Day 1
Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 8/19/23
The fourth summer of the WPH Icebreaker continued with the second Ice Bowl at Tucson’s Clark Park, featuring men’s pro small ball singles, men’s pro big ball singles and doubles, junior singles, and A singles in the twenty-third Icebreaker since the inaugural Icebreaker in the summer of 2020.
Junior Singles
Thirteen youngsters entered the Ice Bowl’s 12-and-under two-bounce singles bracket, making this junior bracket one of the most exciting in recent memory. Many of the youngsters were competing in their first or second tournament, all soaking in the great atmosphere under the lights at Clark Park.
The Fred Lewis Foundation’s Lindsey brothers advanced to the final to face one another, as Johnny upset top-seeded Luis Cordova III en route to the final and Kelvin defeated Azriel Gomez to advance to the final.
Kelvin and Johnny played spectacularly under the lights in the final, with both hitting with power and returning shots from well behind the back line. The older Kelvin was slightly stronger than his younger brother, winning the title in two games.
Thank you to Abraham Montijo and the Fred Lewis Foundation, all of the parents and JR WPH for an outstanding tournament.
Pro Small Ball Singles
Lucho Cordova (MEX) was aiming to return to his winning ways at Clark Park after his four-tournament win streak was snapped at July’s Clarkbreaker, while David Fink (AZ) was aiming to continue his winning streak at Clark Park. Lucho and Fink would have to contend with a very strong nineteen-player field that included five-time Icebreaker finalist Braulio Ruiz (AZ), one-time Icebreaker champion Abraham Montijo (AZ), former Icebreaker finalists Danos Cordova (MEX), Sam Esser (AZ), Max Langmack (KS), third-ranked R48 pro Leo Canales, Jr. (AZ), current Icebreaker MVP Jab Bike (CA), and current Icebreaker Sixth-Man John Chapman (CO).
Lucho advanced to the semifinals in the upper bracket with a two-game sweep against Jab Bike, while Danos was dominant in overcoming July’s Clarkbreaker semifinalist Leo Canales, Jr. in two games. Danos grabbed a 7-0 lead to start the semifinals, only to see his lead disappear with a ten-point run from Lucho. Danos regained control with his hop serve, taking game one. The second game was close throughout, with the brothers ultimately tied at 19. Danos was able to overcome his brother, advancing to his first Icebreaker final this season.
2023 Clarkbreaker champion David Fink advanced to the semifinal with a two-game sweep against Ivan Burgos, while Shorty Ruiz cruised past Sam Esser to set up a rematch of the Clarkbreaker final. Ruiz served twelve aces in both games with a power hop serve to the right and pounced on weak returns with power ceilings and kills to dominate the match and advance to the final.
Quarterfinals
Lucho def Bike 21-13, 21-5
Danos def Canales 21-10, 21-6
Ruiz def Esser 21-9, 21-8
Fink def Burgos 21-14, 21-13
Semifinals
Danos def Lucho 21-13, 21-19
Ruiz def Fink 21-9, 21-14
Final (Sunday, 9 am MST): Danos vs. Ruiz
Ice Bowl Small Ball Singles Playoff
5th place playoff
Collegiate and pro rivals Sam Esser and Leo Canales, Jr. met in the fifth place final, with Canales overcoming Jab Bike and Esser defeating Ivan Burgos. Esser was in control throughout the final, building an 11-5 lead and maintaining his advantage throughout with controlled serves and kills.
Final: Esser def Canales 25-14
9th Place Final
Danny Perez (AZ) clinched ninth for the second consecutive Icebreaker stop, opening the bagel factory against David Schiller in the opening round and defeating Loren Collado to advance to the final. NorCal’s Rene Lopez made a splash in his first Icebreaker start, advancing to the ninth place final with impressive wins against John Chapman (CO) and Max Langmack (KS). Perez was too strong in the final, overpowering Lopez with his serve and drive game.
Final: Perez def Lopez 21-14
Pro Big Ball Singles
Ivan “Miley” Chapa (CA) entered the Ice Bowl as the top seed on the heels of his impressive win at last week’s CA Bowl (HERE) in San Gabriel, CA, defeating a strong 28-player field. Anthony “Chopper” Hernandez (CA) nearly won the CA Bowl, losing in a tiebreaker to Chapa in the CA Bowl final and would be on the short list of Ice Bowl Big Ball singles contenders that also included Boxer Rosales (ID), Samzon Hernandez (CA), Brian Medina (CA), Alberto Pizano (AZ) and several others.
Pizano entered the Pro Big Ball singles as the fifth seed but stormed to the final with two-game wins against big ball legend Samzon Hernandez and top-seeded Chapa. Pizano outplayed the Southern California stars with deep returns of serves, stiff-arm left passes and corner kills.
Chopper Hernandez advanced to his second singles final in seven days, winning tiebreaker against David Schiller (MN), Noe Arenas (TX), and a dominant two-game win against Boxer Rosales (ID) to advance to the final.
Quarterfinals
Chapa def Rocha 12-7, 12-11
Pizano def Samzon 12-9, 12-5
Rosales def Medina 12-6, 12-10
Chopper def Arenas 12-8, 8-12, 12-4
Semifinals
Pizano def Chapa 12-9, 12-5
Chopper def Rosales 12-8, 12-5
Final (Sunday, 10 am MST): Pizano vs. Chopper
Pro Big Ball Doubles
Singles finalists Chopper Hernandez and Alberto Pizano advanced to the final in the upper bracket, dominating the top-seeded team of Rocha and Chapa. Boxer Rosales and Brian Medina powered and finessed their way past Shorty Ruiz and Samzon Hernandez to meet Team Pizano/Chopper in Sunday’s final.
Semifinals
Team Pizano/Chopper def Team Rocha/Chapa 12-5, 12-3
Team Boxer/Medina def Team Ruiz/Hernandez 12-4, 12-8
Final (Sunday, 11 am MST): Team Pizano/Chopper vs. Team Boxer/Medina
A Singles
The eight-player A singles produced the longest and most exciting matches of the tournament, with four tiebreakers in seven matches.
National champion and top-seeded Ayden Brule (AZ) defeated Xuyen Doan (KS) and Sam Sottosanti III (MT) in two games to advance to the final. In the bottom bracket, Jose Maldonado defeated Moises Gardea (MEX) in three games in the quarterfinals and Jesse Aranda (AZ) in two games to meet his FLF teammate Brule in the final.
Both Brule and Maldonado clocked nearly three hours on court to advance to the final and would add another two hours with the grueling final. With many of the rallies extending into double digits, Brule arrived at match point in game two. Maldonado fought off the match point to force a third but did not have the energy to hold off the national champion, as Brule added another title to his trophy case.
Semifinals
Brule def Sottosanti III 21-8, 21-6
Maldonado def Aranda 21-8, 21-12
Final: Brule def J. Maldonado 21-17, 20-21, 11-2
Follow all of the brackets from the 2023 WPH Icebreaker HERE
2020-2023 Icebreaker Fun Facts HERE
2020-2023 Icebreaker List of Champions and Finalists HERE
Current Icebreaker rankings HERE
Icebreaker pro player bios HERE
WPH Coaching Centers HERE
WPH Workout Central HERE
2023/24 Race 4 Eight schedule HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer