The oldest, most prestigious, and most exciting 3.0 event is upon us - the Akron Open! Nearly two decades old, the Akron Open has hosted many a 3.0 great during the years, from DFO Hall of Famers Matt Birkbeck, Travis Haselswerdt, and the legendary Bob Shearer! WHAT A LIST OF NAMES YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF!
Indeed, over the years, players who litter the 3.0 record books (it's not nice to litter, by the way) with record after record after record (unless it's with 3.0 records), have taken part in not just the prime event of the area, but the prime event of all of O-H-I-O! And you know what they say, as goes Ohio, so goes the ... um ... uh-oh....
Anyway, the Akron Open is a series of events, meaning the doubles championships will take place later this month. So for now, it's time to focus on singles! And oy vey what a tournament it is set to be! Over 20 hard-core athletes signed up, but only 16 were allowed to enter. The 16 best 3.0ers in the area!
Or the first 16 to sign up.
Either way, that's four times the number of entries from 2021, so here we go! And as we look towards the bachelors of the 3.0 tennis courts, which of this year's entries may soon count themselves among the Mount Rushmore of 3.0 tennis? Let's find out!
Or check out these previous posts to really dive into all there is to know about the Akron Open ... and it's 3.0 history!
Singles
Eric Bissell (2.84 TennisRecord.Com Rating; ITF World Tennis Number 25.5) NOTE: TR ratings, the higher the better; ITF ratings, the lower the better ... thanks to Sensei Ben for this info!)
Singles Record - 1-1
Overall Record - 18-14
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - Predominantly a doubles player, Eric brings a winning record to the courts, and as most his play has been for the historic LaTuchie club, winning is all he knows!
Fun Fact - Eric teaches tennis as well. Will he teach his opponents a thing or two?!
Nathan Chavez (2.88, 25.3)
Singles Record - 7-3
Overall Record - 7-3
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - A singles player for the resurgent Bay Village teams, Nathan's accuracy and consistency will make him a hard out when it comes to tournament time!
Fun Fact - This is Nathan's first ever tournament event. How fun!
Nicholas Fasola (3.04, 23.8)
Singles Record - 19-8
Overall Record - 32-20
Tournament Highlights - Fourth event! 2021 Wooster Aspen Champion! Notes - One of the hardest hitting players in the event, he's also the sole singles title holder in the event, as he proudly hoisted the WAC title last fall! Adding to his accolades is that he's the #1 rated player in Northeast Ohio (really, check it out!), meaning that Nicholas looks to be the odds on fav to make a super deep, and super successful, tournament run! Fun Fact - He's played Benjamin about 30 times! Or three.
Kane Feltner (2.71, N/A)
Singles Record - 0-0
Overall Record - 1-2
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - Kane may be a newbie, but he brings some solid doubles experience that will no doubt help in his first ever tournament!
Fun Fact - Kane has never played singles ... will he remember he must cover the entire court himself?!
Matthew Johnston (2.91, 25.3)
Singles Record - 4-1
Overall Record - 46-20
Tournament Highlights - First (singles) event!
Notes - One of the most successful doubles players in 2021, finishing as Vice-Champion in the NTRP Doubles Championships and then hoisting the Akron Open Doubles title just a week later, Matthew is looking to take his fantastic doubles acumen to the singles courts!
Fun Fact - He's played FOR Benjamin on Team NCRC ... how's that for a moral dilemma if these two face?!
Singles Record - 2-2
Overall Record - 5-4
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - A first year player, Stephen has focused his early league career upon the courts o' doubles, meaning he most likely will bring a stellar net-game to his first ever tournament!
Fun Fact - Has only played doubles, but 7.5 doubles, with is ALMOST twice as hard as 3.0 doubles!
Mark Miller (2.75, 28.6)
Singles Record - 1-4
Overall Record - 1-8
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - While this may be Mark's first ever 3.0 event, it's not his first ever tournament event, as he played in the nigh-professional 3.5 division in the 2021 Akron Open! Fun Fact - Will the 3.5 experience give Mark the experience necessary to make this tournament a great, ahem, experience?!
Mark Robeson (2.49, 26.6)
Singles Record - 3-4
Overall Record - 7-15
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - Mark brings a mix of singles and doubles acumen to the Towpath courts with almost half his career wins coming solo!
Fun Fact - He's on a two match singles winning streak AND plays his home matches at Towpath. Can anyone say HOME COURT ADVANTAGE?!
Kyle Schneider (N/A, N/A)
Singles Record - 1-2
Overall Record - 1-2
Tournament Highlights - Second event!
Notes - Has played tournament singles - and only tournament singles! - during his entire career, meaning he knows the rules of tournament singles. WHICH IS A BIG DEAL!
Fun Fact - Chalked up his first career 3.0 win at last week's MIO Championships!
Shengyong Wang (3.2, 25.9)
Singles Record - 3-3
Overall Record - 6-5
Tournament Highlights - First event!
Notes - Shengyong may lack experience, but he enjoys the best Tennis Record rating, wins over fellow participant Nicholas, and his only singles losses are at 3.5. WHOA!
Fun Fact - Part of the LaTuchie Winning Machine (patent pending), is Shengyong Scott Hovey 2.0?!
Benjamin Young (2.99, 25.4)
Singles Record - 20-57
Overall Record - 71-105
Tournament Highlights - 173rd (give or take) event! Finished as Vice-Champion three times in 2021, including at Akron Open, Green, and WAC!
Notes - THE no-holds-barred most experienced tournament player in the field, he's also played against many of his potential competitors as well. Not only that, but the 2022 version of Benjamin is a sleeker, slimmer, and angrier version of the earlier versions, so look for his cross court shots to take him deep into the event when all is said and done! Fun Fact - Benjamin never gets angry (we just needed a third adjective to describe one of the most chill guys around)!
Newbies (and thus no info ... expect one of them to win it all!)
Donte Festa, Sobirjon Ismailov, Adam Remy, Kyle Smith, Alexander Smith
Predictions
Oy vey! This is one of the biggest fields in Akron Open history with 20+ entries! With an entry list this big, there's no telling who will walk away with the title ... or is there?!
Based on Tennis Record ratings, Shenyong is the favorite, but based on ITF, which we here at DFO have no idea what it means, Nicholas is the favorite! But based on who has won previously on the immaculate Towpath courts, Matthew looks to be the favorite! But based on experience, Benjamin looks to be the favorite!
Wow!
But based on the brackets (which can be found here), it looks like the key matches will take place early, as Nicholas takes on Matthew in Round One while AT THE EXACT SAME TIME Benjamin takes on Shengyong in Round One! The winners of these matches could be well on their way to the most illustrious of all 3.0 trophies - THE AKRON OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS!
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