June 7, 2007

Moraes battles field, heat to move on
The heat is the story on Atlanta Day One
By Robert Falkoff / AVP.com

ATLANTA — The stifling heat and humidity staggered Leonardo Moraes, but it
couldn't him knock out for the count.

After requiring medical attention because of Atlanta's sizzling conditions
late Thursday afternoon, Moraes refused to give in. Knowing that he was just
one win away from a date in the main draw with partner Vincent Robbins,
Moraes dug in mentally. He cooled himself down with fluids, donned a cap for
a little more protection from the sun and helped his team defeat Adam
Roberts and Brad Torsone, 21-18, 22-20, to gain the privilege of doing it
all again on Friday in the AVP Atlanta Open.

Hopefully for Moraes and all the other AVP competitors, the conditions will
be a little more forgiving over the next three days.

Moraes and Robbins, who were seeded No. 6 in the men's qualifier, looked
sharp in winning the opening game against No. 3 Roberts/Torsone. But midway
through the second game, Moraes began to vomit and medical officials were
quickly called to the scene.

"There's nothing that can happen that can take me away from the court in the
third match," Moraes said. "I can have two broken arms and I'll still be
there."

Moraes is from Brazil and is used to extremely hot weather. But it was the
humidity of the deep South in June that temporarily overwhelmed him.

"We had been in spots on the Tour where the humidity wasn't so horrible and
the body has to adjust to it," Moraes said. "I could still jump out there,
but I just had a weird reaction to it. I wasn't cramping up."

Moraes took his full five-minute time allotment as Robbins offered
encouragement.

"Don't worry about it," Robbins said as an ice pack was applied to Moraes'
neck. "Take five minutes and we'll go win this game."

Robbins proved prophetic with that word.

"I took advantage of the rules," Moraes said. "Those five minutes definitely
helped me out a lot. My partner did an incredible job. He helped me out all
the way through it.

"For us, it was great to be in that position, and I didn't want to lose it
like that (a forfeit). I wanted to finish the game and try as hard as I
could."

Moraes doesn't normally wear headgear, but said he would likely wear a cap
or bandana on Friday if conditions are similar to Thursday's qualifying
round.

The No. 8-seeded unit of Russ Marchewka and Eyal Zimet gained a berth in the
main draw by knocking off No. 1 seed Billy Allen-A.J. Mihalic, 21-17, 21-17.

Marchewka and Zimat had bowed out quickly in the qualifier at Tampa last
week and wanted to bounce back in strong fashion.

"We needed a little redemption after last week," Marchewka said. "This
validates that we are a good team."

Whenever Allen and Mihalic threatened to make a serious push, Marchewka and
Zimat responded to snatch back the momentum.

"There's a reason why Billy and A.J. get in every time," Marchewka said. "We
just felt like we matched up pretty well against them. We feel like we can
beat anybody in a qualifier. When you step on the court, the seeds don't
really matter."

Also advancing to the main draw were No. 2 Mike Morrison-Ty Tramblie and No.
12 Joey Dykstra-Mark Van Zwieten. Morris and Tramblie finished their day by
defeating No. 10 Kyle Denitz-Casey Patterson, 21-17, 16-21, 15-12. Dykstra
and Van Zwieten took down No. 4 David Fischer-Jon Mesko, 20-22, 21-15,
15-13.

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