In his first selection event semi final, young star Coby Iwasaa was looking to pull off what would be the biggest upset of his career. In the first game it looked like he would have an opportunity as he matched the current national champion point for point right up to 13-13. A great drive serve and skipped serve return from Coby gave Green the first game though and he never looked back. Turning up the heat on his serve in the second and taking it easily 15-2.
In the second semi final, Pedro Castro was looking for his second upset of the tournament against Tim Landeryou after taking out #3 seed Nathaniel Husulak in the quarter finals earlier in the day. The first started fairly evenly, with players trading points up until 4-4. Landeryou would open a lead to 7-4, finding effectiveness in a tight lob serve down the right side wall. Using this serve would allow him to build his lead to 10-5. Castro didn't seem to have an answer for this serve and Landeryou would take the first game 15-7. In the second, the right side lob wasn't working as well, mainly because Landeryou seemed to be having trouble keeping it as tight to the wall as he did in the first. Castro was also being more aggressive on the serve return which paid off as he was trading points and getting back into the service box more frequently. Mixing the serve up scored a few points for Tim, and several long rallies through the midpoint of the game seemed to tire Pedro, and Landeryou would take advantage of some errors as a result. This allowed him to open up another lead, which he would hold for most of the game. At 13-7, Landeryou seemed poised to finish the match but Pedro dug deep and made some excellent shots to get the serve back. Several changes of serve ensued before Castro was able to score a few points and close to within 3 points. This would be as close as he would come though, as Landeryou would regain his former composure and close out the game 15-10 to take the match in 2 games.
This sets up the final between top seeds Mike Green and Tim Landeryou. The last time these 2 faced off was at the 2012 National Championships on these very courts! Green came out victorious in 2 straight games 15-8, 15-2 so the advantage is definitely with him going into this match. Landeryou has put up decent first games historically though, and if he can steal the first in this contest the match could be an interesting one. Green's biggest weapon will be the drive serve, and if he is putting heat on and keeping the line straight, it will be very difficult to neutralize. I'm looking forward to it though as it should be high quality racquetball if nothing else.
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