The Racquet Club of St. Louis proudly hosted the 24th Annual RC Pro Series, now elevated to the top tier of the SDA Pro Tour with a $50,000 prize purse, placing it alongside the prestigious Kellner Cup and North American Open. Title sponsored by Thompson Street Capital, this year’s event delivered world-class action as the largest SDA tournament of the season outside the Tri-State area. The last time an event of this caliber was staged outside the Tri-State region was when the Racquet Club hosted the 2017 World Championships.
The RC Pro Series boasts a rich history, with past champions including Damien Mudge, Gary Waite, Ben Gould, Manek Mathur, and John Russell. Known as one of the players’ favorite venues, the Racquet Club offers a premier setting for top-level competition and a lively fan atmosphere. This year, the event ran in tandem with the Missouri State Open, featuring doubles, singles, and age-group draws across both the Racquet Club and the Missouri Athletic Club.
Top seeds were World #1 team Zac Alexander and Jim Bamber, with second seeds Sam Khalifa and Chris Callis. The tournament also marked the final SDA appearance for Adam Bews, former head pro at the Missouri Athletic Club, who will return home to Orkney. Simons Jewelers joined as a sponsor for the event, offering a Cartier Ronde Must De Cartier 36mm watch alongside the prize money. “Simons Jewelers are excited to be part of this year’s RC Pro Series. Like the Racquet Club, Simons is committed to supporting the local community, and this partnership is a natural fit. We look forward to welcoming the best doubles players in the world right here in St. Louis,” said the company.
Action kicked off with longtime University Club pro Carl Baglio and Creek Club Head Pro Tristan Eysele taking a 2-0 lead over the higher-seeded Canadians Justin Todd and Cole Osborne, with Baglio hitting a dead nick to clinch the second game 15-14. The higher seeds fought back to serve a heart breaking loss to Baglio/Eysele.
In the quarter finals, Josh Hughes and Matt Henderson, fresh off their Minnesota win faced top seeds Alexander and Bamber. A close first game, decided by two critical errors from Hughes, gave Alexander/Bamber a 15-13 win, and the top team didn’t look back as they went on to take the next two games to advance 3-0. Elsewhere in the draw, new pairing, Daelum Mawji and Charles Culhane, began their season with a bang, defeating Mike Ferreira and Cameron Pilley in the quarterfinals. Both former college stars (Princeton and Cornell, respectively) they represent the next generation of SDA pros: fast, fit, and highly competitive.
The semifinals will be long remembered by the highly vocal St. Louis crowd, as the players delivered two top-quality and highly entertaining matches. Adam Bews, playing in his last SDA event, delivered possibly the best match of his career with his partner Kyle Martino, also playing at his highest level. After losing the first game, the lower-seeded pair began working the right wall, with Bews winning the cross-court battle against Jim Bamber, including a 111-shot rally that lasted 3 minutes and 34 seconds at 5-5 in the third game. The rally propelled Bews and Martino to take the game and the lead, with Bews continuing to fire in irretrievable reverses mixed with slow lobs to the back right corner. Top seeds Alexander and Bamber fought back in the fourth, raising the pace and creating multiple chances for Alexander’s much-feared backhand drops. Taking the fourth game comfortably 15-9, they looked set to run away with the match, but the fifth game was tight from the start. Bews and Martino took the early lead and held their nerve (and their margin for error) to secure their best win as a team.
The second semifinal looked as though it might be a one-sided affair, but youngsters Mawji and Culhane put up a strong fight, even taking the lead in each game following lapses of concentration from Sam Khalifa and Chris Callis. Ultimately, however, the more experienced pair outplayed them in each game. The experience of Khalifa and Callis was evident as they built a comfortable 2-0 and 14-11 lead. At that point, Mawji, apparently thinking the match was lost and with nothing to lose, attempted a corkscrew serve from the right box to Khalifa. Khalifa had an opportunity to capitalize on the loose ball to end the match, but the ball bounced, hitting a dead nick. The point proved pivotal, with the young pair rallying to win three more points and take the third game. Carrying their momentum into the fourth game, Mawji and Culhane took an early lead, and some incredible retrieving from Culhane helped scramble the match back to two games all. However, Khalifa and Callis regrouped in the fifth game. Their experience shone through as they shut down the young pair, losing just one point in the decisive game to secure their place in the final.
The championship match, intended to be Bews’ farewell, ended unfortunately when he pulled his calf seven points into the first game, awarding the victory to Sam Khalifa and Chris Callis. The trophy presentation, featuring the Cartier watches, was a celebration of top-level doubles and a fitting send-off for Bews.
Adam Bews has been a tremendous player and tournament organizer, growing the sport in the Midwest and hosting the first men’s ranking event in Minnesota. He will be greatly missed by the SDA community, which wishes him all the best back in Orkney.