matches. It has been an especially impressive season for Arraya, who has now won five tournaments with five different partners this fall.

Seven of the eight top seeds made it to the quarterfinals, with the only upset before that round coming from Blake Anderson and Mike Stulac who bested Rifat Biktyakov and Roman Stoisavljevic (7) in a three-setter, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6. Anderson and Stulac then went on to play the closest match of the day in their quarterfinal against Anton Bobytskyi and Bernard Schoeman (4). Bobytskyi and Schoeman were victorious by the very slim margin of 7-6, 6-7, 7-6.

It was clear and cold for the first few rounds, but the rain started just in time for the quarterfinals. The players fought through the unfavorable conditions, with the  top four seeded teams earning the right to play the semifinals in the steady rain. Arraya and Hughes beat Bobytskyi and Schoeman (4), 6-2, 6-3, in the top half of the draw. In the bottom half, had Marco Grangeiro and Nathan LeFevre (3), come out ahead of Steve DeRose and Jon Lubow (2), 6-3, 7-5.

Everyone was happy to call it a night after the semis, and the finals were played in windy but dry conditions. Grangeiro/LeFevre had a great run to the finals, but Arraya and Hughes were too tough, winning the match 6-0, 6-2.

Thank you to all of the players for making it a great day of paddle, and to Manursing Island Club for a beautiful setting and delicious food.

Results:
Main Draw: Juan Arraya/John Hughes def. Marco Grangeiro/Nathan LeFevre, 6-0, 6-2
Quarterfinal Reprieve: Andrea Bonfigli/Javier Ferrin-Kranewitter def. Sebastian Bredberg/Louis Volclair
Reprieve: Rifat Biktyakov/Roman Stoisavljevic def. Dan Englander/Matt Garavaglia, 6-4, 6-4
32 Consolation: Michael Atkinson/James Glen def. Andrew Chan/Miguel Cobbs, 6-4, 6-0
32 Consolation Reprieve: Mike McCann/Ricky Sanford def. Chris Cetateanu/Andrew Finn
Consolation: Whit Harwood/Will Oberrender def. Jason Quintana/Krishin Shivdasani, 6-4, 0-6, 14-12
Consolation Reprieve: Troy Pinto/Chris Shay def. Connor Breen/Nick van Amerom, 6-3, 7-5