Spruced up and ready to go, the Detroit Racquet Club opened its doors to welcome some twenty competitors who came from throughout the Racquets world to compete for the 2004 Western Open Singles and Doubles Championships. The Montreal Racket Club led the visitors, fielding a team consisting of top seeded Bart Sambrook, Tim Price, Ron Kaulbach, Blair Barwick, Bruce Beggs, the hard throwing P.J. Johnson, and Rackets Professional Derek Barrett. Attending but not playing due to injury, scheduling problems, tournament coordinating and journalistic duties, and general lack of interest were MRC President Andrew Parsons, James Madon, James Ace MacLellan and Trainer extraordinaire John Moreland.

England sent six players, including Peter Mallinson, the second seeded George Tysoe, Mark Agate, Will Montgomery, and Amateur Rackets Fellows Duncan Odds and James Hill, serving in Detroit and Philadelphia, respectively. The rapidly improving Todd Meringhoff and the steady Nelson Russell represented Boston. Chicago matched the strong contingent they fielded last year, with Jody Carr appearing, though in a non-playing role.

With a lighter than usual draw, the tournament got off to a leisurely start with just five matches contested Thursday afternoon and evening. Notable among those were Barwick's first ever victory over Detroit's Michael Goodell in a three game thriller, 12-15, 15-7, 15-4. Barwick played nearly error-free, consistently retrieving Goodell's shots until the sadly overweight Detroiter simply ran out of gas. Nelson barely survived what would have been the first upset of the weekend, outlasting Detroit's Tom Shumaker, 15-5, 11-15, 17-15.

The Stag Dinner offered the usual antics and silliness, with rolls flying, speeches splattering, and fun and games for all. Johnson demonstrated the style with which he won the gold medal in pie throwing at the 1954 Olympics, while Madon displayed the ability to maintain his English accent no matter how many drinks he had downed.

Friday's matches were slated to begin at the civilized hour of 10:00 a.m. They started only one half-hour late, but due to judicious management by Tournament Chairman, by the end of the evening, the tournament was back on schedule. The early singles matches continued with no surprises. Sambrook had little trouble dispatching Nick Shumaker and Mallinson to reach the semifinals. Tysoe eased past Kaulbach and Price to do the same. Odds, the third seed, surrendered only eleven points in dismissing the Boston contingent. His much-anticipated quarterfinal match against Meringhoff proved to be anticlimactic as the Bostonian sprained his ankle during the knock up. After dropping the first game 15-1, Meringhoff, who had earlier won an exciting match against up-and-coming Detroiter Chris Jeffries, 18-15, 15-1, rallied to give Odds a bit of a fight in the second game. Striking the ball impressively, he was nonetheless caught flatfooted as Odds displayed tremendous range and racquet control, retrieving numerous well-placed shots from the corner and turning them into winners. The fourth seeded Montgomery dispatched Barwick, 15-3, 15-11, then survived an entertaining match against Hill, winning 13-15, 17-14, 15-12.

In the doubles, the early rounds went according to plan, with the highlight being the match between Montgomery/Jeffries and Tom and Nick Shumaker. Tom continued his fine play, and Nick continued to show tremendous promise. After a demonstration of precision serving, splendid shot making, and spirited rallies, Montgomery/Jeffries prevailed, 10-15, 15-10, 15-2. Detroit's Tom Howe teamed with Barrett to face the Detroit pair of David Lockhart and Chris Manown. The international pair won it, though not without some effort, 18-15, 15-11.In the quarterfinals, the Old Tonbridgean pair of Odds/Hill, having sampled some of Detroit's nightlife, were nearly surprised by the wily veterans Kaulbach/Barwick, dropping the first game 8-15 before rallying to take the next two, 15-6, 15-3.

In the semifinals, Sambrook had little trouble dispatching Montgomery, 15-4, 15-5, 15-3. In the other half of the draw Odds upset Tysoe in a fiercely contested match, 15-9, 15-11, 18-13. Doubles play saw two competitive matches. Sambrook/Price dropped a game against Meringhoff/Nelson, winning 15-11, 15-4, 10-15, 15-0. In probably the best match of the weekend, the second seeds, Odds/Hill survived Mallinson/Tysoe's early assault, taking the match in four games, 9-15, 15-6, 15-11, 15-4.

Sunday morning we discovered that Odds had sampled the afterglow, showing up for the Singles Finals on three hours sleep. Things looked grim for the young Englishman as the match got underway against the fit, well-rested and extremely motivated Sambrook. After the first two points it seemed likely that we would be breaking for brunch a little early. However, at this point the alarm went off in Odds head. Gaining the service box he ran off five straight points. Though Sambrook served seven of his own to take a 9-5 lead, it was apparent that Odds would not go gentle in this fight. Bruce Beggs, a seasoned observer of the game noted the evening before that few people understand how good Sambrook is because of the kind of game he plays. He never looks like he is beating his opponent. His opponent always looks like he is playing poorly. This is because Sambrook insists on playing his game, taking his opponent out of his own comfort zone. It is a deadly combination of tactics, execution and fitness, and it takes its toll more often than not.

In Odds, however, Sambrook faced someone with the same gifts, the same game, and it seemed no matter what he tried, Odds had the answer. It was a compelling match. After Odds stopped the first game bleeding at 5-9, he won the next ten points, and the game, 15-9. At this point Odds had achieved not only his objective, but the most that anyone in the gallery could hope for, which was to take a game. Having already won, Odds began the second game with total confidence. Sambrook, on the other hand, was placed in the most difficult position imaginable in sports, that of being the overwhelming favorite trying not to lose. It is very difficult to execute in this situation, and so it was. Odds displayed tremendous range, blinding speed, and the ability to will himself to retrieve Sambrooks trademark drop shots. As was the case with Meringhoff earlier in the tournament, Sambrook was often caught flatfooted by his opponent's retrievals, and as a result, often simply pushed the ball back. Odds then crushed his next shot. When Sambrook tried to pick up the pace, Odds was in position to send it back even harder. Add to this the inability to execute his serves with any kind of precision, and you had the formula for a stunning upset. And so it was. Odds took the next two games, 15-11, 18-13.

After a fine brunch Sambrook and Odds returned to do battle, with their partners Price and Hill. Price played nearly flawlessly, blocking shots back, making no unforced errors, and serving with precision. Sambrook, resolved to salvage something of the weekend, served extremely well and dominated play. In the end the Montrealers prevailed, 15-9, 15-7, 15-7, to claim their first doubles title outside of Montreal.