LAKEWAY, TX – The first mixed doubles match of the day at the Veolia Austin Open on Friday featured a rain delay, notable comebacks, and multiple match points.

In the end, 18th-seeded Tyler Loong and Etta Wright defeated 13th-seeded Federico Staksrud and Rachel Rohrabacher in three hard-fought games - 7-11, 11-9, 14-12.

Funnily enough, Loong and Wright didn't use the rain delay to regroup, refocus, or reset after dropping the opening stanza. In fact, the pair separated.

“I was all by myself. Etta had left me and I was still here on the court waiting it out with some people,” shared Loong. “We weren’t able to chat too much, but we wanted to stay aggressive and stay positive. We came back from the rain delay at 9-9 in the second, so we really wanted to get the next few points and close it out quickly.”

After winning the second game, 11-9, Loong and Wright headed into the deciding stanza with momentum. 

Loong and Wright battled back from 7-10 down to eventually tie it up.

Staksrud took a pivotal timeout at 10-10, and it was unclear which team was trending in the right direction. Tensions ran high once they returned to the court and both duos fought off match point after match point. 

But in the end, Loong and Wright emerged victorious. 

Loong and Wright will play third-seeded JW and Jorja Johnson in the Round of 16.

“We played JW and Jorja about a year ago and we had some good success, so hopefully we can keep that up and have fun out there,” said Loong. 

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