The second event of the 3.0 tour - TOUR! - is in the books as the best of the 3.0 best participated in the 2nd Annual Midwest Independence Open (MIO for those in the know ... which now includes YOU!). These warriors of low-level tennis descended upon Ravenna, er, NDCL, er, CVAC's pristine courts o' tennis for an event that took place over the course of three days while taking place on over three different court locations!
So after you've read our previews, read below to find out who played, where they played, and ... well ... that's it actually. That's all we got! Or you could ruin the story and find out the actual results here.
But why would you do that when you can read all the info below?!
Format
With six whole participants, there would be two round-robin groups of three with the group winners facing off for all the marbles ... which in this case was a shiny, plastic, SPINNY (!) trophy!
Group 1 - Mark, Tim, Travis
Group 2 - Brandon, Jay, Jeeho
Group Stage
Day One - NDCL
Travis over Tim, 6-0, 6-0
Brandon over Jeeho, 6-1, 4-6, (10-5)
On day one, the event started in the Valley of NDCL on a hot and muggy day, immediately testing the endurance and the limits of the 3.0 crew scheduled to open the 2023 event. Getting on the courts late due to some incredible displays of tennis from the ladies of 3.0 tennis, #1 seed Travis and #2 seed Brandon faced two different 3.0 tests. Travis faced Tim, a young buck of 3.0 tennis who had 3.5 experience while Brandon faced the crafty Jeeho ... who also happened to be his Mayfield Village Racquet Club teammate! OH THE CIVIL WAR DRAMA! On Court 1, Travis was able to use his 25+ tournament experience advantage to his, um, advantage, as well as the fact that poor Tim had never played a USTA event outside. Indeed, Travis, hailing from the pristine* courts of Bay Village was used to playing under harsh conditions (which often matched his tennis ability, i.e., "harsh) and was able to continually hit the ball towards the blazing sun to blind Tim in order get his opening victory on the blood, sweat, and tears splattered court (and vomit from a previous match, as it turned out). Meanwhile, on Court 2, Brandon ran out to a fast start with his well-known power game, serving hard while at the same time sending blistering forehands across the already blistering hot court. His crafty teammate/foe Jeeho, though, knew the ins-and-outs of his opponent/friend, and while he was able to work his way back into the match in the second to even the match up at a set apiece, it was the tournament-savvy Brandon who was able to stay cool, calm, and collected in the nail-biting THIRD SET SUPER TIE-BREAK to vanquish a spirited Jeeho and open up his tourney run on a winning note!
Day Two - CVAC
Travis over Mark, 6-3, 6-2
Jay over Brandon, 6-0, 6-2
Speaking of difficult conditions, due to pending rain storms, the event was moved from NDCL to CVAC for day two, making this, technically, the third venue for this event! Because this tournament is just THAT big of a deal! Three locations ... in a 3.0 event ... which had to be a 3.0 first!
For some, this proved to be a difficult transition, especially for Travis, who as mentioned previously hails from the "pristine" Bay Village R.D. outdoor courts and is used to enjoying the advantage of having the sun, wind, and any and all the elements helping his hapless tennis game. Meanwhile, his opponent, Paramount Westlake's Mark, was more than prepared for the change in conditions as he plays indoors. Advantage Mark! And indeed, Mark, used to the conditions and supported by his raucously (polite) cheering section, matched Travis tit-for-tennis-tat the first six games as both traded serve. Thankfully for Travis, though, CVAC forgot to turn on their A/C, and thanks to the sweltering heat - and Travis' well-known slice and dice game - the #1 seed was able to outlast the spry Mark in a hard-fought, sweaty, day two victory, ensuring he'd advance to his first final since 2021!
Brandon, meanwhile, faced off against Jay, who was hailing (at least according to the USTA website) all the way from Korea. Brandon, the favorite, had two things working against him - one, he was no doubt tired from his lengthy day one match versus Jeeho; and two, he was playing the tournament unknown (and in 3.0 tennis the "unknown" player is usually the most dangerous player!). Speaking of Jeeho, he and Jay were co-workers, meaning that he and Jay had no doubt sat down and analyzed every part of Brandon's game (we say "no doubt" because we have "no doubt" this probably didn't take place). Thus, Jay knew exactly what to expect from the #2 seed, and as such approached this match like a seasoned veteran rather than a rookie playing only his second career match. Acting as a human wall, Jay retrieved and absorbed Brandon's well-known power, getting back each and every single ball. Thus, the 3.0 dark horse was able to elongate the points, forcing Brandon into errors, and jumped out to an early first set lead. Brandon, though, the consummate 3.0 pro that he is, adjusted his game, and at the beginning of the second set held even to get back in the match. Jay's all-court ability, though, was able to counter, and despite a valiant second set comeback from Mayfield's favorite son (which could be Brandon and Jeeho for all we know), the underdog from across the Pacific was able to hold on, giving the underdog a shot at his first ever 3.0 final!
Day Three - CVAC
Tim over Mark, 6-4, 6-4
Jay over Jeeho, 6-2, 6-2
While Group 1 had been decided Group 2 was still up for grabs as the MIO entered day three of it's grueling marathon-like tennis grind! In the former, it was a battle for 3rd place on the line as Tim's power game took on Mark's power game. Not surprisingly it was a back-and-forth nail-biter until Tim was able to earn not only his first tournament victory ever, but his first ever victory-victory. Ever! Congratulations Tim!
In Group 2, while Jeeho's record was 0-1,if he could win his match by six games over Jay he'd enter the finals via virtue of tie-breakers, so everything was still on the 3.0 line! Jay, though, not only knew this (we think), but also knew his opponent (we know), and knew he had to take a page out of Brandon's 3.0 power playbook to counter Jeeho's craftiness ... with sheer raw 3.0 power! Indeed, thanks to his versatile game, in which Jay could transition from slice to smash or deftness to power, the 3.0 newbie came out on tennis fire, and despite Jeeho's efforts to play power versus power, it was the rookie who won not only won the day, but also the respect of his mentor and a trip to the his first ever finale!
Playoff & Championship Rounds
5th Place
Jeeho over Mark 6-1, 6-1
Jeeho, in his first tournament final ever, took on Mark, the only player to have played in both this and last year's MIO, for 5th place honors. Jeeho, having played the power that is Brandon as well as the all-court game that is Jay, was perfectly prepared for whatever Mark threw his way, and while Mark threw all he could muster toward Jeeho, it was the tournament rookie who prevailed, ending his inaugural MIO with a well-earned victory! Mark, though, could take solace in the fact that he improved upon his finish from last year, taking 6th this time around, showing that he'll soon be advancing his way up the 3.0 tournament brackets in no time!
3rd Place
Brandon over Tim, WD [inj]
Brandon's Hulk-like tennis prowess often makes his opposition withdraw ... in tennis terror!
Tim, having spent so much energy earlier in the day in his win over Mark, simply spent too much energy earlier in the day in his win over Mark, and thus was on fumes heading into his 3rd place match versus the Hulk-like power that is Brandon, and was unable to continue his tournament run. As such, Brandon, the behemoth of tennis prowess, enjoyed one of his best tournament finishes ever, taking 3rd overall and seeing his career 3.0 winning mark climb north of 30+!
Championship
Travis over Jay, 6-2, 6-3
The championship would see a contrast of styles that made this final a made-for-3.0-tv affair! The slice-and-dice of Travis versus the all-court variability of Jay ... the obnoxious outfit of Travis versus the understated sartorial status of Jay ... the veteran experience of Travis with well-over 175 matches to his 3.0 name versus the rookie newbie Jay with but two. Who wouldn't want to watch this?!
Having seen Jay play and win against the power of Brandon and then play and win against craftiness of Jeeho, Travis was faced with a dilemma - play actual tennis or slice-and-dice the newbie as much as possible to try to bore Jay to tennis death? What to ... well, it turns out it was a strategy that took Travis about 11 seconds to decide upon. Jay, meanwhile, was no doubt nervous heading into his first ever championship final but knew he had a game that could handle any type of style.
But was Jay prepared for ... no style? For indeed, that's exactly what Travis offered - nothing! No pace, no spin, no actual tennis! Thus the championship was a death-match of slicing, dicing, pushing, and blocking as the veteran favored placement over power, finesse over pop, and whatever he was doing to actual human tennis. Giving Jay nothing to hit, Jay struggled to get into the match until late in the first set, perhaps believing his opponent was still ... warming up. Down 4-1, Jay did eventually figure out what Travis was doing (or not doing), but despite a long series of deuce games that followed, momentum, and the first set, went the veteran's way.
However, from that point on, Jay knew what to expect, and thus changed his game to attempt to match that of an opponent twice his age, if not in human years, at least in tennis years. But knowing you have to play bad tennis to win and actually playing bad tennis are, well, two different things, and Jay was simply too good to play that bad. Add to that that every time Jay looked across the court he had to stare into the pink abyss that was Travis' obnoxiously bright pink shoes, and well, it was an uphill battle for the 3.0 newbie. In the end, even though the two went back and forth, it was the veteran pink "moxy" of Travis that crossed the 3.0 tennis finish line first.
Yay moxy!
And with that, the 2nd Annual MIO was complete! And what a 2nd Annual MIO it turned out to be! Three locations! A new champion! Tim, Jeeho, and Jay all earning their first career 3.0 tournament victories! Brandon and Mark enjoying best ever event finishes! And a trophy that SPINS!
Congratulations to all the participants on a fantastic weekend of fantastic low-level tennis and good luck the rest of the season!
A Shout-Out to Former 3.0ers
A special shout-out to some former 3.0ers who have gone pro and are now playing at the 3.5 level! 2022 D.F.O. Player of the Year Nicholas Fasola made the Consolation Semis in the nearly professional 3.5 division while 2019 D.F.O. Player of the Year Joshua Grischow won his opening 3.5 match as the #2 seed! Meanwhile, 2022 Green Open Vice-Champion Shengyong Wang played in both the 3.5 and 4.0 events! In doubles, 2020 Akron Open Doubles Champion Debabrata Ghosh took runner-up in the 3.5 doubles event while current 3.0er Brandon did double-duty this event, taking 3rd in both 3.0 singles and in 3.5 doubles. WHAT A MARATHON MAN! Congratulations all!
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