Day 2
Salt Lake City, UT, WPH Press, 5/3/25
Saturday in Salt Lake featured the best on the R48, WR48, and SR48 battling for the final spots in the 2025 Aces.
R48
Quarterfinals
Martin Mulkerrins overwhelmed Mark Doyle in a rematch of their Pete Tyson Classic final from six days prior in the first quarterfinal of the day, dominating Doyle with his arsenal of fist ceilings and two-wall drives. “I have great memories of this tournament, being it was my first pro stop in 2013,” stated Mulkerrins.
Leo Canales outplayed Jab Bike in their first 4-Wall meeting on the tour, neutralizing Jab’s power and killing a high number of offensive opportunities. “I think I did a good job returning his serve, either hitting it to the ceiling or pushing him into the back court,” Canales would later say.
Lucho Cordova controlled the match against Ivan Burgos in their quarterfinal match, using the left side glass wall to his advantage and keeping Burgos off-balance with kills and power serves. “I felt like Ivan didn’t play that well today and made more hand errors than he normally does,” stated Lucho, who played phenomenal handball in his two-game win.
Sean Lenning was too strong for Jeff Streibig in their quarterfinal, sending Friday’s upset king to the fifth place playoffs. “I didn’t feel like I played badly, Sean was just serving so well and killing really well,” Streibig would later say.
Semifinals
Martin Mulkerrins cooled off Leo Canales in the upper bracket semifinals, benefitting from ten Canales unforced errors in the first game and scoring the final fifteen points of the second game by pushing Canales behind him with passes and killing balls down the walls.
“(With) The low power serve I got a few cracks and Leo was playing really well in the first game,” stated Mulkerrins. “In the second game, he got hot and I reverted to the lob. It’s tricky into the glass side wall. I think I’ve done pretty well on the glass side wall courts. I’m where I wanted to be (into the final). To be able to win (matches) in two games has been most pleasing to me. It’ll be all to play for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a mouthwatering clash.”
Lucho Cordova and Sean Lenning played the only tiebreaker of the day on the Sports Mall show court, with Lenning hitting shots that only he can make in the first game and Cordova withstanding the Lenning attack to work his way into the match in the second game. “After the first game, Luis just kept passing and passing Sean,” SR48 pro Adam Bernhard would later say.
Cordova was relentless in the second and third games, mixing up his serves, driving the ball with power, retrieving, and killing at the right times.
“Me and Sean have played so many battles like this so I just have to keep up the intensity and keep him off-balance and retrieving his shots and hope he misses,” stated Lucho. “I’m happy I was able to see the ball on the court. Tomorrow, I need to serve well and go for my shots.”
Round of 8
Mulkerrins def Doyle 15-2, 15-1
Canales def Bike 15-5, 15-4
Lenning vs. Streibig 15-6, 15-7
Lucho def Burgos 15-6, 15-6
Semifinals
Mulkerrins def Canales 15-10, 15-3
Lucho def Lenning 6-15, 15-3, 15-5
Final (Sunday, 11:15 am MST): Mulkerrins vs. Lucho
WR48
Semifinals
Niamh Heffernan booked her spot in the Player’s Championship final for the second consecutive year with a two-game sweep against top-seeded Clodagh Munroe. Playing with a huge bruise on her right hand, Munroe battled but Niamh had the answers. Heffernan was the steadier player, winning long rallies with well-placed drives and dropping balls into the dark back corners.
“I did not kill the ball as well as I should have and I know I’ll need to play better tomorrow to have a chance to win,” stated Heffernan.
Four-time WR48 finalist Fiona Tully returned to the tour for the first time in three years, shaking off jet lag from a 22-hour Friday trip to make the Player’s Championship final. Tully slowly worked her way into the match against Aoife Holden, eventually separating herself from Holden with her two-handed power and kills.
