World No. 7 Yvain Badan reunited with world No. 3 James Stout to successfully defend his Big Apple Open title and extend the partnership’s winning form at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.
Badan & Stout had originally entered the SDA Gold draw with their regular partners, Bernardo Samper and Greg McArthur, respectively. However, both Samper & McArthur sustained injuries in the semifinals of the Maryland Club Open earlier this month, keeping them off court in New York City.
Last season, Badan & Stout put together a title-winning run at the 2018 Westchester Country Club Open in what was their partnership’s debut and as a result, the partnership was a natural fit for the Big Apple Open where they led the draw as top seeds.
The top seeds eased their way through to the final in the top half of the draw courtesy of three-game quarterfinal and semifinal wins over Adam Bews & Colin West and Mike Ferreira & William Hartigan, respectively.
The bottom half of the draw nearly saw the finalists, Robin Clarke & Zac Alexander, crash out in their opening quarterfinal match against Andres Vargas & Jacques Swanepoel. Vargas & Swanepoel fended off a two-game deficit to force a fifth game, where they narrowly lost out 15-13.
The close quarterfinal spurred on Clarke & Alexander to produce a major semifinal upset over world No. 1 Chris Callis & two-time Big Apple Open champion Manek Mathur 11-15, 15-10, 15-13, 15-5.
The NYAC crowd enjoyed a climactic two-hour final on Monday night, October 28, as Badan & Stout prevailed in four games over Clarke & Alexander 14-15, 15-9, 15-14, 15-14.
“The final was physically and mentally exhausting,” Stout said. “To be on court for just under two hours and to sneak out the victory 3-1, tells how grueling it was. We knew it was going to be a tough match against Zac and Robin after their great win in the semis over Manek and Callis, but we stayed strong and managed to play the big points well.”
“Zac and Robin are an unbelievable team,” Badan said. “Their semifinal match was truly impressive. The way they executed their game plan was brilliant. So going into the finals, we knew it was going to be a long, hard-fought final. Mentally and physically were were prepared for it. We also believed in our game plan and our ability to implement it on court.”
Badan and Stout have often faced off against each other on the SDA tour, but have now won both tournaments where they’ve joined forces. Both Badan, the 2018 Big Apple Open champion with Samper, and Stout mark their first titles of the season.
“Playing with James is awesome,” Badan said. “He covers the court exceptionally well which really boosts your team’s confidence! We seem to be pretty successful at implanting or game plan as a team, which makes it all the more efficient.”
“It was a tough first tournament for both of our teams with Greg and Bernardo hurting themselves in the semifinals of Maryland,” Stout said. “It was touch and go till last weekend on whether they would be able to play, but they both decided to give their recoveries a little longer. After winning Westchester last year, it was reasonably comfortable getting back on court with Swiss and picking up where we left off. Having played with and against him so many times, you get a feel for each others style of play, and ours luckily matches up pretty well. Thanks to all of the sponsors, members and pros of the New York Athletic Club for putting on such a great event.”
Stout, world No. 3, engraves his name on the Big Apple Open for the first time in his second tournament appearance. The Big Apple Open has been hosted by NYAC since 2004.