Rafa Hewett hitting a forehand.
Rafa Hewett competing at the The Masters at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, CA. PPA Tour

Top seeds fall in men’s doubles

It’s only Thursday, but some of the top seeds in men’s doubles draw have already been knocked out of the year’s first tournament in Palm Springs.

The pairings of Hunter Johnson/Julian Arnold and Rafa Hewett/Noe Khlif pulled off impressive upsets in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals on a windy afternoon at Mission Hills Country Club.

Johnson/Arnold defeated No. 3 seeds Dylan Frazier/Pablo Tellez by a 12-10, 4-11, 12-10 score line.

The No. 13 seeds overcame large deficits in both games they won; they trailed 2-7 in the opening game and 2-9 in Game 3 before coming back to win both at 12-10.

“We finished on what we believed to be better the side, so we knew that we just had to kind of go after our shots,” Johnson said of the effort. “We ramped up our serves, and that really helped us put the pressure on.”

Just a few minutes after Arnold/Johnson’s triumph, Hewett/Khlif took down No. 4 seeds JW Johnson/Gabe Tardio in straight games, 11-7, 11-7.

 

The No. 15 seeds—who are playing together for the first time this week—put together a comprehensive performance that featured both impressive patience in dink rallies and lightning-quick reactions in hands battles.

“Noe has a crazy good drive and a great drop,” Hewett said of his partner. “Once we get up to the kitchen line, we can work the ball around, figure out which ball we want to pull the trigger on, and our hands do the rest.”

Thursday’s giant slayers will look to continue their runs on Friday, with Johnson/Arnold set to play either Augie Ge/Jaume Martinez Vich or Pat Smith/Jay Devilliers and Hewett/Khlif scheduled to face Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu.