Matt Wright and Jaume Martinez Vich competing in men's doubles at the Veolia Bristol Open.
Matt Wright and Jaume Martinez Vich competing in men's doubles at the Veolia Bristol Open. PPA Tour

Martinez Vich and Wright, McGuffin and Freeman advance to semis with three-game victories

The pairings of Jaume Martinez Vich/Matt Wright and Tyson McGuffin/Max Freeman are into the men’s doubles semifinals in Bristol after three-game triumphs early Friday evening at Bristol Sportsplex.

Martinez Vich/Wright advanced with a 7-11, 12-10, 11-9 victory over No. 2 seeds Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin.

The No. 6 seeds faced match point at 9-10 in the second game and trailed 3-8 in the decider, but they brought their best in the big moments to pull off the upset over one of the most consistent teams on the PPA Tour.

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“There are razor thin margins at this level, and you’re making subtle adjustments along the way. I don’t know if all the viewers can see it, but we saw a few things here and there early on. Hayden [Patriquin] was on fire—we figured we needed to get it away from him because when he’s on fire, it’s as good as it gets,” Wright said of the performance. “We just tried to get the ball a little bit lower, move the ball around a little bit more, and it worked out.”

Just over half an hour later, McGuffin/Freeman wrapped up a 9-11, 11-9, 11-9 epic against No. 3 seeds JW Johnson/Andrei Daescu.

In a battle of first-time PPA partnerships, Freeman’s two-handed backhand off the bounce proved to be the X-factor down the stretch as he and McGuffin overcame a 3-7 deficit in Game 3 to secure the win and advance to the final four.

 

These two teams will square off on Semifinal Saturday with a spot in the gold medal match on the line.