2025 R48 & WR48 Montana: Sunday
Day 3
Missoula, MT, WPH Press, 2/2/25-
R48 Final: Lucho def Mulkerrins 15-12, 10-15, 15-9
Lucho and Martin entered the final having each survived two near losses, with Lucho battling back from the brink against Sam Esser and Ray Ure and Martin coming back against John Chapman and Ivan Burgos.
Lucho started well in the first game against a cautious Mulkerrins, building a lead against the blister-stricken number one. Mulkerrins trailed 6-12 an 10-14, but was determined to not allow the game to slip away. Mulkerrins appeared to have won a rally a 12-14 with a pass that was ultimately called a screen. The game ended with a stunning lob serve return error that so deeply angered Martin he spent the three-minute break between games cooling off in the twenty-three-degree Peak Racquet parking lot.
A cooled off and rejuvenated Mulkerrins started quickly in the second, leading 4-0. Despite seeming to be spent, Lucho scored seven of the next nine points to lead 9-6. Mulkerrins would take over from there, finding a power serve to the left and forcing a tiebreaker, his third in four matches. Lucho appeared to be laboring late in the second game, with him later confirming his back was giving him problems. “I don’t know what it is but every time I play hard my back starts to act up,” Lucho would later say.
Both players were running on fumes in the tiebreaker, with neither able to end rallies with the consistency with which they are accustomed. At 7-6, Martin dove towards the left side wall and thought he poked a back-handed left-first kill, but Lucho charged forward, just picking up Martin’s shot and directing a left-handed pass out of Martin’s reach.
Lucho gained the momentum from there and never allowed Martin back into the game, scoring eight of the final eleven points of the match, including a right corner kill to end the match.
“Means a lot because I’ve been playing pretty bad lately,” Lucho told ESPN’s Kara Mack. “I’ve played well since the first match with Dylan (Hernandez) and I feel like my old self. I grinded it out. I still think Killian is my lifetime biggest rival but right now Martin is my biggest rival.”
R48 Playoffs
Ivan Burgos overcame his nemesis Leo Canales to win fifth, using his all-court game and timely kills to defeat the R48 #4. “I am just trying to finish as high as I can in every stop and keep pushing towards the top,” stated Burgos.
Vic Perez rallied from a 12-15 halftime deficit against Jab Bike to win 25-15 in the ninth place final.
Loren Collado defeated Ayden Brule in the 17th place final. “Ayden played well and he had his chances,” Collado would later say.
R48 Red Finishes
1st: Lucho
2nd: Mulkerrins
3rd: Langmack/Ure
5th: Burgos
6th: Canales
7th: Fink/Esser
9th: Perez
10th: Bike
11th: Hernandez/Danos
13th: Ruiz/Streibig/Montijo/Chapman
17th: Collado
WR48 Final: McMahon def Heffernan 15-6, 15-3
Martina McMahon entered the 2025 Red final one day shy of her thirtieth birthday and aiming to become just the second woman to win two or more WR48 titles. Heffernan was appearing in her second WR48 final in her last two starts in search of her first WR48 title.
McMahon appeared nervous in the early goings in the second career matchup between the pair. Once McMahon settled in, there was little Heffernan could do to defend McMahon’s serve and power. McMahon dominated the match from 6-6 in the first game, hitting highlight reel kills and aces, while suffocating Heffernan with pressure.
“I was happy to dig it out today,” stated McMahon, who was serenated with a “Happy Birthday” song for during the trophy presentation with ESPN’s Kara Mack. “It’s my second win on the pro tour and I hope to come back for more. I had to have belief to bend to a certain degree after my injury to be able to hit those serves. I watch the men like Lucho and Ray serve and those serves are savage and I want to do that on the women’s tour. This trophy is treasured along with Tucson trophy (from 2017). I love playing the American tour and I look forward to coming back for more stops.”
WR48 Playoffs: Esser Becomes the WR48 #1 With Her Third Place Win!
Mikaila Esser became just the second WR48 #1 and first U.S. WR48 number one with her third-place win against Clodagh Munroe. “It feels really great,” Mikaila would later say after learning she took over the number one spot, in addition to her number one Wicebreaker ranking. “I’m glad I didn’t know about the number one possibility before my match with Clodagh.”
Aoife Holden defeated Ashley Ruiz for fifth in a back-and-forth battle that saw both ladies take leads throughout the match.
Third Place final: Esser def Munroe 25-9
Fifth place final: Holden def Ruiz 25-22
WR48 Red Finishes
1st: McMahon
2nd: Heffernan
3rd: Esser
4th: Munroe
5th: Holden
“It’s been very exciting and it’s been wonderful to have the pros here and we hope to have you guys back next year,” stated Red tournament director Don Schmidt.
Thank you
Thank you to tournament director Don Schmidt and tournament manager Ashley Ruiz for an outstanding Saturday at the Red. Thank you to the WPH broadcast team of Dave Vincent, Linda Manning, Che Lowenstein, and Kris Gurrad for streaming the weekend’s matches on ESPN+.
Follow all of the brackets from the 2025 Montana Red HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer