The dominant duo of Damien Mudge & Ben Gould won their second title of the 2013-2014 season and fourth consecutive St. Louis Open held at the Racquet Club of St. Louis.
In a repeat of the Maryland Club Open final, Mudge & Gould met Imran Khan & Mark Chaloner in their first match of the tournament. The world No. 12 and 15 presented the Australian joint-world No. 1’s with their most formidable challenge of the tournament as the only opposition to stretch a game into double figures 14-15, 13-15, 14-15.
Four seeds and joint world No. 7’s Matt Jenson & Preston Quick—making their first appearance of the season—met the Australian powerhouse in the semifinals after digging out of a 2-1 deficit to defeat Chris Walker & Hamed Anvari 10-15, 15-14, 12-15, 15-3, 15-10. Again, Mudge & Gould only needed three games to defeat Jenson & Quick 15-5, 15-4, 15-7 setting up a final against former Trinity College teammates Manek Mathur & Yvain Badan.
After defeating Charlottesville Open finalists James Stout & Greg McArthur in a five-game match 15-11, 13-15, 15-13, 9-15, 15-11, Mathur & Badan faced world No. 10 and 13 Johnny Smith & Gregory Park who upset two seeds Paul Price & Clive Leach in a five-game, first round match—the second consecutive quarterfinal exit for the world No. 4 and 3.
Mathur & Badan topped Smith & Park for the second consecutive tournament after their five-game Maryland Club Open victory, this time in four games 12-15, 15-8, 15-13, 15-13 to reach their first final of the season.
The Indian and Swiss internationals fell to the 2013 World Doubles Champions in three games 15-9, 15-6, 15-9—Mudge & Gould’s second title of the season with six three-love wins total on the season. Mudge & Gould now look ahead to a third title of the season October 31-November 3 in Winnipeg, Manitoba—The 2013 Qualico Pro Doubles Challenge.
“St. Louis can be a difficult tournament to win with three Pro matches in a 24-hour period,” Gould said. “We were fortunate to get through the early rounds in straight games which definitely gave us an advantage going in to the final. Mudgie and I are both feeling solid on court and were happy to see our good form that started in Baltimore carry through to St. Louis.”
“It feels great to win the St. Louis Open, it’s a great event hosted by some majorly kind and generous members,” Mudge said. “Off the court, the highlight was catching up with close friends and spending some quality time with the guys at dinner Saturday night. It’s an awesome club and we love playing there.”