“Getting used to the glass is very hard,” stated Tully, who arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday from Ireland just an hour before her quarterfinal match. “I didn’t know where the ball was going to start (on the glass). I didn’t feel like I was hitting the ball well at all yesterday. Still a little bit more of an adjustment. The ball always comes off the back wall because the ball is very fast.”
Round of 8
Semifinals
Heffernan def Munroe 15-12, 15-9
Tully def Holden 15-9, 15-6
Final (Sunday, 9:45 am MST): Heffernan vs. Tully
SR48
The SR48 semifinals featured two matches between players who had never faced one another before.
SR48 #1 David Fink faced cross-over star Boxer Rosales in the upper bracket semifinals. Fink and Rosales played a physical match, with a number of rallies extending past ten shots. Fink took game one but fell behind 0-6 in game two. “I know Boxer has not seen a lot of hops, so I started mixing in reverses and naturals and that got me back into the game,” stated Fink. “Boxer is very strong and a great addition to the SR tour.”
Sean Lenning kept his undefeated SR record intact against Adam Bernhard in the bottom bracket semifinals, outplaying Bernhard to make the final. “It was illuminating (playing Sean), just a different level,” stated Bernhard.
“Sean creates so much leverage with his long arms and strong legs, like a golfer who can generate swing speed,” stated tournament host and sponsor Lon Stalsberg. “The shots he hits are just incredible.”
Semifinals
Fink def Rosales 15-7, 15-8
Lenning def Bernhard 15-5, 15-6
Final (9 am, MST): Fink vs. Lenning
Aces Banquet
The Aces Team hosted another outstanding banquet as their headquarters, featuring an incredible dinner and of course, 3-Wall into the early hours of Sunday morning. The Aces Team always makes sure the players are treated with the best hospitality and warmth. The WPH is incredibly fortunate to be welcomed to Salt Lake City each year. Thank you to Matt and Lon Stalsberg, Ashton Steadman, Melissa Stalsberg, Ruben Garza, and all of the Aces volunteers who roll out the red carpet for the pros every spring.
Follow all of the brackets from the 2025 WPH Race 4 Eight Aces Player’s Championship HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer
2025 WPH R48Pro Aces Player’s Championship
Salt Lake City, Utah – May 3 & 4, 2025
ESPN+ Broadcast Schedule & Results
(Mountain Daylight Time)
Saturday, May 3rd, 2025 – Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)
0900 Men’s Pro Quarterfinal – Mulkerrins def Doyle 2, 1
0945 Men’s Pro Quarterfinal – Canales def Bike 5, 4
1030 Men’s Pro Quarterfinal – Cordova def Burgos 6, 6
1115 Men’s Pro Quarterfinal – Lenning def Streibig 6, 7
1200 Men’s 40+ Pro Semi – Fink def Rosales 7, 8
1245 Men’s 40+ Pro Semi – Lenning def Bernhard 5, 6
1330 Women’s Pro Semi – Heffernan def Munroe 12, 9
1415 Women’s Pro Semi – Tully def Holden 9, 6
1500 Men’s Pro Semifinal – Mulkerrins def Canales 9, 3
1600 Men’s Pro Semifinal – L. Cordova def Lenning -6, 3, 5
Sunday, May 4th, 2025 – Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)
0900 Senior 40+ Final – Fink vs Lenning
0945 Women’s Pro Final – Tully vs Heffernan
1030 Men’s Pro 5th or 9th Final – Burgos vs Doyle or Esser vs Ure
1115 Men’s Pro Final – Mulkerrins vs Cordova
Watch LIVE on ESPN+ beginning Saturday morning, May 3rd, 2025. All times Mountain (local). Gather rare player interviews, video clips, backcourt games and some streaming action LIVE via Patreon at: patreon.com/wphlive. WPH active members that CANNOT receive the feed, please contact the WPH Saturday morning before the first match at info@wphlive.tv for details/help. Follow the draws once they are activated (Friday morning) on R2sports: HERE (then click the BRACKETS tab)