2025 Boston Open Marked with Upsets and Comebacks
Mar 9, 2025
The LPRT put on a show at the Wayside Athletic Club and the Boston Fans did not disappoint. #1 Paola Longoria (MEX) demonstrated her world-class mental fortitude by fighting back from a 5-10 deficit in the final’s tiebreaker against #3 Montse Mejia (MEX) to win the Boston title. This was Longoria’s 122nd tour win. If you have not witnessed this legendary player play, you are missing out on a chance to witness one of the great sport legends of our time. Go back and watch the archived, live streamed final match of the Boston Open 2025 Boston Open - Singles - Final - Mejia vs Longoria. You will learn something.
Congratulations to Montse Mejia and Alexandra Herrera (MEX) on winning the doubles title. They defeated Marjia Jose Vargas (ARG) and Valeria Centellas (ARG) in 2 games.
Thank you to Tournament Director Stewart Solomon for hosting the LPRT again this year, and to Gillian Cobb for running a smooth event. The LPRT would like to thank Boston Open sponsors Solomon Racquet and Sports, Frontline Family Foundation, String Theory, Alltown Fresh, CliffSwain.com, Functional Fitness Personal Training LLC, Messina Technology Solutions, Joe Casy, David Reilly, Al Padilla, Brent Salgat, Matthew Smith, Corey Litchfield, Leo, Bill Penny, Rich Barret, and Jim Sokaitis.
Thank you to Todd Boss of ProRacquetballStats.com for the full event recap:
LPRT 2025 Boston
Congrats to your Pro winners on the weekend:
- Singles: Paola Longoria
- Doubles: Montse Mejia and Alexandra Herrrera
Longoria pulls a rabbit out of her hat to win the singles final, and in doing so wins her 115th career Tier1 title (122nd tour event). Mejia and Herrera take advantage of a Longoria-less doubles draw to cruise to another title.
------------------
Let's review the notable matches in the Singles draw:
In the 32s:
- Bolivian Junior national champion Camila Rivero provided the biggest upset of the first round, topping #9 Carla Muñoz (CHI) in three close games. Rivero has dominated World Juniors the last two years, winning both 18U and 21U in 2023 and then following it up with another win in Guatemala last December. She's also now representing the country in adult competition, though she either missed or didn't place in the Feb 2025 qualifier in Auroro.
- Hollie Scott (USA) cruised past Lexi York (USA) in an upset by seed
- Annie Sanchez (USA) got the best win of her career with a toppling of long-time tour veteran Jessica Parrilla (MEX) in three.
- Canadian #2 Juliette Parent pressed Cristina Amaya (CHI) to three games but fell.
- Lastly, another great win for Sheryl Lotts (USA), downing Valeria Centellas (ARG) 11,11.
In the 16s:
- Longoria had to face the tricky Angelica Barrios (BOL) to move on and was stretched 13,11. Not the round of 16 she wanted, but she got the job done.
- Rivero couldn't follow up her big win and got crushed by Natalia Mendez 4,7
- Sanchez continued playing well and pushed #6 Lawrence (USA) to 14,12 before falling. Is Annie taking a step forward professionally?
- Lotts took a game off of #2 Maria Jose Vargas (ARG) before falling, testament to how well she's been playing lately.
Lots of great results out of unexpected places this event. Great to see the mid-teen players who have been putting in the work get results.
In the Quarters:
- Longoria cruised past Mendez 1,10
- Alexandra Herrera (MEX) got a great win over Gaby Martinez (GUA) 11-6 in the breaker to give her some solid confidence heading into the rest of the season. After getting wins a few seasons ago she's been passed by Vargas in terms of player interest, but she's still out there.
- Mejia cruised past Lawrence 5,4
- Vargas held firm against Brenda Laime (BOL), winning two close ones 14,13.
In the semis:
- Longoria blitzed Herrera 9,0 to make a statement.
- Mejia wasn't terribly troubled by Vargas, winning 8,9
In the final, we got a rematch of the last event in Arizona, which was a close Longoria win. Mejia had other ideas this weekend, fighting back after a first game 15-12 loss to win 15-8 and took firm control of the tiebreaker. She was up 10-5, missed a sitter, then.... the mental game kicked in. Longoria got the serve back, ground out points after points ... suddenly it was an 11-10 win. A complete collapse from Mejia here to give Longoria the title.
----------------
Doubles review:
Eventual winners Mejia & Herrera had their toughest match in their opener, playing Team Guatemala and winning 14,13. From there, smooth sailing, including a 12,5 win in the final over team Argentina.
----------------
Open Singles, other notable draws:
- Naomi Ros (USA) defeated Annie Sanchez (USA) in an all-USA Jr national team final.
- The Kelley brothers ended up playing for the Men's Open final; JKelley d SKelley.
- Sam Kelley made it a double with a win in Open Doubles with Flores
- Jolene_Sullivan_/_Tony_Prater took the Mixed Open title