“A GREAT Start to the 2nd Half of the Season”
Rocky has played three Tier 1 IRT events in January So. CA, NY and IN and not only made the finals of all three, but in the IN event he took Kane to a tie-breaker before losing 6-11 in the 5th game. Only a select few have even taken a game off Kane in TWO years, but in the IN event Rocky pushed him and had Kane on the ropes.
On February 13th at the National Doubles Championship at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, Rocky and his partner, Jack Huczek, were crowned National Champions for the 4th time winning 11-10 in the tie-breaker against Shane Vanderson and Chris Crowthers. It was a GREAT match as Rocky and Jack were up 9-5, then went down 9-10. After tying it up at 10-10 Jack called a brilliant time out. They discussed what serve Rocky was going to hit. They decided to go with a hard drive z to the right which was to Chris’s forehand, as he played the right side. They chose that serve as they DID NOT hit it all match. Jack lined up in the doubles box as if Rocky was going to hit a drive jam, which they were using all match. This totally caught Chris off guard and Rocky aced Chris to win the tie-breaker and the title, 11-10.
In Rocky’s last Tier 1 in San Diego, CA, February 25-27, Rocky once again made it to the finals making it 4 straight pro stops in a row. In the semi-finals against Shane Vanderson Rocky fought off a match point in Game 4 and extended it to a tie-breaker. He was down 5-9 in the tie-breaker and with incredible gets and steady shots he beat Shane 11-9 to advance to the finals to play Kane. The finals was the best match of the season and both players were pushed to a 12-10 tie-breaker with Kane squeaking it out. This match was a barn burner as Kane has NOT been pushed and forced to play hard in 2 years other than the last time Rocky played him in IN where they also went to the tie-breaker. Rocky is clearly showing how the changes he has made in his game is making a HUGE difference in his performances. Remember, Rocky is the ONLY player on tour who is forcing Kane to play hard and is making him play under pressure….something Kane has NOT felt for over 2 years.
On the IRT Network Rocky is touted to have the Fran Davis Influence, “FDI”. In August 2010 Rocky hired me to coach him and in just six short months we have revamped his game and have added some very critical elements to his game that have been missing. When watching Rocky now you can clearly see his shots are more aggressive, he is using down the line more effectively, he is mixing up his serves well plus has added a new power drive serve and he is playing deeper center court position….and this is only the beginning.
Rocky shared with me this: “It’s amazing when you play day in and day out, pro-stop after pro-stop you sometimes slip back into some bad habits. I am guilty of that myself. This is the VERY reason I hired Fran Davis to get me back on track to some of the core principles of the game so I can continue to be fundamentally sound and build my championship game. Watching videos with Fran and doing video analysis of me playing has been the GREATEST eye opener for me. Thanks Fran the BEST is yet to come.”
Rocky why did you choose Fran Davis as your coach? ” My goal is to become #1 and I believe she can help me get there.”
Rocky is gearing up for a busy February getting ready to go to National Doubles with his long time partner, Jack Huczek, to regain their title as they did not play last year due to an injury which kept Jack from playing, the San Diego IRT Pro-Stop and the Seattle Open.
