Manek Mathur & Chris Callis marked their first tournament together since September with their second title of the season, while Kaley Leonard & Maria Elena Ubina continued their strong season with their third title at the Boston Pro Am, March 27.
The top half of the draw saw top seeds James Stout & Scott Arnold exit the tournament in the semifinals as four seeds Greg McArthur & Zac Alexander pulled off a narrow win 15-13, 15-14, 11-15, 15-14.
Just like they did on their last Boston title run in 2020, Mathur & Callis nearly exited the tournament in the semifinals, escaping their match against three seeds James Bamber & Mike Ferreira on simultaneous match ball in the fifth game 12-15, 15-8, 7-15, 15-8, 15-14 in ninety-one minutes.
Mathur & Callis went on to clinch the title against McArthur & Alexander 15-9, 13-15, 15-12, 15-9 in in seventy-six minutes. Mathur & Callis have now won both tournaments that they have competed in together this year, in a season that has otherwise been disrupted by injuries and covid.
In the women’s draw, Leonard & Ubina continued their strong form this season with another final upset over top seeds Lume and Elani Landman. The two seeds clinched their third title of the season 15-10, 11-15, 15-7, 15-11 in forty-four minutes.
“We’ve tried to play a full season together ever since 2018, but constantly have hiccups, but being on court with Chris is a real treat and I am lucky to do so often enough,” Mathur said. “Hope to finish this season with him injury and covid free. I think at this stage in our careers, winning is always fun but being able to do it with a good friend and spend a weekend together makes things that much more special.”
“It was a brutal effort all the way through, but it really shows you that doubles is still in a great place after two plus years of covid-related difficulties,” Callis said. “Credit to Greg and Zac as well as Mikey and Jim — both matches could have gone either way and both of those teams played great all tournament long. The semi was one of the most exciting games I’ve been of part of in a while and the finals was incredibly high quality from the start. There wasn’t much a difference between the teams in either the semi or the final, but if there was a difference I think what Manek and I did best was change our strategy and style of playas the matches went on. Proud of the way we continued to adjust as the matches went along.”
“Just want to reiterate how great the event turned out from top to bottom,” Callis continued. “The quality of play was top notch, the pro-am was a blast, and of course everything went off without a hitch thanks to Lenny, Chris Spahr, and all of the event sponsors. They really didn’t miss a beat after so much time off and I’m happy they got such a great event quality and sportsmanship-wise — they definitely deserve it.”