Cleveland Premier Open - Ethan Dysert & Ben Rice

Results: 2nd overall, 4-0 in pool play, lost to Clay/Logan in the playoffs then climbed back to finals and lost to them again

Going into this tournament, I did not set my expectations super high as Ben and I had never played a tournament together. That said, I did have confidence in myself and Ben to be a competitive team in the group because we had been playing significantly well in rec games leading up to the event. Fortunately, we had a two and a half hour car ride together in which we were able to learn more about each other and discuss things regarding pickleball and life in general. I think this was helpful for our chemistry on and off the court. 

After we arrived, we were able to get a solid warm up in, which is always a good idea before a long day of tournament play. Additionally, I made sure to eat, hydrate, and of course, caffeinate. The tournament was a round robin style to begin with, playing games to 11 win by two with a double elimination bracket to follow with games to 15 win by two. Once we got started, Ben and I played a team with a funky style first. One of the players was pretty damn tall and had an abnormal backhand grip at the net. We quickly realized that we needed to avoid high balls to his backhand after he angled us like crazy in the beginning. Once we got some of the nerves out and settled in, we started to figure things out as a team. The game was close but we came out on top. 

We ended up going 4-0 in the round robin stage, which was a great momentum builder going into the double elimination bracket. We communicated extremely well and were consistently getting to the net and playing strategically. Our defense was probably the biggest strength we had on the day. Having confidence in being able to reset and defend after a high ball takes the pressure off of us having to hit perfect drops and drives. That really allowed us to ultimately make our way to the line at a high clip. 

In the double elimination round, we won the first two rounds before we came up against the other one seed from the round robin portion. We lost to them 17-15 in a nail biter that we had opportunities to win. I remember at 13-13 Ben and I both tried to do way too much on our thirds, which gave them the ball back. I hit an out ball that would have helped us tremendously, but sometimes in the heat of the moment you just go for it. This is a theme that I see in my game that I know I need to work on. The door to victory is open and I seem to tense up knowing that it is close. Instead, I need to play the same way that got me to that point. 

After our first defeat, we pulled out another solid win to bring us back up to the final, where we would have needed to win two games to 15. Unfortunately, we lost the first one 15-13 against the same team that dealt us our initial loss. Another barn burner that we could have won, but we didn’t capitalize on important opportunities in the end game. 

Overall, I was very pleased with our performance as a team. We walked out of Cleveland Premier knowing that we left it all out there and will come back stronger in the next one. 

-- Ethan